The winner of the second edition of the European Union Conducting Competition, which took place in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, is Portuguese. José Eduardo Gomes, professor at the School of Music and Performing Arts (ESMAE) of the Polytechnic of Porto, brought the first prize to Porto and has already been congratulated by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
"Its distinction, among three hundred candidates, is cause for fair rejoicing for the Portuguese music scene, also bearing in mind its internationalization, which is already a well-established fact", reads on the page of the Presidency of the Republic. In addition to this award, the conductor also brings the trophy for best performance by Beethoven.
After four rounds, José Eduardo Gomes was selected, among about 300 maestros, for the final where he would collect the first prize, in a concert at the National Conservatory of Music in Sofia. Completing the podium were Almanzar Sebastian, from Colombia, and Zlatkov Svetlomir, from Bulgaria. The event was organized by Bulgaria Hall, in cooperation with the National Arts Orchestra, Kodaly Philharmonic Orchestra and Pazardjik Symphony Orchestra.
José Eduardo Gomes, born in 1983 in the city of Famalicão, is a full maestro of the Classical Orchestra of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP) and, as already mentioned, professor at ESMAE, where he works with the various orchestras. He was the main maestro of the Classical Orchestra of the Center, between 2016 and 2018, associate maestro of the Classical Southern Orchestra, between 2018 and 2019, main maestro of the Choir of the Porto Opera Circle, in Porto, between 2011 and 2017, and principal maestro of the Orchestra Chambre de Carouge, Switzerland, from 2008 to 2011.
Before that, he studied clarinet at ESMAE, where he graduated in the class of António Saiote, pursuing studies in Orchestra Direction at the Haute École de Musique de Genève, Switzerland, in the class of Laurent Gay, and subsequently in Choir Direction in the class of Celso Antunes. As an instrumentalist, he has dedicated himself to chamber music and regularly performs with various trainings in Portugal and abroad.
In its most pedagogical aspect, José Eduardo Gomes regularly conducts youth orchestras with which he carries out a very important work of training musicians. He collaborates regularly with the Orquestra Geração project and with several schools throughout the country, such as the Viana do Castelo Professional School of Music, ARTAVE School, Costa Cabral Music Academy and EPABI.
