Collaborative pianists

Graduated in Piano from the Lisbon Superior School of Music, Eduardo won First Prize at the “Lopes-Graça Piano Competition” and has performed as a soloist with both the ESML Orchestra and the Orquestra do Norte. He has appeared in concert across Portugal and internationally in countries such as France, Italy, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, Brazil, and China. Since 2007, he has formed the piano duo 20 Fingers with João Vasco, exploring a repertoire ranging from classical music to jazz.

In 2014, he recorded the album Retrato a Cores with singer Joana Rios. With the support of the Directorate-General for the Arts, he released in 2018 the album Canções sem Palavras with cellist Samuel Santos, featuring the complete works for cello and piano by Portuguese composer Eurico Carrapatoso. Also supported by DGArtes, the 2020 recording 20 Fingers – From Mozart to Chico Buarque premiered at the Algarve International Piano Festival and later toured in Brazil and China.

As pianist, composer, and arranger, Eduardo has collaborated with ensembles and institutions such as Couple Coffee, Rumos Ensemble, the Children’s and Youth Choir of the Gregorian Institute of Lisbon, Solistas de Lisboa, the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, Setúbal Opera Company, and the Colorado All State Choir. Since 2002, he has been Professor of Piano, Chamber Music, and Accompaniment and Improvisation at the Setúbal Regional Conservatory, where he also works as an accompanist pianist.

Ana Filipa Luz, born in Entroncamento and currently based in Salzburg (Austria), has been a répétiteur and assistant choir director at the Gut Immling Festival (Germany) since 2022, collaborating under the direction of conductors Cornelia von Kerssenbrock, Evan Christ, and Ayyub Guliyev in various opera productions and musical performances.

She performs regularly as an accompanist and continuo player, with notable appearances in Giulio Cesare in Egitto(Handel), Dido and Aeneas (Purcell), Così fan tutte and Bastien und Bastienne (Mozart), as well as at the Vocalizze Choral Festival and the Setúbal CantoFest Summer Academy. She has collaborated with several Portuguese orchestras and participated in the recordings of the albums Flauta XXI and Gustavo Romanoff Salvini, as well as in the project “36 Weeks, 36 Studies” by Arpejo Editora.

Winner of the 2nd Prize in Chamber Music at the first edition of the “Verão Clássico” festival, she has performed several times for Portugal’s national classical radio, Antena 2. She regularly accompanies recitals, masterclasses, and competitions in Portugal, Germany, and Austria. Ana Filipa holds a Master’s degree in Music Teaching – Piano and a Bachelor’s degree in Performance from the University of Évora, having studied with pianists such as Katia Borissova, Vlad Iftinca, Pedro Burmester, Paul Wakabayashi, among others.

Fernando Loura is currently a pianist at the Bern Opera House and the Biel/Solothurn Opera House in Switzerland. He was a member of the IOS Opernhaus Zürich between 2022 and 2024.

He studied opera in Italy (Teatro del Maggio Musicale in Florence) and England (National Opera Studio in London), where he played in concerts with the English National Opera, Opera North in Leeds and Welsh National Opera in Cardiff. As a répétiteur, he has worked on productions at the São Carlos National Theatre (Lisbon), Opera Vlaanderen (Antwerp), Maggio Musicale Fiorentino (Florence), Opernhaus Zürich and Bühnen Bern.

He was an accompanying pianist for the Belvedere Competition 2025, the Cascais Opera Competition 2025 and the Lousada International Lyric Singing Competition (2021-2024). Before devoting himself to opera, he completed a Master's Degree in Piano Performance at the Conservatori del Liceu in Barcelona and a Bachelor's Degree at the ESML in Lisbon.

Michael Sikich is an American pianist, song recitalist, and vocal coach based in Sweden, where he is on the music staff of the Gothenburg Opera. Originally from Santa Barbara, California, he has performed across Europe and the United States, including broadcasts for BBC Radio 3 and recitals at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Opéra de Lyon. He made his BBC Proms debut with mezzo-soprano Wallis Giunta in a concert celebrating Leonard Bernstein’s centennial.

From 2020 to 2022, Michael was a member of the Jette Parker Young Artists Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, serving as chief répétiteur for over 12 productions and collaborating with artists such as Lisette Oropesa, Pretty Yende, Christian Gerhaher, and conductors Antonio Pappano and Daniele Rustioni.

Winner of the Grand Prize Eugène Pannebakker Lied Duo Award at the International Vocal Competition in ’s-Hertogenbosch, he is also a laureate of the Helmut Deutsch Lied Competition and Wigmore Hall Song Competition.

He studied at Indiana University (Edward Auer), Guildhall School of Music & Drama (Julius Drake), and Kunstuniversität Graz. A Samling Artist, he is an alumnus of the Solti Accademia, Carnegie Hall SongStudio, and the Franz Schubert Institute.

A graduate of ESMAE, in Pedro Burmester's class, Pedro Lopes studied for a Master's degree in Chamber Music with Peter Orth and the Auryn Quartet at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold in Germany.

He has won several prizes in national and international competitions. And performed as a soloist and in ensembles in the country's main concert halls, such as Sala Suggia and Sala 2 (Casa da Música), the Large and Small Auditoriums of the Belém Cultural Centre, the Large Auditorium and Museum of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Coliseu do Porto, and the José Lúcio da Silva Theatre (Leiria), among others.