José Nunes

José Nunes is a Portuguese violist based in Amsterdam. Currently he is the Co-Principal Viola at the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra with chief conductor Lahav Shani.

José was born in 1996 in Porto (Portugal) and started playing the viola at the age of 11 at the local music school. Soon after, he started studying in ARTAVE, a professional music school where he completed his studies 6 years later at the age of 18.

Between 2014 and 2020 José studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Nobuko Imai and Francien Schatborn where he completed both his bachelor’s andmaster’s degrees with high distinctions.

Between 2018 and 2020 he was an Academist of the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, and he held a scholarship of the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.

In 2022 José was the violist of the ADAM quartet, which was part of the Netherlands String Quartet Academy. With the ADAM quartet, José performed in concert halls and venues across the Netherlands, as well as on Dutch national radio and television.

In addition, he is a regular guest player in the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, and is a member of Orquestra XXI. José also is an alumnus of the European Union Youth Orchestra in which he was a member between 2017 and 2018, performing at the major concert venues across Europe.

Since September 2022, José is an artist in residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel, under the guidance of Miguel da Silva.

José participated in numerous festivals such as the Festival Schiermonnikoog, Academia Isola Classica, Davos Festival, Moritzburg Festival, and Santander Festival. He had masterclasses under the guidance of distinguished professors like Ettore Causa, Hartmut Rohde, Antoine Tamestit, Veit Hertenstein and Tatjana Masurenko. Asa chamber musician, José played and had coachings with several musicians such as the Michelangelo Quartet, the Juilliard Quartet, Jan Vogler, Christian Poltéra, Mi-Kyung Lee, Frans Helmerson, Plamena Mangova and Mihaela Martin.

José plays on a Charles Bazin bow generously loaned by the Dutch Nationaal Muziekinstrumenten Fonds.