Spotlight on Brazilian saxophonist, Diogo Pinheiro

Spotlight on Brazilian saxophonist, Diogo Pinheiro

2023-11-07

Today we take you to meet Diogo Pinheiro, whose saxophone has led him on an adventure across Taiwan. FTV reporter Stephany Yang caught up with the Brazilian musician, to find out more about his career and life.

Since moving to Taiwan, Pinheiro has worked with prominent musicians such as Jay Chou. Pinheiro was invited to play with the Chou at his Carnival World Tour in December 2022.

Diogo Pinheiro
Saxophone player
I did the show in Singapore first. We did two shows in Singapore. He is on tour to celebrate 20 years, now 23 after COVID. It was 20 years of his career. It was just a whole new level of performance and organization and everything. I was really happy with this opportunity.

Pinheiro started playing saxophone when he was 6. Since then, his dream has been to be a professional and perform on big stages. To fulfill his dream, he attended the Stetson University Saxophone Workshop in the U.S. in 2007. After that, Pinheiro performed at the NAMM Show, the biggest music trade fair in the world as a guest artist. He moved to Taiwan in 2019 where he performs in a variety of events.

Diogo Pinheiro
Saxophone player
Coming from Brazil the thing I love the most about Taiwan is the safety. It is so safe here. I mean, last week I forgot my saxophone in my parking lot because I was so tired. Too many gigs this year so I forgot my saxophone in the parking lot. In Brazil, in two seconds I would never see my saxophone again. But it is Taiwan. Taiwan is super safe. The second thing and mostly that I like most about Taiwan is that Taiwanese people are so nice, really polite, really helpful, especially with foreigners. I feel that Taiwan is a very foreigner-friendly country. I like the safety, I like the country, I like the food. I love Taiwan. I just like everything about here.

When public performances were suspended during the COVID pandemic, he began teaching the saxophone.

Diogo Pinheiro
Saxophone player
I found out that the students they don’t really have the open ears for music. They must read but they are not really listening for real what they are playing. So, I try to focus mostly on opening their ears to imagine that instead of just reading music, they should sing with their instrument.

Pinheiro is currently working on a new CD, which will feature original music inspired by his experiences in Taiwan. One original song on the CD is titled “First Kiss.”

Diogo Pinheiro
Saxophone player
When we compose a song, we need to have some kind of experience related right? This song "First Kiss" was a situation in Taiwan. The first. This song for me was like trying to transmit that feeling that we have when we meet this person and we have this first moment of intimacy. I feel that when I play this song and I just kind of relive that moment. I love Taiwan very much. Taiwan has opened arms to receive me in very lovely ways. My project is to have a copyrighted CD, like my own compositions all talking about Taiwan. It doesn’t have lyrics but music is kind of you don’t need lyrics sometimes to tell how you feel right?

Pinheiro is passionate about Taiwan and the saxophone. He hopes to continue to tell stories about Taiwan through his music.

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