Miguel Fialho began his musical studies at the Setúbal Regional Conservatory, at the clarinet class of teacher Sérgio Oliveira. At the same institution, he completed his studies at Professor Paulo Gaspar’s class, at the age of seventeen. Having completed his secondary education in natural and scientific area, he entered the University and graduated as Orchestra Soloist by the National Superior Academy of Orchestra, in Professor Etiénne Lamaison’s class. Throughout his career, he attended numerous workshops and masterclasses where he worked with different portuguese and foreign musicians, such as Antonio Salguero, G. Lawrie Bloom, Guy Deplus, Hermann Stenfansson, Joan Enric Lluna, Joaquim Ribeiro, Luís Gomes, Manuel Jerónimo, Nuno Silva, Paolo Beltramini, Romain Guyot, Rui Martins or Walter Boeykens. Miguel Fialho has collaborated with different types of groups, amateur and professional orchestras including the Portuguese Orchestra of Music Schools (2002), National Wind Orchestra of Templários (2003), Minho-Galaica Symphonic Band (2004), Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra, Metropolitan Academic Orchestra and the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra. He participated in several national competitions for young musicians: he played for “Os Principais”, a RTP1 television channel program (1996), having been selected through a national audition. He also competed in the National Competition for Young Clarinetists organized by the Portuguese Clarinet Association (1999) in which he won the second prize in his category and the competition “Maestro Marcos Romão dos Reis” (2001) in which he won the first prize. Besides his academic and classical music activities, Miguel Fialho has developed a career in other musical styles and languages where he puts into practice his own musical personality which he developed in the context of musical theater, Jazz, Klezmer or World Music. Thereby, he played the character “Nete” in the show The Piano and his Friends (2006), a production of Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation; he collaborated with a traditional group of Klezmer at the Coches Museum led by Laurentiu Ivan-Coca, he joined a national tour with Melech Mechaya, he collaborated with Volker Bertelmann in “Hauschka”, a prepared piano show commemorating the 41st anniversary of the Maria Matos Theater and he recently presented his own creative show Jean’s War, Madness and Night (1971-1998), at the “International Saxophone Festival” of Palmela, a show produced and directed by himself. Concerning his academic education, Miguel Fialho has a degree in Orchestra Soloist by the National Superior Academy of Orchestra (Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra), a Master degree in Music – specializing in Clarinet, and a Master degree in Music Education, which gives him Professional Qualification for Teaching, both conferred by Lisbon Superior School of Music.
Miguel Fialho was also teacher in Alto Alentejo Regional Conservatory, where he taught clarinet and chamber music between 2008 – 2011. Currently, Miguel Fialho plays as 1.º Clarinet Soloist in the Portuguese Navy Band and performs regularly as a guest soloist in Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra, as well as the Cascais Symphony Orchestra. Since 2010, Miguel Fialho teaches clarinet and chamber music at Cascais Conservatory of Music.
