José Nunes, viola
Associate Artist
Born in 1996 in Porto, José Nunes is a Portuguese violist based in Amsterdam. Since August 2023, he has been co-principal viola of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Lahav Shani.
He began playing the viola at the age of eleven and continued his training at the professional school ARTAVE before entering the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, where he obtained both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees cum laude in the class of Nobuko Imai and Francien Schatborn.
Between 2018 and 2020, he was an academist with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and was awarded a scholarship from the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.
In 2022, he was violist of the ADAM Quartet, a member of the Netherlands String Quartet Academy. He regularly appears as a guest with ensembles such as the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and is a member of Orquestra XXI.
A former member of the European Union Youth Orchestra, José Nunes has performed in numerous concert halls across Europe and taken part in festivals including the Festival Schiermonnikoog, Academia Isola Classica, Davos Festival, Moritzburg Festival and Santander Festival.
He has participated in masterclasses with distinguished violists such as Ettore Causa, Hartmut Rohde, Antoine Tamestit, Veit Hertenstein and Tatjana Masurenko. As a chamber musician, he collaborates with many artists, including the Juilliard Quartet, Christian Poltéra, Mi-Kyung Lee, Frans Helmerson and Mihaela Martin.
José Nunes is an Associate Artist of the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel. He was Artist in residence there from 2022 to 2025, under the direction of Miguel da Silva.
Last updated: 24 March 2026