André Ferreira | organ
Following his early training at the Instituto Gregoriano in Lisbon (in António Esteireiro’s organ class), André Ferreira furthered his musical studies in The Netherlands, at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague (with Jos van der Kooy) and, later, graduated in Organ at the Amsterdam Conservatoire, in the class of professor Jacques van Oortmerssen, having also worked with Pieter van Dijk. He completed his Masters Degree in Organ under the guidance of João Vaz at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa (ESML).
He is co-founder of Ensemble 258, with which he organized the Baroque music cycle ‘7 Colinas / 7 Cantatas’ in Lisbon. He is also a member of Ars Lusitana, an early music ensemble founded in 2011 by Maria Bayley, dedicated to the research and performance of Portuguese music. Ars Lusitana aims for a direct dialogue with the sources: initial research to discover previously unknown or neglected music is subsequently brought to light through its performance in concert, reading from the original sources whenever possible and applying historical pedagogical methods to the learning process. The ensemble has performed in festivals all over Europe, with programmes ranging from plainchant to polychoral works; it also promotes the development of musical pedagogy, having organized several workshops in Portugal.
He collaborates as an organist with the Parish of S. Tomás de Aquino and with the Parish of Santa Maria de Belém, (Jerónimos Monastery). He also plays the baroque oboe, currently completing his master’s degree at ESML, in the class of Pedro Castro.
In addition to his performing activities as a soloist and in ensembles, having performed in recitals in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, he teaches organ at the Conservatory of Mafra and at the Cathedral of Faro.
He is currently a PhD student in Musical Sciences at NOVA-FCSH under the supervision of Rui Vieira Nery and João Vaz, with a dissertation on the six organs in the Mafra Convent. He has a scholarship from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology. Aside from music, he has a degree in Applied Mathematics and Computation from Instituto Superior Técnico.