Conductors
André Granjo began studying the clarinet at the age of seven at the school of the Mamarrosa Philharmonic Band. He later completed his musical training at the Conservatories of Music in Aveiro and Coimbra. Between 1994, when he started his Anthropology degree at the University of Coimbra, and 2014, he served as conductor of the Orchestra of the Academic Tuna of the University of Coimbra (TAUC). In 1995, he founded the TAUC Big Band “Rags.”
In 2005, he completed a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting, specialising in Wind Orchestra, at the Zuid-Nederlandse Hoogeschool voor Muziek in Maastricht, the Netherlands, where he studied under Maestro Jan Cober. He has appeared as a guest conductor in Spain, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Colombia, Costa Rica, Macau, and the USA, having conducted ensembles such as the Orchestre des Jeunes du Charentes (France), the Wind Ensemble of the Royal Northern College of Music, the Symphonic Band of the Public Security Police (P.S.P), the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, the North Texas Wind Symphony, and the Symphonic Band of the National Republican Guard (GNR). He regularly works as a tutor and clinician for youth music workshops both in Portugal and abroad.
As part of his doctoral project, he undertook conducting work at the Royal Northern College of Music with the collaboration of Mark Heron and Clark Rundell, as well as with Eugene Migliaro Corporon at the University of North Texas, where he was a Visiting Scholar in the Wind Music Studies Department from March 2009 to November 2011.
He is a member of INET-md (Institute of Ethnomusicology – Centre for Studies in Music and Dance) and of the Advisory Board of IGEB (International Society for the Research and Promotion of Wind Music). As a researcher, he has presented papers at numerous conferences in Portugal and abroad, and was responsible for organising the 20th IGEB International Conference in Coimbra in 2012. In July 2011, he conducted the União Filarmónica do Troviscal Band at the International Conference of the World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE), held in Chiayi City, Taiwan, and recorded a CD of works by Portuguese composers for the American label Mark Custom.
Since February 2013, he has been co-director of the Wind Orchestra at the Department of Communication and Art (DeCA) and an instructor in the Master's Degree in Wind Orchestra Conducting at the same university. He is also responsible for the orchestras of the JOBRA Music Conservatory and the Bairrada School of Arts.
Leandro Alves began his oboe studies at the Professional and Artistic School of Vale do Ave – ARTAVE, under the guidance of professors Saul Silva and Domingos Freitas, respectively. He holds a degree in Music Education, with a specialization in Oboe, from the University of Aveiro, where he studied under Pedro Ribeiro. He also studied with professor Jean Michel Garreti at the same institution.
He has attended oboe masterclasses with Alex Klein, Andreas Wittmann, Andrew Swinnerton, Diethelm Jonas, Hansjörg Schellenberger, José Manuel Coutinho, Kristo Kametsky, Pedro Ribeiro, Phillip Hill, Ricardo Lopes, and Thomas Indermühle.
He is currently an oboe teacher at the Coimbra Music Conservatory. He has previously taught oboe at the Academy of Arts of Chaves (2009–2014), the Regional Conservatory of Music of Vila Real (2010–2011), the Regional Conservatory of Coimbra (2010–2016), and the Coimbra Music Conservatory (2012–2016). He also taught choir at the Academy of Arts of Chaves during the 2011–2012 academic year, and orchestra at the Coimbra Music Conservatory (2011–2017).
He pursued a Master's in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Aveiro with Maestro Ernst Schelle. He has participated in several conducting courses and workshops, working with conductors such as Douglas Bostock, Ernst Schelle, Jean-Sébastien Béreau, Jesús Medina, Luís Gustavo Petri, and Roberto Montenegro, and with orchestras including the Filarmonia das Beiras Orchestra, the Algarve Orchestra, the Classical Orchestra of the Centre, and the Ensemble of the Portuguese Symphonic Band.
He is the principal conductor of the Santa Comba Dão Philharmonic Band, the Orchestra of the Academic Tuna of the University of Coimbra, and the Cascais Youth Orchestra. He also serves as assistant conductor of the Academic Orchestra of the University of Coimbra and the Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra, working alongside conductors André Granjo and Nikolay Lalov. He regularly appears as guest conductor with the Filarmonia das Beiras Orchestra and has recently conducted the Coimbra Wind Orchestra, the Classical Orchestra of the Centre, the Vibrations Orchestra, and the Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra at the 43rd Estoril – Lisbon Music Festival, as well as the Filarmonia das Beiras Orchestra at the Coimbra World Piano Meeting.
Full biography available at: http://www.leandroalves.pt