Clarinet Vitor Fernandes


Awarded in 2018 with the 2nd Prize at the 73rd Geneva Competition, following his 1st Prize at the 2017 Ghent International Competition, at the age of 28 Vitor Fernandes is recognized as one of the leading clarinetists of his generation.

Vitor started his musical studies at the age of 7 by being part of a small wind band in his hometown in Portugal, a practice that was and still is very common in this country.
Since then, he has won over a dozen prizes in National and International competitions all over the world. In 2019, Vitor won a trial for the Solo Clarinet position at the London Symphony Orchestra.
Vitor is currently focused on his soloist career, having played as a soloist and with various chamber music groups in places such as Paris, London, Berlin, Geneva, Zurich, Venice, Seoul, Hong-Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Beijing, Dubai, Ljubljana, Sofia, etc. Highlights include an Asian Tour in 2019 with pianist Dmitry Shishkin at the National Concert Hall in Taipei, as well as debuts in Hong-Kong and Singapore and both Mozart and Brahms Quintets at the Queen Elizabeth Music Chapel in 2022.

Passionate about teaching, Vitor has been guest teacher at the National Taipei University of Arts, National Taiwan University of Education, Beijing’s Central Conservatory, School of the Arts Singapore, and teaching in numerous festivals in Portugal, Poland and The Netherlands. He has performed as a soloist with the Brussels Philharmonic, Sofia Philharmonic, Kammerorchester Basel, L’Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, Gyor Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Symphonic Band of the Belgian Guides, Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra, The United Nations Orchestra, among others, playing concertos ranging from Mozart and Spohr to Tomasi and Nielsen. He has also played as a guest member with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, SWR Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart and Bergen Philharmonic.
Vitor has recorded for the Portuguese National Radio and Television, Radio Television Suisse, France Musique, Bartók Radio Hungary and National Radio of Slovenia. 

In 2018, after finishing his Master’s Diploma at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, he was awarded with the Sih-Woo Cardinaux-Chang prize.
In 2020, he finishes his Diplôme de Soliste with distinction and honors from the jury.