Portuguese pianist Raúl da Costa (b. 1993) has become one of the most compelling musical voices of his generation. Praised for the clarity and depth of his interpretations, he appears regularly on major European stages, including the Konzerthaus Berlin, Palau de la Música Catalana, Gulbenkian Foundation, Lockenhaus Festival, and the Liszt Academy Budapest. He made his orchestral debut at the age of twelve at Casa da Música, Porto, launching a career that has since brought him to perform with numerous orchestras in Portugal and abroad.
Alongside his work as a soloist, Raúl is an enthusiastic chamber musician. He has shared the stage with artists such as Anja Lechner, Anouar Brahem, Sergei Nakariakov, Bruno Monsaingeon, and Albrecht Mayer. His commitment to contemporary creation has led to close collaborations with leading composers including Francisco Coll, Valentin Silvestrov, and António Victorino d’Almeida.
Raúl’s performances have been featured on ARTE, Deutsche Grammophon, Deutschlandradio, NDR, SWR, Radio France, and Portuguese national broadcasters. His live recording of Rachmaninoff’s Fourth Piano Concerto with the Porto Symphony Orchestra and Stefan Blunier is available on CD.
He received guidance from Maria João Pires, Daniel Barenboim, Ferenc Rados, and Dmitri Bashkirov. Raúl studied at the Hochschule für Musik, Medien und Theater Hannover with Karl-Heinz Kämmerling and Bernd Goetzke—later joining the school’s teaching faculty—and completed post-graduate studies with Kirill Gerstein at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin.
Since 2018, Raúl da Costa has served as Artistic Director of the Póvoa de Varzim International Music Festival, one of Portugal’s leading classical music events.