Daniel Bernardes

Daniel Bernardes was born in Alcobaça on 26 June 1986. He began studying piano at the age of 5 and moved to Paris at the age of 18, where he was admitted to the École Normale de Musique de Paris. He returned to Portugal to devote himself to jazz, studying with Filipe Melo at the Luíz Villas-Boas Jazz School, then entering the Lisbon Superior School of Music where, under the guidance of João Paulo Esteves da Silva, he became the first Jazz Piano Degree holder at the institution. He is currently studying for a PhD in Musical Arts at Universidade Nova de Lisboa. In 2010 he presented his trio at Casa da Música, with which he released his debut album Nascem da Terra in 2013. He has also developed an intense activity as a composer, seeking to merge the universes of jazz and classical music. He was awarded the Young Creators Grant from the National Centre for Culture for the Daniel Bernardes' Crossfade Ensemble project and, in collaboration with the Drumming Percussion Group, he created A Liturgia dos Pássaros, a project in homage to Olivier Messiaen, highlighted by the American magazine JazzTimes. Based on collections by Michel Giacometti, he created O Rondó da Carpideira, a multidisciplinary show in partnership with saxophonist Mário Marques and multimedia artist Gonçalo Tarquínio. He also works in theatre, directing W. Shakespeare's Cimbelino, directed by António Pires for Teatro do Bairro, and Sweet Home Europa by D. Carnevali, directed by João Pedro Mamede, in a production by Teatro Nacional D. Maria II. He made his television debut composing the music for the series A Espia, a Ukbar production for RTP. He made his way to the cinema with João Botelho's soundtracks for Peregrinação, O Ano da Morte de Ricardo Reis and Filme em Forma de Assim.