At Porto Pianofest, we are committed to creating new artistic partnerships and promoting the stars of tomorrow. This year, we are proud to present two incredibly talented musicians, flutist Ana Ferraz and pianist Sélim Mazari, who are coming to Porto Pianofest for their first collaboration. These two power-house performers embody our mission of creating new musical connections, and this premiere performance is one you will not want to miss!

Flautist, Ana Ferraz is a Portuguese-born star who has already garnered numerous accolades in her career. Through her international career, Ana collaborates regularly with the Berliner Kammer Philharmonie, where she has held the position of first flute since May 2022. Selim Mazari is a French pianist who has performed at some of the world's most prestigious venues, including the Philharmonie de Paris and the Royal Albert Hall, and was nominated for the important "Victoires de la Musique" award.

Together, Ana and Selim will present a spectacular program that showcases their incredible talent and passion.

We are proud to support emerging artists like Ana and Selim, and we hope that their performance will inspire our audience.

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Artist Biographies:

Ana Ferraz
Portuguese flautist, Ana Ferraz has had an extensive performing career which includes  several internationally renowned festivals and venues including the Musikverein in Vienna, Salzburg Festival, Póvoa do Varzim International Music Festival, Bolzano Festival, Ravello Festival, Saarbrücken Festival, InClassica Festival Dubai, and Santander Festival, among others. In 2018, Ana obtained 1st Prize in the 20th Estoril Interpretation Competition by unanimous vote of the jury. Ana collaborates regularly with the Berliner Kammer Philharmonie, where she has held the position of first flute since May 2022.

Born in Porto, Ana Ferraz began studying the flute at the "Conservatório de Música da Maia" in the class of Professor Marco Pereira. In 2013, she obtained the award for best student of the instrumentalist course at the "ARTAVE" (2010-2013). Later, she joined the class of Michel Bellavance at the Haute École de Musique de Genève (2013-2016), where she finished her degree with maximum classification and distinction from the jury in her final recital, and was a scholarship holder from the  Fondation Hélène et Victor Barbour.
Ana continued her studies with Julien Beaudiment, at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et Danse de Lyon (2016-2018), as a grantee of the Calouste Gulbenkian foundation scholarship, where she once again finished her master's degree in performance, with a mention from the jury: "Trés Bien à l'unanimité". Ana also studied with Vicens Prats (2019), at the Escuela Superior de Música de Cataluña. In the same year, she was selected as first flute of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester 2019-2021, considered the best youth orchestra in the world.
To finish with excellence in her academic career, Ana Ferraz chooses the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia for a postgraduate course (2020-2022), with renowned professor Jacques Zoon, where she was recognized by Her Majesty Queen Doña Sofia, as the "Most Outstanding Student" of the 2021-2022 course. During her course in ESMRS, Ana received the support of Santander Portugal Foundation (2020-2021) and EDP Foundation (2022).
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Selim Mazari

“Sélim Mazaris’ playing, supreme and majestic, with a perfect mastery of science of acoustics, opens the doors of dreams.” Praised by the journalist Alain Lompech after a performance of Images by Debussy (Paris, Fondation Vuitton, June 2018), this young French pianist is already considered one of the best soloists of his generation.

Highlights of Sélim’s 21/22 season include chamber music concerts (Nantes – Folle jounrée, Piano à Lyon, Périgueux, Biot, aso.) with the violonist Augustin Dumay, the Arnold string Trio and the Modigliani Quartet; an orchestra tour with the Mannheim Chamber Orchestra conducted by Paul Meyer (Mannheim , Aix-en-Provence….); recitals at La Roque d’Anthéron, the Opera House in Toulon (as well as 4 hands with the russian pianist Adi Neuhaus), la Grange de Meslay; two piano recitals with his frien Tanguy de Williencourt (Switzerland, France), aso. Selim made his debut at the Philharmonie in Paris in March 2023, playing the Mozart Concerto 21 with the ONDIF conducted by Vassily Sinaisky.

A brilliant chamber-music performer, Selim regularly plays alongside the pianist Michel Dalberto, the cellist Victor Julien-Lafferière, the violinist Raphaëlle Moreau, the Modigliani and Hermès Quartets, as well as with flautist Josephine Olech, (First Prize of the 2019 Nielsen Competition and principal flute of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra). He has also collaborated with cellists Yo-yo Ma and Henri Demarquette, and with the Artemis Quartet.

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