Edgar Cardoso is a Portuguese pianist/composer/musical theatre performer/member of the Sunrise Art Group performing arts teachers in Shanghai for 2019/2020. Edgar studied classical music in Portugal, Germany, UK and USA (BMus, MMus, MEd, ArtDip) and alongside his performance career as concert pianist and later on as musical theatre actor, he has collaborated with many fellow artists and composed/arranged material for new artistic projects.

Edgar studied Composition for 6 years at Universidade de Aveiro while living in his home country. He was requested to write an acapella version for choir of E Depois do Adeus, a very relevant anthem for the history of Portugal. He then moved first to Stuttgart, Germany, where he embraced piano improvisation and was mentored by renowned piano improviser Laurens Patzlaff on not just classical but also jazz and pop improvisation. 

This shift to non-classical settings continued in London, UK, where he studied Improvisation in Jazz, Blues, Modern/Contemporary and Ballet, at Trinity Laban Conservatoire. There he developed a new musical, Spectrum, performed at the Blackheath Theatre and then selected for a longer run at the Camden Fringe 2016. As a musical director he also helped develop new projects like No One In The World, Spend Spend Spend (two British musicals), A Scale of Half a Mile (dance performance for two pianos and contemporary dancers, showcased at the National Maritime Museum Festival), The Picture of Dorian Gray (immersive play with original and improvised music at the piano by Edgar Cardoso) and Peter Panto (arrangements/mash-ups of musical theatre/Disney songs into comedic musical sketches). Finally, still in London, he composed the soundtrack for Cold Hands, a short film by Tiago Sarmento.

Edgar has a considerable amount of experience playing in Lounge settings where he has mastered a vast repertoire of New Age/Minimalistic/Crossover piano music, with his biggest references being Yiruma, Ludovico Einaudi and the ever revolutionary Claude Debussy. Edgar is extremely eager to take any composition challenge that comes on his way.