Paula Soares / Flute
Paula Soares is a flutist at Orquestra do Norte. Graduated with the highest classification at the Hochschule für Musik Basel where she also completed her Master in Performance and Pedagogy of the flute in the class of Professor Felix Renggli. She received different scholarships from the Hochschule für Musik Basel, Basel AMT Stiftung and Lyra Stiftung Zürich. Paula played in Orchestras like the Neue Orchestra Basel, Theater Basel, MLW-Philharmonie Germany, International Mahler Orchestra, Basel Chamber Academy, Central Schweiz Orchestra, Kölner Kammerorchester amongst others. Throughout her career, she won several awards like the Migros Kulturprozent Wettbewerb Talent Forderung, Wind Contest in Oliveira de Azeméis, Flute Competition at the Conservatório de Música de Aveiro, Wind Contest in Guimarães, at the Musik Festival in Malgrat del Mar Barcelona where she got a scholarship to study in North Carolina (USA). Her career has led her to share the stage with internationally renowned artists such as Heinz Holliger, Krzysztof Penderecki, Thomas Demenga, Antonio Azzolini, François Benda, Yoel Gamzou, Thomas Demenga among others. She taught at the Jugend Musik Chur, Musik Akademie der Stadt Basel, Musikschule Lörrach, Musikschule Weil am Rhein, ESMAE Porto, and currently she runs her own Flute Studio in Braga. She is a founding member of the Art’Ventus Wind Quintet.
Tiago Coimbra / Oboe
Tiago Coimbra is Professor of Oboe at the Escola Superior de Artes Aplicadas (Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco), principal oboe at the Göttinger Symphonieorchester and at the Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras. He was awarded prizes in international competitions and played as soloist with the Basel Kammerorchester, Argovia Philharmonic, Göttinger Symphonieorchester, Philharmonic of Yakutia, Orquesta Filarmónica de Málaga, Orquestra Clássica do Centro and with Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras. Tiago has performed in the main European cities as member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and as guest principal oboe with the NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Staatsoper Hannover, Staatsorchester Braunschweig, Staatsorchester Kassel, Remix Ensemble, Orquestra Metropolitana and Orquestra XXI. He has also played with the Luzerner Sinfonieorchester, Opernhaus Zürich, Orquestra Gulbenkian and Orquestra Nacional do Porto. Coimbra ended in 2016 the Soloist Diplome studies at the Hochschule für Musik Basel with Emanuel Abbühl after he has completed with the highest mark a Master’s degree at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste with Thomas. Furthermore, he studied with Maurice Bourgue at the Academie Musicale de Villecroze. He holds a PhD in Music by the Universidade de Aveiro. Coimbra received different scholarships from the prestigious Swiss foundations LYRA Stiftung, Fritz-Gerber Stiftung and Bruno-Schuler Stiftung, among others. He is a founding member of Art’Ventus.
Horácio Ferreira / Clarinet
Praised by critics as the “sound wizard” (Rheinische Post) for his “total control of the instrument’s sound” as well as an “extraordinary musician” (Scherzo) with a “technical perfection and enviable aesthetic sensitivity” (Público), Horácio Ferreira performs mostly as concert soloist and chamber musician. Appointed as “Rising Star” of the European Concert Hall Organization, Horácio played in concert in the most prestigious venues, including the Philharmonie in Paris, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Musikverein in Vienna, or the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. Horácio was the Young Musician of the year 2014 and the first clarinetist to win both junior and senior division of the Radio & Television-PJM Competition, also won prizes at the “Concours Debussy” in Paris, at the “Prague Spring Music Competition” in Prague, at the “Estoril National Competition” and was winner of the “International Clarinet Competition J. Pakalnis” in Vilnius, the “La Salette National Competition” and the “Ageas New Talents” in Oporto. He received the Medal of Merit from the Municipality of Santa Comba Dão, the Revelation Award from the “Anim’Art” magazine and was a fellow of the Gulbenkian Foundation. Horácio Ferreira’s international career has seen him tour Europe, China, Brazil, USA, Dubai, Israel and appeared as a soloist with Gulbenkian Orchestra, Porto Casa da Música Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, Athens State Orchestra, Orquestra XXI, Israel Chamber Orchestra, Portuguese Symphony Wind Orchestra, among others. He is founder of the Art’Ventus Quintet and member of the ars ad hoc ensemble, exploring the different possibilities in chamber music. Currently he is a PhD student at the Aveiro University, where he is also professor. Horácio Ferreira is a Vandoren artist and since 2018 he has become artistic advisor for the Marvão International Music Festival (FIMM).
Nuno Vaz / French Horn
Nuno Vaz is principal horn at the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto and at Remix Ensemble Casa da Música. Graduated with the highest classification from the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra in the class of Abel Pereira, he played as head of section at the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa between 2008 and 2016. As a guest artist, he has performed with the Porto Casa da Música Symphony Orchestra, MusicAeterna Symphony Orchestra of Perm (Russia), Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra (Germany), Orquestra Sinfonietta de Lisboa, Orquestra Gulbenkian, Orquestra Clássica do Sul and Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa. His career took him to travel to several countries in Europe as well as Brazil, South Africa, Cape Verde, China, and Turkey. He recorded for RTP, RDP, RV and Antena 3. Nuno performed as soloist with the Banda Filarmónica Vizelense, Orquestra de Sopros da Sociedade Filarmónica Vizelense, Orquestra do Algarve, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, Orquestra Gulbenkian and Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música. He won the “Young Musicians Award” where he would later serve as a jury. In 2008, he was awarded the Vote of Commendation by the Vizela City Council. He currently teaches at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo in Oporto and Conservatório de Música de Espinho. Nuno Vaz is a founding member of Art’Ventus Quintet.
Raquel Saraiva / Bassoon
Raquel Saraiva is a member of the Gulbenkian Orchestra (Lisbon). She did her Bachelor studies at Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo do Porto with Hugues Kesteman and Pedro Silva, got the Masters diploma at Musikhochschule Lübeck with Pierre Martens and did her post-graduation at University of Mozarteum Salzburg with Marco Postinghel. She also studied with Dag Jensen at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo in the Erasmus programme. To perfect her contrabassoon playing, she worked with different teachers like Eduardo Calzada and Gernot Friedrish. She won the Scholarship of the Gulbenkian Foundation, which supported her studies. Raquel was an academist at SWR Simphony Orchester in Stuttgart. She was awarded in several competitions, such as Prémio Jovens Músicos, Concurso de Instrumentos de Sopro Terras de la Salette, 5th Józef Cieplucha International Academic Oboe and Bassoon Competition Lodz and Concurso de Interpretação do Estoril. Raquel Saraiva has mainly dedicated her career to orchestra playing and has been a member of the most relevant youth orchestras, amongst which Gustav Mahler Jungend Orchester, European Union Youth Orchestra and Junge Deutsche Philharmonie. She has also been a guest player at professional orchestras such as Bamberg Symphoniker, NDR Symphonieorchester, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Münchner Kammerorchester, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, BR-Sinfonieorchester and Portuguese Chamber Orchestra. Between 2014 and 2018 she was a bassoon and contrabassoon player at the Orchestra of the Gärtnerplatztheater in Munich (Germany). She is a founder member of the Art’ Ventus Quintet.
