One of the most qualified portuguese saxophonists, Carlos Canhoto was the first to obtain a PhD in Music (Performance). He did this at Aveiro University after having graduated in Saxophone and Chamber Music at Cergy-Pontoise Conservatory, France, with professor Jean-Yves Fourmeau, and Musicology at Universidade Nova in Lisbon. He won several prizes, including the 1st prize at the U.F.A.M. Contest in Paris, in 1995, in the category “Supérieur”, and the 1st Prize at the Ile-de-France contest in Chamber Music, in 1998. He has been very active in the promotion of new contemporary music, working closely with composers like Christopher Bochmann, Antonin Servičre, Pedro Amaral, Amílcar Vasques Dias, António Chagas Rosa, José Carlos Sousa and Eduardo Patriarca, among others. He's a founder and a distinguished member of Síntese, one of the leading contemporary music ensembles in Portugal. He is the Artistic Director of Síntese – Contemporary Music Festival. Among other recordings, in 2016 he issued his CD “SHOUT”, with pianist Natalia Riabova. Carlos Canhoto is currently Professor at Castelo Branco's Higher Education School of Arts (ESART). He's also a researcher at INET/MD in Lisbon. He is a founding member of the Portuguese Saxophone Association and was a member of the Organization Board of the EurSax’17 – European Saxophone Congress.http://carloscanhoto.com