Carlos Damas

Carlos Damas is considered internationally as the most significant Portuguese violinist today, with a brilliant career, attested by an impressive discography. He was frequently compared by international critics, and by TheStrad and Gramophone magazines, to masters such as Gidon Kremer and Henryk Szeryng.

In Portugal he studied at the Linda-a-Velha School of Music and Ballet. He continued his studies in Paris, having been guided by Yehudi Menuhin, and was one of the main disciples of masters Jacqueline Lefèvre and Ivry Gitlis.

After his debut as a soloist at the age of 15, with the former Orquestra da Radiodifusao Portuguesa under the baton of Maestro Silva Pereira, he premiered Luis de Freitas Branco’s concerto for violin and orchestra in Paris. Since then, Carlos Damas has been regularly invited to perform as a soloist with musical organizations and orchestras around the world. Carlos Damas was a soloist in concerts in New York and Paris in collaboration with UNESCO, one of which took place in the famous Lincoln Center hall. He also had the privilege of being one of the guest soloists at the concert celebrating the 70th anniversary of the same institution (Unesco).

Carlos Damas plays a precious Italian violin by Giovanni Battista Gabrielli, c. 1767, testamentary gift from a North American admirer.

In parallel to his concert activity, Carlos Damas has a PhD in Psychology and Music Teaching, and is a career professor at the University of Évora.