António Saiote

António Saiote wrote the history of the Clarinet in Portugal.

Born in Loures, Portugal, António Saiote is an artist and educator recognised worldwide.

António studied as a fellow of the Gulbenkian Foundation in Paris with Guy Deplus and Jacques Lancelot and in Munich with Gerd Starke. He earned a Meisterdiplom at the Hochschule in Munich with distinction. He completed a post-graduation in Contemporary Music at the University of Alcalá de Henares in Spain with Arthur Tamayo and Traditional Repertoire in England with Georges Hurst. In addition, he obtained an MPhil in Orchestra Conducting from the University of Sheffield.

As a soloist, he performed with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Portuguese Symphony, Classical Orchestra of Porto, Régie Orchestra, Radio Lisbon and Porto, São Paulo, Shanghai, Philharmonic of Beiras, North Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the Algarve, and Symphony Zurich. António was a guest soloist at world congresses in the United States, Belgium, France, Sweden, Canada, Japan, Spain and Italy and performed in festivals such as Sintra, Estoril, Nancy, Shanghai, Macau, Rabat, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Caracas, São José Santos Lima, Yangi, Musicalta, Oviedo, Guimarães, Aveiro, Vila Real, Vila Nova de Gaia, Paços de Brandão, Espinho, Algarve, Madeira, Azores, Folle Journée (CCB), Camerino, Atri and Porto Alegre.

Since 1998 he has been developing a fruitful parallel conducting career, having conducted orchestras in Portugal and other countries such as Spain, Venezuela, France and Germany. He has directed operas like Sousa Carvalho’s “O Amor Industrioso”, Haydn’s “Il Boticário”, Mozart‘s “Cosi Fan Tutte”, “Don Giovanni” and “The Magic Flute”, João Arroyo’s “Amor de Perdição”, Kurt Weill’s “Kleine Mahagony“ and “the Seven Deadly Sins”, Alexandre Delgado’s “O Doido e a Morte”, Ravel’s “The Spanish Hour”, and Schoenberg’s “Pierrot Lunaire”.

He has regularly been a jury member in the prestigious competitions of Toulon, Constancia, Seville, Warsaw, Caracas, Kortrijk, Ghent, Brasilia, and President of the Valentino competition Bucchi in Rome.
António was appointed an Honorary Member of the International Clarinet Association by unanimous vote and awarded the title of Latin American Clarinet Personality by the Clariperu Association. In addition, he received the Honour Medal of the Municipality of Loures, his hometown.

He regularly collaborates as a teacher, soloist and conductor with the Venezuelan System of Youth Orchestras.

António was the mentor and co-founder of the 2009 Clarinet World Congress in Oporto.

He was the artistic director of the Guimarães Festival and Academy.

António Saiote is the chief conductor and artistic director of the ESMAE’s Symphonic Orchestra and Marcos Romão International Clarinet Meeting and a founding member of Opera Norte.

Throughout the years, he has already performed and taught in more than thirty countries in Asia, Europe, America and North Africa.

He recorded several CDs. António maintains an active profile on YouTube of his performances.

António teaches at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo do Porto (ESMAE).

He speaks Spanish, Italian, French, German, Polish, and English.