Principal First Violin

Born in Porto, Afonso Fesch had the opportunity of learning from great pedagogues during his training. Mentors such as Yossif Grinman, Pavel Vernikov, Dora Schwarzberg, Raphaël Oleg and Ivry Gitlis were essential to his artistic development.

A strong advocate of chamber music, Afonso had the privilege of sharing the stage as chamber musician or soloist with musicians such as Guy Braunstein, Giuliano Carmignola, Thomas Demenga, Yoel Gamzou, Otto Tausk, François Benda, Silvia Simonescu, Roland Glassl, Pascal Siffert, Diemut Poppen, Anton Kernjak, Delphine Lizé, Raphaël Oleg, Ivry Gitlis, among others.

As a soloist, Afonso has joined various orchestras such as the Hamburger Symphoniker, Staatsorchester Kassel, Basel Sinfonieorchester, Porto Symphony Orchestra of Casa da Música, International Mahler Orchestra and the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker.

Afonso Fesch has also worked regularly with several contemporary music groups, having worked with musicians such as Jörg Widmann, Peter Rundel, Heinz Holliger, Thomas Demenga, Helmut Lachenmann, Thomas Adès, Harrison Birtwistle, Ilya Gringolts, among others. He recorded for the label “col legno” the piece “Mysteriendramen” from Elmar Lampson and also premiered, in March of 2014, his Violin Concerto with the Staatsorchester Kassel.

As an orchestral musician, Afonso has worked as concertmaster of several orchestras and ensembles such as the International Mahler Orchestra, Porto Symphony Orchestra of Casa da Música, Ensemble Musique des Lumières, among other guest concertmaster appearances. From 2020 to 2024, Afonso held the solo violin position of the second violins with the Royal Danish Orchestra and was recently appointed as Principal First Violin with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.