A cello professor in Berlin and Münster, Matias de Oliveira Pinto died on 4 February 2025
Brazilian cellist Matias de Oliveira Pinto died in a car accident on the evening of 4 February 2025 in Berlin. He was 64.
De Oliveira Pinto was a cello professor at the Berlin University of the Arts and Münster University of Music, where Barbara Plenge, vice dean for studies and teaching, informed students of his death.
‘I have very sad news to deliver: Matias de Oliveira Pinto was killed in a car accident during the night,’ she wrote.
‘The news was brought to the dean’s office of the School of Music by the police this morning. We are shocked, stunned and infinitely sad.’
The university has offered counselling services to students affected by De Oliveira Pinto’s death.
De Oliveira Pinto was born on 14 July 1960 in São Paulo, Brazil. He was the son of Cyro del Nero, a set designer, and brother of Tiago de Oliveira Pinto, who became an ethnomusicologist.
As a child, he studied piano and cello, was a student of Zygmunt Kubala and at the age of 18 he became a teacher at the Paraná School of Music and Fine Arts.
He received a scholarship from the Herbert von Karajan Foundation in 1980, which allowed him to study at the Berlin University of the Arts and at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, under the tutelage of Csaba Onczay. He also received lessons from William Pleeth, Aldo Parisot and Paul Tortelier.
De Oliveira Pinto maintained an active performing career, touring internationally in the US, South America, Europe, Israel, Japan, Korea, New Zealand and Australia. He also gave masterclasses in several countries and was a jury member of the Popper International Cello Competition.
In his home country of Brazil, he was the artistic director of the Ouro Branco Festival, and participated in festivals, chamber recitals and solo appearances throughout the country. His final appearance in Brazil was on Sunday 2 February 2025, where he taught and performed alongside the student orchestra of the 42nd Curitiba Music Workshop.
He recorded albums for European labels such as Cello Colors, Kreuzberg Records, Bella Musica and Hungaroton Classics. In 2020, he recorded Camargo Guarnieri’s Choro for cello and orchestra with Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo for Naxos.
Tributes for the late cellist flowed on social media. De Oliveira Pinto’s former teacher, Hungarian cellist Csaba Onczay, said: ‘My heart is broken…The tragic accident cut short his extremely valuable career.’
‘His death shocked the international classical music community and everyone who knew his art and kind personality,’ Onczay continued.
The number one source for playing and teaching books, guides, CDs, calendars and back issues of the magazine.
In The Best of Technique you’ll discover the top playing tips of the world’s leading string players and teachers. It’s packed full of exercises for students, plus examples from the standard repertoire to show you how to integrate the technique into your playing.
The Strad’s Masterclass series brings together the finest string players with some of the greatest string works ever written. Always one of our most popular sections, Masterclass has been an invaluable aid to aspiring soloists, chamber musicians and string teachers since the 1990s.
The Canada Council of the Arts’ Musical Instrument Bank is 40 years old in 2025. This year’s calendar celebrates some its treasures, including four instruments by Antonio Stradivari and priceless works by Montagnana, Gagliano, Pressenda and David Tecchler.
No comments yet