Carlos Damas

Carlos Damas is widely regarded as the most significant Portuguese violinist currently before the public, the most significant Portuguese musician of his generation, with a brilliant international career encompassing the great masterpieces to contemporary works, attested by an impressive international discography. He has often been compared by international critics to such masters as Gidon Kremer and Henryk Szeryng. Such were Carlos’s qualities that he gave his public concerto debut aged just 15 with the Portuguese Radio National Symphony Orchestra under Joaquim da Silva Pereira. The success of this concert led to further studies at the Paris Conservatoire, having been guided by Lord Yehudi Menuhin, and he was one of the main disciples of masters Jacqueline Lefèvre and Ivry Gitlis. Carlos Damas is a regular soloist with concert organisatioins across the world, including the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra of St Luke’s Orchestra, the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata de St. Severin (France), Varazdin Chamber Orchestra (Croatia), Camerata da Madeira, (Portugal) Winnipeg Symphony (Canadá), Guanzhou Symphony Orchestra (China), Macau Chamber Orchestra (China). Carlos is seen as a diplomatic violinist, who has promoted multiculturalism and peace through music, especially due to the projects he developed together with UNESCO and the Melody Dialogue association. His violin is by Giovanni Battista Gabrielli, the “ex-Pat Isham”, dating from 1764. Carlos holds a PhD in Education and Psychology of Music and is a career teacher exclusively at the University of Évora.