Olga Prats
She began her training at the age of five with her mother who was a piano teacher and at the age of six with her teacher and teacher João Maria Abreu and Motta, in particular, having performed her first recital at the Municipal Theater of São Luís, at the age of fourteen (in 1952 ). At the age of nineteen, she completed the Piano Course at the National Conservatory. She continued her studies at the Superior School of Music in Cologne where she worked with professors Gaspar Cassadó and Karl Pillney and in 1959, as a scholarship holder by the German government in partnership with the Foundation Calouste Gulbenkian, in Freiburg with Carl Seeman and Sándor Végh. During her studies in Germany she won the prize as best foreign student in 1958. After her return to Portugal in 1960, she continued her musical training with Helena Moreira de Sá e Costa. In 1965 he won the Prize Luís Costa as the best performer of Spanish music.

She was invited to teach piano in the chamber music classes of Paul Tortelier, Ludwig Streicher e Karen Georgian. She performed with numerous orchestras, among which the Orchestra of the Pommersfelden Festival, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the Buenos Aires Symphony Orchestra; the Orchestra of Porto and the National Symphony Orchestra. She attached particular importance to the performance of contemporary music ranging from works of Portuguese composers of nineteenth-century salon music to works by Fernando Lopes Graça and the works of Astor Piazzola.

She was a founding member of several groups: the Duo of piano and violet with Ana Bela Chaves (1969); the Estoril Festival Chamber Group, the Opus Ensemble (1980); Colecviva – Experimental Group of Contemporary Musical Theater (in 1975 ).

Besides teaching, recording and live performances with the group Ensemble Opus, she continues an intense activity as a jury member in national and international competitions including the Chamber Music Competition of the Bavarian Radio; theViana da Motta International Piano Competition and the Young Musicians Award.

On 6 June 2008, she was made Commander of the Order of Sant’Iago da Espada.

António Saiote
has studied clarinet in the Lisbon National Conservatory in professor Marcos Romão dos Reis’ class. Then, as grant holder of the Gulbenkian Fondation he studied in Paris with Guy Deplus and Jacques Lancelot. In Munich he got the Meisterdiplom of the Hochschule with Gerd Starke. In Spain he specialized in the direction of XXth century music in the Alcala University of Henares with Arturo Tamayo. He also did seminaries with George Hurst in Canford, in England. He was the winner of the Karol Kurpinski competition (Poland), the first prize of the Arts et Idées competition and of the Nouvelles Valeurs de la Culture competition. He was a soloist and an invited musician in various orchestras and chamber groups. Currently, he is the director of the Portuguese Clarinet Ensemble. He played chamber music in duo with pianist Pedro Burmester. He has made worldwide creations of Portuguese and foreign composers. Luciano Berio, Luciano Pavarotti, Klaus Thunemann and Karl Leister among others have publicly expressed him their admiration. He was also a chief assistant of the Inter-Regional Orchestra in Bad-Wuttenberg with the chief Nicolas Pasquet. He has already directed the Symphonic Orchestra for young people, the Invicta Orchestra, the Porto National Orchestra, the Portuguese Symphonic Orchestra, the ESMAE and the Philharmonic of the Beiras. The review has seen in him the «evidence that an excellent clarinetist can also be an excellent conductor. ». He gave Master classes in Germany, Brasil, Chili, Poland, France, China, Macao, Belgium, Hungary, India and Spain. He was the president of the board of examiners of the competitions of Setubal, Gaia, Valentino Bucchi Prize (Roma) and a member of the board of examiners of the Oktav Poppa, Toulon and Seville competition. He is the director of the clarinet course at ESMAE. He is also the president of the Portuguese Clarinet Association and the artistic director of the Porto Soloists. His concerts in Argentina, Brasil, Chili, Belgium, France, Germany, England, China, India, USA, etc. were followed by enthusiast reviews. Besides his activity as soloist, he takes part of the Porto Academic Orchestra.

Catherine Strynckx
French cellist, Catherine Strynkx, won first prize in the international competitions of Caltanissetta e Trapani and at the "Vittorio Gui" competition in Florence.

Extensive orchestral experience has included the Camarata Lysy (1989-1992), the "Orchestre des Pays de Savoie" (1993-2000) and the Orquestra Nacional do Porto (2000-2002). During this time Catherine also recorded six CDs of chamber music with various ensembles and regularly colaborated with the Orquestra Utópica in Lisbon.

Solo and chamber music work has taken Catherine to many countries around the world with a variety of well known ensembles and musicians. Playing the baroque cello she has worked under the direction of R. Goebel, T. Koopmann, C. Coin and Fabio Biondi.

Catherine has taught at the conservatoires of Besançon and Belfort in France and has given masterclasses in Tailand, Brazil, Switzerland and Portugal. She currently teaches at the Escola Superior in Castelo Branco and the Escola de Música do Conservatório Nacional in Lisboa.