RODRIGO PIRES DE LIMA⸻

Rodrigo Pires de Lima is currently a professor of saxophone and improvisation at Lisbon Superior College of Music, and also teaches at Lusíada University. He completed his doctoral degree at the University of Minnesota, USA, in 2019.

He also earned a specialisation in 21st century music for saxophone from the Conservatory of Strasbourg, a Master’s Degree in Music Teaching, a Master’s in Music, and a Diploma in Saxophone from Lisbon Superior College of Music.

Pires de Lima’s doctoral project, "The Use of Human Echolocation in Music" – the first musical piece for people with visual impairment not using Braille as a reading aid – obtained significant media coverage. 

Rodrigo Pires de Lima is currently professor of saxophone at the Higher School of Music in Lisbon, and also teaches improvisation.

Since 2003, Pires de Lima has given masterclasses at several conservatories and festivals.

Pires de Lima was a soloist with the Symphonic Orchestra of the National Guard in Lisbon from 2004 to 2019. He has taught saxophone at the Silva Marques Regional Conservatory of Music and Dance, the Luís António Maldonado Rodrigues Conservatory, and the Metropolitan Conservatory in Lisbon.

As a chamber music performer, he was worked with the Czech pianist and composer Zdenka Kosnarova as one half of Duo 152. Together, they have toured Europe and given recitals, including their own original compositions.

In 2017, Pires de Lima embarked on a new project, Electroville Jukebox, combining improvisation, contemporary, world, and electronic music, featuring works by Portuguese composers alongside original compositions. In 2018, Rodrigo Pires de Lima formed Trio, with Preston Duncan (saxophone) and Casey Rafn (piano), a project dedicated to the work of Portuguese and American composers. This outfit ended the year with a series of recitals in the United States, culminating with two concerts in New York, at Manhattan School of Music and Buffet Showroom, Times Square.

Pires de Lima has created a number of solo and chamber music pieces. He combines his passion for chamber music with an active career as a soloist, performing widely both at home and abroad, and recording premieres for saxophone and orchestra.

In recent years, Rodrigo Pires de Lima has devoted part of his time to creating pieces for saxophone. In 2013, he composed "Weiss (442Hz- 453hHz)" for alto solo saxophone, in 2017 "Daniela 3.0" for baritone saxophone, electric guitar, percussion and electronics, and in 2019 "Oak Grove" for saxophone quartet.