ANTÓNIO SAIOTE studied clarinet at the National Conservatory of Lisbon, in the class of Professor Marcos Romão dos Reis. Then, as a Gulbenkian Foundation scholarship holder, he continued his studies in Paris with Guy Deplus and Jacques Lancelot. In Munich he obtained the Meisterdiplom from the Hochschule with Gerd Starke. In Spain he specialised in conducting 20th century music at the University of Alcalá de Henares with Arturo Tamayo. He also did seminars with George Hurst in Cnaford, England.
He has been a laureate of the Karol Kurpinski competition (Poland), first prize in the Arts and Ideas competition and the New Values of Culture competition. He has been a soloist and guest musician in various orchestras and chamber groups. He is currently the director of the Portuguese Clarinet Ensemble. In chamber music he plays in duo with the pianist Pedro Burmester.

He has performed world premieres of Portuguese and foreign composers. Luciano Berio, Luciano Pavarotti, Klaus Thunemann and Karl Leister are some of the personalities who have publicly expressed their admiration for him.
He was also assistant conductor of the Interregional Orchestra in Bad-Wuttenberg with conductor Nicolas Pasquet. He has also conducted the Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Invicta Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Porto, the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, the ESMAE and the Beiras Philharmonic. He has been praised by critics as “proof that an excellent clarinetist can also be an excellent conductor”.

He has given Master Classes in Germany, Brazil, Chile, Poland, France, China, Macao, Belgium, Hungary, India and Spain. He has been president of the jury of the Setubal, Gaia, Valentino Bucchi Prize (Rome) and member of the jury of the Oktav Poppa, Toulon and Seville competitions. He is currently head of the clarinet degree in ESMAE. He is also the president of the Portuguese Clarinet Association and artistic director of the Solists of Porto. His concerts in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Belgium, France, Germany, England, China, India, the United States, etc. have earned him enthusiastic reviews.

In addition to his activity as a soloist, he is a member of the Porto Academic Orchestra.