Sequeira Costa

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Sequeira Costa (born July 18, 1929, Luanda, Angola) is a Portuguese pianist who is especially admired for his interpretations of the Romantic repertoire.

As a child, Costa showed exceptional musical talent. When he was eight years old, he moved to Lisbon to become the protege of José Vianna da Motta who was one of the last pupils of Franz Liszt. Following Vianna da Motta's death in 1948, Costa continued his studies in London under another former student of Liszt, Mark Hamburg. Costa also worked with Marguerite Long and Jacques Fevrier in Paris and Edwin Fischer in Switzerland. Under these teachers, Costa was immersed in both the German and French schools of pianism. In his performing career, Costa has drawn upon his understanding of both traditions to develop his personal style of musical interpretation.

At the age of 22, Costa launched his international career by winning the Grand Prix at the Marguerite Long International Piano Competition. Five years later, he founded the Vianna da Motta International Music Competition in Lisbon. In 1958, Dmitri Shostakovich invited Costa to sit on the jury of the inaugural International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, to which he returned six times.

Today, Costa continues to regularly appear on the panels of some of the world's most prestigious music competitions, while also delivering numerous master classes and giving regular tours. Costa has recorded the complete cycle of piano concertos by Sergei Rachmaninoff, and has recently completed the final recording of the complete sonatas of Beethoven.

Since 1976, Costa has served as the Cordelia Brown Murphy Distinguished Professor of Piano at the University of Kansas.