© Björn Kadenbach

Bruno Borralhinho

The Portuguese conductor and cellist Bruno Borralhinho is Artistic Director of the Ensemble Mediterrain and a member of the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra.

In addition to frequent appearances as a conductor with his Ensemble Mediterrain (DE), he has conducted, among others the Dresdner Philharmonie, the Deutsche Kammerorchester Berlin, the Berliner Symphoniker, the Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa (PT), the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música (PT), the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa (PT), the Orquestra do Algarve (PT), the Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa (PT), the Orquestra Clássica da Madeira (PT), the Orquestra de Câmara Portuguesa (PT), the Filharmonie Bohuslava Martinu (CZ), the Orchestra de Camera Radio Bucharest (RO), the Orquesta de Cámara de Bellas Artes (MX), the Orquestra Sinfônica do Paraná (BR) and the Orquestra Sinfônica de Campinas (BR), and has worked with renowned soloists such as Camilla Nylund, Tara Erraugh, Karolina Gumos, Adriane Queiroz, Lothar Odinius, Peter Bruns and Javier Perianes.

Opera is one of his great passions: he has conducted new productions of Mozart (Don Giovanni, 2023), Ravel (L'heure espagnole, 2022) and Puccini (Gianni Schicchi, 2018) and worked as an assistant on new productions of Wagner (Der fliegende Holländer, 2022) and Beethoven (Fidelio, 2020).

In 2022, the NAXOS label released a CD dedicated exclusively to the composer Fernando Lopes-Graça, performed by the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bruno Borralhinho, which received excellent reviews from the international press and the general public. Musicweb (EUA): "This beautiful recording is a must for anyone interested in the music of Lopes-Graça, but others will also find much to enjoy and admire"; Das Orchester (DE): "Under the baton of conductor Bruno Borralhinho (... ), the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra blossoms passionately"; Da Capo (PT): "Bruno Borralhinho knew how to promote the forgotten creative production of one of the greatest Portuguese composers of the 20th century with artistic depth, editorial sensitivity and clear conducting".

In 2011 he obtained a Master in Cultural Management at the UOC - Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Barcelona) and was one of the guests of the Atelier for Young Festival Managers organized by the EFA - European Festivals Association in Izmir (Turkey). In 2020, he obtained a PhD in Humanities (History, Geography and Art) from the Carlos III University (Madrid). In 2021, his research and thesis led to the publication of a book entitled "Poder y Música Clásica en el Portugal del siglo XX" (Power and Classical Music in 20th Century Portugal) by the Spanish publishing house Universo de Letras.

Bruno Borralhinho was born in 1982 and began his musical training at the age of 12 with Prof. Luis Sá Pessoa. From 2000-2006 he studied at the Berlin University of the Arts in the class of Prof. Markus Nyikos, where he was awarded the "Artistic Diploma" in 2004 and the "Concert Examination" with distinction in 2006. Bruno Borralhinho then studied in Oslo with the renowned cellist Truls Mørk. He also attended master classes with Natalia Gutman, Antonio Meneses, Pieter Wispelwey, Anner Bylsma, Jian Wang, Martin Ostertag, Martin Löhr, Márcio Carneiro and Thomas Demenga, among others.

He performs regularly as a soloist with orchestra or in recitals with piano in Portugal, Spain, Germany and Brazil. His unanimously acclaimed interpretations of Bach's Six Suites for violoncello solo on the Montagnana Suggia (2008), Beethoven's complete works for violoncello and piano on the Stradivarius "King of Portugal" (2012) and Haydn's complete cello concertos (2014, soloist and conductor) are just a few examples. Borralhinho has given masterclasses in Brazil, Portugal and Spain.

In 2018, Borralhinho recorded the sonatas by R. Strauss and Zemlinsky as well as Mahler's Lieder with pianist Christoph Berner for the German record label ARS and in 2016, NAXOS released a CD dedicated to Portuguese music for cello and orchestra, with Bruno Borralhinho as soloist accompanied by the Orquestra Gulbenkian. This album was rated the best of 2016 by voters from over 65 countries on the 5 continents of the planet, following an international public vote sponsored by The Violoncello Foundation (New York/USA). In 2009, Bruno Borralhinho released the double CD "Pagina Esquecida" (Forgotten Page), also entirely dedicated to Portuguese music, and received rave reviews in the national and international press.

During his studies he was awarded 1st prize in the Concurso Júlio Cardona and also 1st prize in the Prémio Jovens Músicos. He has performed as a soloist with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa, Orquestra Clássica do Centro, Orquestra do Norte, Orquestra Clássica do Sul, Orquestra XXI, Orquestra da Madeira, Orquestra de Câmara Portuguesa, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, Orquestra Sinfônica de Campinas and Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Nacional de Brasília.

Bruno Borralhinho was a member of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra and solo cellist in the Jeunesses Musicales World Youth Orchestra. He was also a trainee in the DSO - Deutsches Symphonie Orchester Berlin in 2003 and a member of the Orchestra Academy of the Staatskapelle Berlin from 2004-2006.

He has performed in the leading concert halls of Europe as well as in the USA, Canada, Asia, Russia and South America with famous conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Franz Welser-Möst, Kurt Masur, Christian Thielemann, Marek Janowski, Kent Nagano, Herbert Blomstedt, Paavo Järvi and Andris Nelsons.