Fondazione Accademia di Musica di Pinerolo e Torino

Cellist Leonor Claro was born in Porto in 2007, where she began her musical studies at
the age of eight. Currently a student of Oksana Chevtz at the Conservatório de Música do Porto, she was awarded 1st prize in several national and international competitions, including the VI Concurso Nacional de Cordas [National Strings Competition] Vasco Barbosa (2021) and the 37th Edition of the Prémio Jovens Músicos [Young Musicians Award] (chamber music), among others.
In 2021, she performed as soloist with the Camerata Atlântica at the Teatro São Carlos in Lisbon, and in 2023 and 2024, was principal cellist in orchestras conducted by José Eduardo Gomes and Jan Wierzba.
In addition to being a cellist, Leonor is an accomplished pianist, currently studying at
Fundação Conservatório Regional de Gaia with Rui Pintão. She was awarded 1st Prize at the XIII Concurso de Piano [Piano Competition] da Póvoa de Varzim (2018), as well as at the I Concurso de Piano [Piano Competition] Margarida Magalhães de Sousa (2021), the XXV International Competition “Pro Piano-România” (2021), and the XXIII Santa Cecília Piano International Competition (2021). Her success in both the 1
st and 2nd editions of the Concurso de Piano Margarida Magalhães de Sousa resulted in live-broadcast performances for RTP Açores at Teatro Micaelense. In 2022, as winner of the “Best Portuguese Junior B” award from the Santa Cecília Piano International Competition, she made her piano solo recital debut, MUSICATOS’22, at Paços da Cultura in São João da Madeira.
Leonor has been fortunate to work with musicians such as Pedro Borges, Bruno
Borralhinho, Miguel Borges Coelho, Marc Coppey, Patrick Demenga, Ophélie Gaillard, Giovanni Gnocchi, Julia Haager, Maria de Macedo, Valter Mateus, Jaroslav Mikus, Jaime Mota, Fausto Neves, Pedro Emanuel Pereira, Marco Pereira, Martti Roussi, Constantin Sandu, Nuno Silva, Saúl Silva and António Pinho Vargas.