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Abel Pereira was born in Porto (Portugal) in the late 70’s, was appointed Principal Horn of the National Symphony Orchestra in 2014 by Christoph Eschenbach and has been the Music Director of Eclipse Chamber Orchestra since 2016.

After his first solo performance at the age of 11, he has developed an intense concert and master class schedule in many international music festivals around Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Majored in French Horn at the Porto University, got a masters degree in Orchestra Performance from the Frankfurt Hochschule fur Music, attended post grad in Orchestra conducting at the Royal Academy of Music in London and got a PhD from the Porto University in 2012. During his training he was a member of the Portuguese Youth Orchestra, Ibero-American Youth Orchestra, Mediterranean Youth Orchestra and European Youth Orchestra. Awarded in several International Music Competitions he won 3rd prize in Leeuwarden International Horn Competition (Holland), 2nd prize in Markneukirchen Contest (Germany), 1st prize in Concertino Praga (Czech Republic), 1st prize in National Wind Competition (Portugal), 1st prize from Conservatory Souza Lima (Brazil), 1st prize at the National Radio Competition (Portugal) and 1st prize of The European Master-Prize (England).

He was a founding member and Music Director of the ARZTIZ Woodwind Quintet, Porto Brass Quintet, as well as Music Director and Executive Director of the Portuguese Horn Ensemble and Ensemble Musica Nova. During his career he has been invited to perform, teach and conduct in some of the most prestigious International Music Festivals and Music Schools around the world such as Miami Summer Music Festival, New Hampshire HALCYON, Stellenbosch Chamber Music Festival, Festival de Musique de Besançon, Ossiach Austria Festspiel, Salzburg Festival, BBC Proms, Diaghilev Festival Perm, Athens Music Fest, Baden-Baden Festspiel, Berlin Festspiel, Manly Mozart Festival and Schleswig Holstein. Participated in more than 50 recordings for Sony, EMI classics, Universal, Deutsch Gramophone, LPO records and Naxus, his solo discography includes the Mozart Horn Concerti, Romantic Repertoire for Horn and Piano, R. Strauss 1st Horn Concerto, Mozart Sinfonia Concertante and Candido Lima modern repertoire for Horn and Piano. In 2000 he recorded the Mozart Second Horn Concerto for the on going BBC TV show "Mozart for Children”. Abel was also a professor at: Lisbon University, Porto University Peabody Conservatory and guest professor at Miami University, Indiana University, Curtis Institute, Lynn University, University of Maryland, Kansas City University, Memphis University, University of Shenandoah, Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Drama and Music and Berlin Hoshchule fur Musik. He was also in the jury for the European Union Youth Orchestra for 10 years. He has played principal horn and guest principal with the Porto Symphony Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony and Berlin Philharmonic.

In addition to his career as a horn player he has been developing an intense activity as a conductor leading orchestras throughout Europe, North and South America. He was also Principal Conductor of the NSO/Summer Music Institute Youth Orchestra at the Kennedy Center from 2017 to 2021.

Abel plays an Alexander 103 model with a V. Bach 3 mouthpiece. His hobbies include cooking and sailing.