Marta Menezes is one of the most prominent Portuguese pianists of her generation. Her recitals explore the dialogue between tradition and originality, through proposals that highlight the nuances, subtlety, and musical sensitivity characteristic of her interpretation. Her carefully chosen repertoire, which reflects an affinity with Beethoven, spans from the Baroque to the present day and often includes works by lesser-known composers, many of them Portuguese.
Her commitments for the 2023/24 season include her debut as a soloist with the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, the Sinfonietta de Lisboa, and the Orquestra Clássica da Madeira, with which she will perform works by E. Halffter, W. A. Mozart, and F. Lopes-Graça.
Among her recent collaborations, notable are the concerts with the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, the Orquesta Nacional de España, the Orquesta de València, the Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras, the Orquestra Clássica do Centro, the Orquestra Sinfónica de Thomar, and the Orquestra sem Fronteiras. She has worked with conductors such as Pedro Neves, Nuno Coelho, Jaime Martín, Karel Mark Chichon, Pedro Amaral, Jan Wierzba, Rui Pinheiro, and Martim Sousa Tavares. In recital, she has performed in auditoriums and festivals around the world, such as the National Centre for the Performing Arts (Beijing), St. Martin-in-the-Fields (London), the XIII Festiwal Urodzinowy Fryderyka Chopina (Warsaw), and the Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon).
Marta plays an active role in promoting Portuguese music, by including this repertoire in her concerts. Among her recent projects, "5 Encores for Beethoven" (2020) stands out, in which she presented Beethoven's 5 Piano Concertos and premiered 5 encores to the Concertos, commissioned from composers of her generation. Last season, she gave the world premiere of Tiago Derriça's Piano Concerto, dedicated to her.
Marta completed her bachelor's and master's degrees in piano at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa with Miguel Henriques, where she also worked with Jorge Moyano. She finished her master's degree with the highest distinction. She continued her studies in London at the Royal College of Music with Dmitri Alexeev and later in the United States with Arnaldo Cohen, earning her doctorate from the Indiana University – Jacobs School of Music.
Throughout her career, she has won several awards and distinctions, including 1st prize in the Beethoven Competition at the Royal College of Music and in the Nice Côte D'Azur International Piano Competition, the "Medalha de Prata de Valor e Distinção" for her career as a pianist, awarded by the Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa, and the Silver Medal at the Global Music Awards (United States) for her CD featuring works by Beethoven and Lopes-Graça, in the categories of Classical Piano and Emerging Artist.
(Repertoire: Piano and Orchestra and Recital programs for 2024/25)