Vasco Dantas, Portuguese pianist born in Porto in 1992, obtained his Bachelor in Music with ‘1st Class Distinction’ at the London Royal College of Music, studying piano with Dmitri Alexeev and Niel Immelman, and conducting with Peter Stark and Natalia Luis-Bassa. He concluded a Master in Performance with highest mark under the guidance of Heribert Koch, at the University of Münster, where he is accepted to the Doctoral study "Konzertexamen".

Vasco has been awarded over 50 prizes and distinctions in international competitions, including: GianClaudio Chiais International Prize (Rome), Grand Prix at Valletta International Piano Competition (Malta), Prix Spécial at Concours International de Piano SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem (Morroco), 3rd Prize at Münster Steinway & Sons Piano Competition, Travel-Scholarship to Bayreuther Festspiele 2016 by Richard Wagner Foundation, Golden Medal of Merit (Matosinhos city, Portugal), Fundação Eng. António de Almeida Prize, Best Portuguese Prize (Viseu International Competition), Esther Fisher Prize (2013 best undergraduate of London RCM), Antena 2 Prize (Portuguese National Radio), Henry Wood Trust Prize (2011 & 2012), Casa da Música Prize 2009, and the following 1st Prizes: Porto International Competition Santa Cecília, Estoril Lisbon Competition, Ría de Vigo International Piano Competition, Alto Minho International Piano Competition, Fundao International Piano Competition, the Florinda Santos International Piano Competition, Maestro Ivo Cruz Chamber Music Competition. In 2019 Vasco made his Carnegie Hall piano recital debut, in New York.

In 2017 Vasco made his Russian debut performing with Kremlin Chamber Orchestra at Grand Hall of Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory. In 2016 he made his German orchestra debut performing with both Jülich Sinfonieorchester and Junges Sinfonieorchester Aachen. In 2015 he had his Asia debut, playing with Hong Kong Symphonia at Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall; In 2014 he had his American debut playing with Orquestra Sinfónica Espírito Santo in Vitória - Brazil; In 2013 Vasco made his Portuguese orchestra debut with Porto Symphony Orchestra (Casa da Música); In 2011 Vasco made his piano recital debut at Sala Suggia of Porto Casa da Música, opening the EDP Piano Cycle 2011.

He has also performed solo with orchestras including Clássica da Madeira, Clássica do Centro, Clássica do Sul, Festival de Música Júnior, Filarmónica Portuguesa, Filarmónica das Beiras, Gulbenkian, Jovem Orquestra Portuguesa, Orquestra do Norte, Orquestra Promenade, Sinfónica de Cascais, Sinfónica Portuguesa, and has worked with well-known conductors, such as, Choi Sown Le, Daniel Cohen, Dinis Sousa, Günter Neuhold, Jan Wierzba, Joshua dos Santos, Martin André, Misha Rachlevsky, Nicholas Kok, Nikolay Lalov, Nuno Coelho, Osvaldo Ferreira, Pedro Carneiro, Pedro Neves, Peter Sauerwein, Rui Pinheiro, Vassily Sinaisky e Victor Hugo Toro.

Vasco performed live for the first time on Portuguese National Television (RTP1) when he was six years old. On the same year he made his first public appearance at the Porto Tram Museum, selected for his virtuosity among the students of the Estrelita Yamaha Music School in Porto where he had started learning the piano at age of 4.

In 2000 he was admitted with honours at Porto Music Conservatory, where he studied with Rosgard Lingardson. In 2010 he concluded his studies with the highest mark.

Since the age of 7, Vasco has also studied the violin, working with José Paulo Jesus. He achieved distinction as a violinist at the Momentum Perpetuum Orchestra directed by the British conductor Martin André, at the “Official Youth Orchestra of Portuguese Music Conservatories” (OJCOM) and as concertmaster at the Lisbon Metropolitan Young Orchestra.

Vasco has actively participated in a great number of piano masterclasses with many wellknown professors such as Alvaro Teixeira Lopes, Andrew Ball, Artur Pizarro, Betty Haag- Kuhnke, Boris Berman, Cristina Ortiz, Dmitri Alexeev, Fausto Neves, Ian Jones, Ivo Cruz, John Lill, Luiz de Moura Castro, Martin André, Mats Widlund, Murray McLachlan, Nina Tichman, Paul Badura-Skoda, Pedro Burmester, Peter Donohoe, Philippe Cassard, Sergei Covalenco, Vanessa Latarche and Yuri Bogdanov.

Vasco has performed in hundreds of musical events in a series of renowned auditoriums of 5 different continents, including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, UK and USA such as: Tsarytsino Museum and Grand Hall of Tchaikovsky Conservatory (Moscow), Chinese Cultural Centre, Institut of Contemporary Arts and Steinway Piano Gallery (Singapore), Princess Galyani Vadhana Institut of Music (Thailand), London Steinway Hall, Whiteley Hall, Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, Regent’s Hall and Pallant House Gallery (UK); Hong Kong City Hall (China); Teatro Carlos Gomes and Teatro Municipal de Barueri (Brasil); SchumannHaus Bonn, Eurogress Aachen, Düren Schloss Burgau (Germany); Stockholm Royal Palace and Stockholm Royal College of Music (Suécia); Teatro de San Agustin e Auditório Caixa Nova de Vigo (Espanha); Casa da Música, CCB, Europarque, Gulbenkian Foundation, Palácio da Pena, Palácio Nacional de Queluz, Grémio Literário de Lisboa, Ateneu Comercial do Porto, Teatro Helena Sá e Costa, Teatro Micaelense, Teatro Baltazar Dias, Mosteiro de Alcobaça, Museu Romântico do Porto and Salão Árabe do Palácio da Bolsa (Portugal).

In the area of pedagogy Vasco has got a Master’s degree in Music Teaching by Aveiro University, the diploma “Art of Teaching” by London Royal College of Music, has taught privately in London, currently has a limited number of private pupils and is invited to teach in masterclasses and festivals such as: “Piano Island Festival and Forte Musicademy (Singapore), Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music (Thailand), “Hands on Piano” (Aveiro University), ‘As Lições dos Jovens Mestres’ (Azores/Sernancelhe).

In 2018 he was a jury member of ‘Piano Island International Competition’ (Singapore), ‘Concurso Nacional de Piano de Barcelos’ (Portugal) and “Pianisti i Ri – The Young Pianist” (Kosovo).

Vasco is artist director of Algarve Music Series, a chambre music festival in the charming south region of Portugal. He has been invited to record for Antena 2, ARS Produktion, Galician Radio, MPMP and KNS Classical. His albums include: Promenade (2015), Golden Liszt (2016), Freitas Branco (2020), Poetic Scenes (2020), which are available online and were broadcasted by Antena 2 and the german radios MDR Klassik and WDR 3. Vasco is supported by AVA Musical Editions and Anna-Maria Moggio Foundation.