Artur Pereira has received great acclaim for his musicality and technical perfection, and his playing has been described as ‘an impressive display of bravura and imagination to match his finger-cracking technical virtuosity’.
Artur performs regularly as soloist and chamber musician in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Italy and South Africa. He is particularly fond of the music of Beethoven. This was evident when he won the Lionel Bowman competition for best rendering of a Beethoven sonata, and when he received high acclaim for his performance of the ‘Emperor’ Concerto. Artur completed his Doctoral studies on Beethoven’s dedications in 2016 at the University of Manchester, under eminent Beethoven scholar Professor Barry Cooper, sponsored by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia.
Born in Lamego, Portugal, Artur Pereira started his music studies at the age of seven and gave his first recital at the age of thirteen. He studied at the Oporto Superior School of Music with Romanian pianist Constantin Sandu, and he won the Young Composers competition, the Oporto Conservatoire piano competition, and the Maria Carolina Pimentel p iano competition. He was invited to continue his studies at the University of Stellenbosch, in Cape Town, South Africa, under the guidance of Professor Nina Schumann and Benjamin van Eeden, completing his Degree in 2006 with distinction. During this time he won the piano category at the ATKV Muziq competition and received the Betsie Cluver Prize for best overall mark in the final year recital.
In 2008 Artur was admitted into the Masters degree programme at the Royal Northern College of Music, where he studied under Norma Fisher, sponsored by the Stanley Picker Trust, the Ann Gerrard Foundation and by Centro Nacional de Cultura. That same year, he won the Silverstone-Blank Piano Duo competition. On a regular basis, Artur takes part in masterclasses with world renowned pianists, including Sequeira Costa, Vladimir Viardo, Konstantin Scherbakov, Nelson Goerner, Steven Osborne and Leslie Howard.
As a fervent chamber musician, Artur has performed in several ensemble combinations to great appraisal. He has appeared in festivals such as Secret Rooms, featuring the music of Detlev Glarnet, and Clarinetfest, together with the clarinettist Nicholas Cox in a concert at Casa da Música, Portugal, where several new works were premièred.
Artur’s first CD became available to the general public on 1 October 2016, and it features historically informed performances of three piano sonatas by Beethoven – Op. 31 no. 2, WoO 47 no. 2, and Op. 110 – a recording which has already received the appraisal from established musicians. Further recordings are soon to ensue, the next will be launched in summer 2019. These recordings are part of a seven-year long project in which Artur intends to record historically informed performances of the complete cycle of Beethoven’s piano sonatas.
In addition to his performance activities, Artur has been teaching in Higher Education institutions since 2007; from 2015 a Teaching Assistant at the music department of the University of Manchester. He has also been prolific researcher, and his book about Beethoven’s dedications is schedule to appear in early 2020.