André Dias

André Dias is a percussionist, artistic director, and educator, active in the fields of performance, artistic creation, specialized education, and cultural programming. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Percussion and a Master’s degree in Music Education from Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo (ESMAE), and was awarded the Title of Specialist by Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco in 2021. He is currently a PhD Student in Music – Artistic Practices in the Portuguese Context at Faculdade de Artes Performativas da Universidade Técnica do Porto.

Since 2010, he has been a member of Drumming GP – a leading ensemble in Portuguese contemporary music – with whom he has performed over a hundred concerts in Portugal and abroad, including notable appearances at Casa da Música and Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, as well as tours in Spain, Argentina, and England. As a soloist, he focuses primarily on contemporary music, with highlighted solo performances alongside Orquestra Gulbenkian, Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, and Münchner Symphoniker. In 2026, he received support from Fundação GDA for the tour of his solo project “Música Portuguesa para Percussão”.

He has participated in several commercial recordings dedicated to Portuguese classical music, most notably the award-winning albums Archipelago by Luís Tinoco (Prémio PLAY 2020) and Playoff by Vasco Mendonça (Nominee for Prémios PLAY 2023). His career has been recognized with the 1st Prize at Prémio Jovens Músicos (2013), the EMCY special prize, and his selection for the Lucerne Festival Academy (2014).

In recent years, his artistic practice has centered on creating multidisciplinary projects and collaborating closely with composers on the premiere of new works. In parallel, he serves as the artistic director of Festival PercuArt and Concurso Internacional de Percussão de Gondomar. He is currently an Invited Assistant Professor at Escola Superior de Artes Aplicadas – Castelo Branco and a faculty member at Escola Profissional de Música de Espinho.