Bernardo Pinhal
Piano
Bernardo Pinhal is a pianist and singer from Matosinhos. He completed his bachelor's degree in piano at ESMAE (2011) under Miguel Borges Coelho, later studying with Dimitri Bashkirov at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía and with Claudio Martínez Mehner at the Hochschule für Musik Basel, where he completed his Master’s in Performance (2016) as a Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation fellow. He also studied with Denis Lossev, Marta Gulyas, Luís Fernando Pérez, and Anton Kernjak. He has won prizes in competitions such as the Santa Cecília International Competition (1st prize), the San Sebastián International Competition, the AGEAS Competition (in a duo with pianist Sérgio de A), and the Lousada International Singing Competition as best collaborative pianist.
As a singer, he trained under Deolinda Resende, Luis Rendas Pereira, and Elisabete Matos. He is a member of the Coro Casa da Música, a regular collaborator with Moços do Coro and the Schola Cantorvm Colegiada de Cedofeita, and a musician-performer in the Quarteto Contratempus.
He dedicates himself to chamber music, original concerts, and accompanying soloists at festivals like LizBrass and Gravíssimo!, or in competitions such as the Suggia International Prize. He integrates contemporary opera projects by composers like Dimitri Andrikopoulos, Pedro Lima, and António Victorino d’Almeida. He is the author, composer, and lead performer of Bernardo e os Gatos, an art pop and electronic rock project in Portuguese with an album available on all digital platforms. His career also includes several audio recordings and audiovisual collaborations as a pianist and arranger.