Public Rounds and Closing Concert 2024
The youngest pianists from around the world present their talent in the city of Porto and are appreciated by a jury of great piano experts from the international scene.
Over the course of a week, several solo recital rounds will take place by the 40 pianists, chosen from nearly three hundred candidates.
Only three candidates for the coveted prizes reach the final with orchestra, giving their best in interpreting major concerts from the repertoire.
The concert with the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música will be conducted by guest British conductor Martin André.
FRIDAY, JUNE 28 th @ 9pm
Suggia Room | Casa da Música
Avenida da Boavista 604-610, 4149-071 Porto 
BIOGRAPHY
ORQUESTRA SINFÓNICA DO PORTO CASA DA MÚSICA
Stefan Blunier principal conductor
Leopold Hager emeritus conductor
Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música works regularly with well known conductors such as Stefan Blunier, Baldur Brönnimann, Olari Elts, Peter Eötvös, Heinz Holliger, Elihau Inbal, Michail Jurowski, Christoph König, Reinbert de Leeuw, Andris Nelsons, Vasily Petrenko, Emilio Pomàrico, Peter Rundel, Michael Sanderling, Vassily Sinaisky, Tugan Sokhiev, John Storgårds, Jörg Widmann, Ryan Wigglesworth, Antoni Wit, Christian Zacharias, Lothar Zagrosek, Nuno Coelho, Pedro Neves, Joana Carneiro, Abel Pereira, Tito Ceccherini and Clemens Schuldt. It has worked with some of the foremost contemporary composers, from Emmanuel Nunes to Jonathan Harvey, Kaija Saariaho, Magnus Lindberg, Pascal Dusapin, Luca Francesconi, Unsuk Chin, Peter Eötvös, Helmut Lachenmann, Georges Aperghis, Heinz Holliger, Harrison Birtwistle, Georg Friedrich Haas, Jörg Widmann, Philippe Manoury, Rebecca Saunders and Enno Poppe.
Apart from performing around fifty concerts per year at Casa da Música, it is increasingly seen outside Porto, having visited in recent seasons Vienna, Strasbourg, Luxembourg, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Cologne, Valladolid, Madrid, Santiago de Compostela and Brazil. In 2024, it will share the stage with Arditti Quartet in the Räsonanz concerts, presented by the Bayern Radio’s Musica Viva series. This season also brings the performance of the complete Prokofiev piano concertos and new commissions from Portuguese composers Vasco Mendonça and Daniel Moreira.
In recent seasons the orchestra has performed all of Mahler, Prokofiev, Brahms and Bruckner’s symphonies; Beethoven and Rachmaninov’s piano concertos; and Mozart’s violin concertos. In 2011, the recording “Follow the Songlines” won the jazz vocal category at the prestigious Victoires de la musique awards in France. 2013 saw the release on the Naxos label of the piano concertos by Lopes-Graça. Gramophone has included the CD featuring works by Pascal Dusapin, performed by Orquestra Sinfónica and Remix Ensemble Casa da Música, in its Critics’ Choice 2013. New CDs with live recordings were released the following years featuring works by Luca Francesconi (2014), Unsuk Chin (2015), Georges Aperghis (2017), Harrison Birtwistle (2020), Peter Eötvös (2021) and Magnus Lindberg (2021), alongside with Portuguese contemporary music and the complete Rachmaninov’s Piano Concertos (2017).
The origins of the orchestra date back to 1947, when the Orquestra Sinfónica do Conservatório de Música do Porto was formed, later performing under different names. It has 94 permanent members, and it has been part of Fundação Casa da Música since July 2006.