Joaquim Ribeiro

Joaquim Ribeiro, born in Vizela, was, in 1988, the 1st Young Musicians Prize in the clarinet category of the history of the competition. His curriculum also includes the 1st Prize of the National Portuguese Youth Musical Competition, the 2nd Prize of the Setúbal Clarinet Competition, as well as the 1st Young Musicians Prize in the Chamber Music category, with the Quarteto de Clarinetes de Lisboa, a group with which it also won the Culture and Development Prize and the Arts and Ideas Prize.

He graduated in Clarinet at the  Higher School of Music in Lisbon with the highest ratings. He also completed his artistic training by attending several master classes in Clarinet with renowned clarinetists, such as António Saiote, Guy Deplus, David Campbell, Walter Boykens, among others.

His fame as a clarinetist earned him the dedication of several works written by different composers. He performed with various chamber formations at the most important music festivals national and international in Spain, France, England, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, the USA, Brazil, Canada, Macau. He recorded for radio and TV, collaborated on albums. He was invited to give master classes on the continent and islands, in Spain and Brazil as well as solo performance with the Camerata Atlântica, GNR Symphony Band, RDP Symphony Orchestra, Youth Symphony Orchestra, Aveiro Chamber Orchestra, Lisbon Symphony Orchestra, Northern Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Portuguese Symphony, etc.

His solo performances have deserved the most laudatory reviews from the press, with the following standing out: “Clarinet player with a broad, firm sound and excellent technique” (Diário Popular, 08/17/88- Maria Helena de Freitas); “An always exemplary interpretation” (Diário de Noticias, 06/13/89- José Pedro Blanc); “ A clarinetist of enormous talent, with a remarkable career, one of the best in the country” (V. No. 07/92- M.M. Guerra); “Clarinet player with excellent technique, great interpretative intensity, with a velvety sound, simply perfect ” (Público, 05/21/01 - Teresa Cascudo);...perfectly illustrates the eclecticism of a young generation of clarinetists. He puts all his technical mastery at the service of the classical repertoire, without, however, stop approaching other styles…; Revista Viento nº 8, June 2008/07-03-2010.

Joaquim Ribeiro is Clarinet Soloist of the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra.  

In recent years he has also taken on a career as a conductor, having completed a master's degree in Orchestral Conducting at the Piaget Institute and completed his degree  at the Jean-Philippe Rameau Music Conservatory in Dijon (France), with renowned maestro Jean-Sébastien Béreau.

He later worked with conductors Felix Hausworth and Michael Fennell. As such, he assumed the musical direction of Orquestra Melleo Harmonia

Photo credit: Jorge Velez