The Orquestra Clássica da Madeira, or Madeira Classical Orchestra, started life as the ‘Orquestra de Câmara da Academia de Música da Madeira’ (Chamber Orchestra of the Madeira Music Academy), established and run by the Academia de Música e Belas Artes da Madeira (Madeira Academy of Music and Fine Arts – AMBAM), on 13 February 1964. Created by Professor Jorge Madeira Carneiro, as director of the Music Section, it was initially educational in nature, aimed at students on the degree course in Music. It separated from AMBAM in the 1970s and later, in September 1996, thanks to Regional Government support to boost the artistic structure, it adopted the name ‘Madeira Classical Orchestra’.
The Orchestra has been directed by Zoltan Santa, Roberto Perez and Rui Massena, as well as guest conductors such as Gunther Arglebe, Silva Pereira, Fernando Eldoro, Manuel Ivo Cruz, Álvaro Cassuto, Jaap Schröder, Paolo Olmi, Jean-Sébastian Béreau, Martin André, Gianluca Marcianò, Evan-Alexis Christ and Nuno Coelho. Renowned soloists have performed with the orchestra, including: Elizabete Matos, Kiri Te Kanawa, Josep Carreras, Leonid Brumberg, Alexei Gorokhov, Artur Pizarro, Pedro Burmester, Tania Aszot-Harutunian, Grigori Zhislin, Olga Prats, Ana Bela Chaves, Vesko Eschkenazy, Zakhar Bron, António Rosado, Paulo Gaio Lima, Abel Pereira, Mário Laginha, Alexander Buzlov, Ilya Grubert, Amihai Grosz, Roby Lakatos, Natalia Lomeiko, Emily Beynon, Juliette Hurel, Philippe Entremont Naum Grubert, Stefano Pietrodarchi, Mayuko Kamio, Michael Guttman, Stefan Dohr, Sarah Willis, Sergei Nakariakov, Ekaterina Mochalova, Haik Kazazyan, Albrecht Mayer, Carmen Giannattasio, Alissa Margulis, Lily Maisky and Mischa Maisky.
After six decades of activity, the Orchestra is embracing a bold artistic project, with a wealth of seasons and programmes focused on different periods of music history, inviting conductors and soloists of national and international standing.
