With an artistic career of national reference, Nuno Silva also enjoys a remarkable international reputation. He has assumed a dual career as musician and teacher, with regular performances in Portugal and abroad. International critics praise him as “Silva has the chops to handle all this music and the swing to sell it. (Fanfare Magazine) or “Silva’s tone has great core, focus and ring.” (The Clarinet).

He is frequently invited to perform at the World Clarinet Congress, having performed in the editions held in Atlanta, Vancouver, Porto, Los Angeles, Assici, Madrid, Orlando and Osteend. In the latter, he performed at the Gala Concert performing Artie Shaw’s Concerto with the Belgian Navy Symphonic Band.

In 2018 he played Magnus Lindberg’s concerto, being the first clarinetist to do so under the direction of the composer. As a teacher, he has guided masterclasses all over the world, particularly in Spain, Belgium, Brazil, USA, China, Australia and Switzerland, where in 2018 he was a guest teacher at the Haute École de Musique de Genève.

His growing notoriety at the international level has provided him with invitations to join juries of international clarinet competitions of great importance, among which are those of Lisbon, Mercadante, Carlino, São Paulo, Ghent and Genève.

His discography includes C. M. v. Weber’s Concerto No. 2, with the New Portuguese Philharmonic, works by M. Dorsam, with the Mistral Quintet, “Percursos” and “LX1988”, with the Lisbon Clarinet Quartet, “SWING.PT”, solo with the Army Symphonic Band, and “Live Performances”, solo with the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra. In 2020 he published the book “Clarinete.PT”, which received great acceptance by clarinetists and musicians in general.

Artist of the brands Buffet Crampon, Vandoren and Silverstein, Nuno Silva studied with António Saiote, Hans Deinzer, Pascal Moragués and Hakan Rosengren. He graduated from ESMAE, from Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Music Sciences) and from California State University where he obtained a Masters Degree with maximum classification in all disciplines. These academic achievements earned him an invitation to become a member of the prestigious American organisation Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society.

In 2013 he was awarded “Specialist Status”, and in 2017 he was conferred the Degree of Doctor with distinction at the University of Évora. He has won the most important national competitions, including the 1st prize for Clarinet and Chamber Music in the Young Musicians Prize 1991. He was also distinguished in international competitions, namely the Valentino Bucchi (Rome, 1992) the Aurelian Popa (Romania, 1993; Krakow, 1994) and the Concert Artists Guild (New York, 2002).

Nuno Silva is principal soloist of the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa and professor at the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra. He is also a founding member of the Lisbon Clarinet Quartet which celebrated 30 years of activity in 2018, being the oldest quartet in the world.

In 2003, Seixal Town Hall awarded him the medal of cultural merit and his biography was cited in VISÃO magazine as “a path worthy of national pride“.

His biography is included in the book by Gianluca Campagnolo “Great Clarinettists”.