Praised for his “magnetic playing” (Cristian Macelaru), Carlos Ferreira is hailed as one of the most proclaimed clarinetists of our time.
Prize winner at the ARD International Competition in Munich, the Geneva International Competition and of the WEMAG Soloist Prize at the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Carlos Ferreira captivates audiences with his artistry, refined sound and stage presence.
Carlos Ferreira is Principal Clarinet of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Previously he held the same position with the Orchestre National de France, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Orchestre National de Lille.
He was an European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) Rising Star for the 2024/25 season, thus performing in some of Europe’s most distinguished concert venues, impressing audiences everywhere with his technical ease, colouristic range and charismatic artistry.
Carlos enjoys an extensive international career as soloist and chamber musician, performing at the at the world’s major festivals and venues.
As soloist, he appears with the Orchestre National de France, the the Münchener Rundfunkorchester, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, the Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa, the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, the Münchener Kammerorchester, Prague Philharmonia, the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève and the Collegium Musicum Basel, and under the direction of acclaimed conductors such as Cristian Măcelaru, Lorenzo Viotti, Nuno Coelho, Valentin Uryupin, Gabriel Bebeșelea and Pierre Bleuse, always delivering deeply moving performances.
As a chamber musician, he has worked with world-renowned musicians such as Hilary Hahn, Alice Sara Ott, Emmanuel Pahud, Eric le Sage, Paul Meyer, Lise Berthaud, Pierre Fouchenneret, Sarah Nemtanu, Quatuor Hermès, Timothy Ridout, Frank Duprée, Nika Goric, Karen Gomyo, Julia Hagen and Sao Soulez-Larivière.
Member of the Academy of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 2016, Carlos Ferreira pursued his orchestral ca reer at first with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo as Principal E-flat Clarinet.
Born in Paredes, Portugal, he received a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation while studying at the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid, in the class of professors Michel Arrignon and Enrique Pérez Piquer. He later joined the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the class of Arno Piters, and the HEMU of Lausanne in the class of Florent Héau. In Portugal, he was a student of José Ricardo Freitas at the José Atalaya Music Academy and ARTAVE, having completed his degree with Nuno Pinto at the Porto Superior School of Music and Performing Arts (ESMAE).
His first joint album with the pianist and composer Pedro Emanuel Pereira titled “XX-XXI” was released in November 2022.