Kevin Cardoso is part of a new generation of horn talent in Portugal. At just 23 years old he was admitted to the Brussels Philharmonic orchestra, playing the role of second and fourth horn.
In this orchestra he recorded the album “Voice of Hope” – Camille Thomas, with the prestigious publisher “Deutsche Grammophon”; the album “Concertos for Piano, Cello and Harp” – Robert Groslot, for the label “Naxos Records” and “A Symphonic Journey from Philly to Utopia” – Dirk Brossé.
Born in Resende, Viseu, he began studying horn at the Professional School of Music in Viana do Castelo, in 2009, with Professor Nuno Costa and later with Professor Bruno Rafael. He finished his studies with the highest classification (20/20), being the best student of the year and invited to perform as a soloist with the Orquestra “Arte Sinfónica”, in Viana do Castelo.
In 2014, he was admitted to the Haute École de Musique de Genève in the class of professor Bruno Schneider, with whom he finished his degree with a maximum classification (6/6). In 2019, he finished the Master in Performance – Specialization in Orchestra, also with the highest classification, at the same institution, being a scholarship holder of the prestigious Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Scholarship.
In 2020, he completed his Master in Performance in the class of Professor Jean-Pierre Dassonville, at the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles.
Kevin has always shown a great curiosity and interest in learning more and absorbing as much knowledge as possible, which is why he has participated in several masterclasses with internationally renowned horn players Herman Baumann, Radek Baborak, Sarah Willis, Radovan Vlatkovic, Abel Pereira, Ab. Koster, Javier Bonet, Will Sanders, Thomas Muller, Esa Tapani, José Bernardo Silva, Ivo Gass, Nuno Vaz, Jonathan Luxton, Nury Guarnaschelli, Bohdan Sebestik, Jean-Pierre Cenedese and Jean Pierre Berry.
Passionate about orchestral music, from an early age he collaborated with several youth orchestras, including Orchester des Continents (in Singapore), Gulbenkian Stage for Orchestra, Schweizer Jugend Sinfonie Orchester (in Switzerland), Orchester Symphonique des Jeunes Suisses (in Switzerland), Landesjugendorchester Bremen (in Germany), BISYOC European Intercultural Youth Orchestra (in England), Orquestra Sub 21 de Guimarães, Orquestra de Câmara da Maia, Orchester de la Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève (in Switzerland) and the APROARTE Youth Orchestra. He was selected to play with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra as part of the Side by Side project.
As far as professional orchestras are concerned, he has collaborated for several seasons with the prestigious Portuguese orchestras: Orquestra Gulbenkian, Orquestra XXI, Orquestra de Guimarães and Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa. Internationally, he collaborates regularly with the Orchester de La Suisse Romande, Orchester de Chambre de Lausanne, Orchester de Chambre de Genève, Ensemble Barroque de Joux, Opera Studio de Genève, Orchester Symphonique Genevoise, Nexus Symphonique, Avetis Festival Orchestra and Orchester des Nations Unies.
In these youth and professional orchestras mentioned above, he had the honor of being directed by several conductors, including the renowned ones: Joana Carneiro, Thierry Fischer, Nathalie Stutzmann, Kai Baumann, Michail Jurowski, Mark Elder, Stéphane Denève, Alexei Ogrintchouk, Peter Eotvös , Jun Märkl, Osvaldo Ferreira, Pierre Bleuse, Ernest Shell, Stefan Geiger, Hervé Niquet, Anu Tall and Lucie Leguay.
He also has extensive experience in wind orchestras, having collaborated with Brass Band Arquebuse (in Switzerland), Orchester d’harmonie de l’Etat de Genève (in Switzerland), Banda da Associação Recreativa e Musical Amigos da Branca (ARMAB) , Banda Sinfónica Transmontana and Banda Musical de Xinzo (in Spain), having worked with maestros Paulo Martins, Juan Carlos Diaz, Francisco Ferreira, Jean Pierre Chevailler, Rafa Agulló Albors, Vitor Matos, Javier Viceiro, among others.
In Chamber Music, he is the founder of the Wind Quintet “Echos Ensemble”, with which he was a semi-finalist in the “Carl Nielsen International Chamber Music Competition” (in Denmark), and awarded the “Prix d’Ensemble Particulièrement Brillant Jean- François Chaponière” (in Switzerland). He is the founder of the Wind Quintet “Romande Ensemble” with which he received the “Prix HESSO Domaine Musique et Arts de la Scène” prize (in Switzerland). In solo competitions, he was awarded several times at the “Concurso International Terras de la Salette” and won second prize at the “Concours International d’ interprétation Musical de Riddes” (in Switzerland).
He is currently attending the Masters in Music Teaching at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, and plays the role of Horn Soloist in the Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra.
