ABOUT
Recent 1st Prize-Winner at the 2023 National Flute Association Young Artists Competition, Sydney-based David Silva has rapidly established his career as an outstanding flutist. Other accomplishments include the 1st prize at the Australian Flute Festival Competition, 1st prize at the 23rd Estoril Interpretation Competition (Portugal), 2nd prize at Clara Wieck Schumann Competition 2022 (Italy), 4th prize at 2022 Tampere Flute Fest - Young Artists Competition (Finland) and the 3rd prize at the Dutch International Flute Competition 2021.
In the orchestral field, David Silva was a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugend Orchester between 2018 and 2020 where he had the opportunity to work under such esteemed conductors as Christian Thielemann, Herbert Blomstedt, Vladimir Jurowski and Alain Altinoglu. Other orchestral engagements include the Opera Australia Orchestra, the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Musikkollegium Winterthur.
As a solo and chamber musician, he is responsible for the creation and development of several projects that led him to perform in renowned Portuguese venues such as the Gulbenkian Modern Art Center, Oriente Museum, Foz Palace, Fronteira Palace, Queluz Palace, Aciprestes Palace, Belmonte Palace and the National Library of Portugal.
David Silva began his musical studies at the age of six, having entered the National Conservatory Music School at the age of twelve in the class of Professor João Pereira Coutinho. He was later accepted at the Lisbon Superior School of Music, where he completed his degree with Professor Nuno Ivo Cruz. For two consecutive years, David received an academic merit scholarship awarded by the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon.
After completing his undergraduate education in Portugal, he continued his studies in some of the most renowned European music institutions: Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel (Masters in Music) and Haute École de Musique de Genève (Masters in Musical Interpretation). His primary mentors abroad were Carlos Bruneel and Michel Bellavance (Flute), Jerica Pavli and Katlijn Sergeant (Piccolo) and Serge Saitta and Anna Besson (Traverso). His studies were supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation with a scholarship for his artistic merit.
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David Silva is currently the flute teacher at Cranbrook School in Sydney.