António de Sousa Vieira
Artistic Direction OPGB
António Manuel de Sousa Vieira began his mandolin studies at the Coimbra Music Conservatory with Flávio Pinho. He then entered the Esch-sur-Alzette Conservatory in Luxembourg where he studied with the virtuoso Maestro Juan Carlos Munoz, Neapolitan/Baroque mandolin and chamber music.
He has held chamber music and mandolin courses in several countries, with great names in Plectro music such as Juan Carlos Muñoz, Mari Fe Pavón, Mirko Schrader, Caterina Lichtenberg, Marga Wilden-Hüsgen, Keith Harris….
He founded the Duo Magalhães da Gama and the Orquestra Portuguesa de Guitarras e Bandolins of which he is its Concertmaster and Artistic Director. He was the first Portuguese to join EGMYO – European Guitar and Mandolin Youth Orchestra (2006 – Greece, 2007 – Italy, 2008 – Spain). He was also the first Portuguese member of the Orquestra Europeia de Guitarras e Bandolins – Il Forum Musicale.
It has been active in most of Europe (Spain, France, Luxembourg, Germany, Italy, Greece…). He is the instrumentalist invited to perform the mandolin parts of several orchestras in Portugal, having already collaborated with the Orquestra Sinfónica da Casa da Música do Porto, OrchestrUtopica, Remix Ensemble Casa da Música…, under the direction of Christoph König, Peter Rundel, Emilio Pomarico, John Storgards, Olari Elts, Andrew Litton... He recently played solo with the Orquestra Clássica do Centro the Small Italian Suite for Mandolin and Strings by Eurico Carrapatoso under the direction of José Eduardo Gomes. In 2013, together with guitarist Rui Gama, he created the Ciglia Ensemble, dedicated to promoting the new sounds of Plectro's music.
In September 2007, he began teaching the mandolin course at the Vila Real Music Conservatory. In the academic year 2009/2010 he was invited to open a mandolin class at the Escola de Música de Esposende. In 2010/2011 he started the mandolin course at Companhia da Música in Braga and in 2013/14 at Conservatório de Música do Porto. He teaches the only mandolin degree in Portugal, at Universidade de Aveiro.