One of the most internationally respected Portuguese artists, Abel Pereira was born in Porto, in the late 1970s. He is currently Principal Horn of the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington, D.C.), under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach.

Since his first solo performance at the age of 11, he has engaged in an intense concert and master class schedule throughout Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. He has also participated in the prestigious International Horn Symposium.

Pereira was awarded at the Leeuwarden International Horn Competition (the Netherlands), Internationaler Instrumentalwettbewerb Markneukirchen (Germany), Concertino Praga (Czech Republic), and PJM-RDP (Portugal). In 1998 he received the European Master Prize from Vladimir Ashkenazy and Bernard Haitink

A few recordings stand out from the many he has released, namely the complete Mozart Horn Concerti for AP Records, the URTEXT Mozart 4th Concerto for EMI Classics, Romantic Repertoire for Horn and Piano, the 1st Horn Concerto by R. Strauss, and the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for Stellenbosch University Records.

He was Principal Horn with the Porto Symphony Orchestra, Casa da Música for 14 years, as well as a teacher at Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra in Lisbon, and Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo, in Porto.

Pereira has performed more than 50 solo concerts with many renowned orchestras. He was praised by the AvantGarde Praha newspaper for “…fantastic phrasing and a velvet sound…,” while the Johannesburg Arts, Culture and Heritage Magazine commends his “…brilliant performance, clear articulation and powerful sound…”

He has played in such venues as the Royal Concertgebouw, Berliner Philharmonie, La Scala di Milano, Cité de la Musique, Royal Albert Hall, London Festival Hall, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Wiener Musikverein, and Munchen Gasteig, with conductors including Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim, Bernard Haitink, Sir Colin Davis, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Alan Gilbert, Mstislav Rostropovich, and Carlo Maria Giulini.

Pereira has been a frequent Guest Principal Horn with MusicAeterna Orkestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, London Philharmonic, and Berliner Philharmoniker.

Pereira loves sailing and creative cooking. He plays the Alexander 103 horn.