Education
Foreign his first public recital, at the age of four, Freire chose Mozart"s Sonata in A major, K. 331.
Foreign his first public recital, at the age of four, Freire chose Mozart"s Sonata in A major, K. 331.
Freire began playing the piano at age 3. In 1957, Freire"s performed Beethoven"s Piano Concerto Number. 5, at the age of 12. He was awarded 7th place at the Rio de Janeiro International Piano Competition.
He subsequently received a Brazilian government grant to study in Vienna with Bruno Seidlhofer.
In December 2001, he chaired the jury for the Marguerite Long Competition in Paris. His debut at The Proms was in August 2005.
In general, Freire tends to avoid the limelight, publicity, and interviews. However, in 2011, Freire withdrew from a scheduled engagement with the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira (OSB) and conductor Roberto Minczuk, in support of the orchestra musicians, following the dismissal of about 3 dozen OSB musicians by Minczuk.