António Sá-Dantas was born in Lisbon 1989. He started by studying composition privately with João Madureira and later studied at the Kunstuniversität Graz. There, he studied composition with Beat Furrer and orchestra conducting with Martin Sieghart. He recently participated in the Impuls Festival Academy 2017 in Graz, having had lessons with Jorge Sanchez-Chiong and Stefan Prins.
His works have been performed by Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto, Remix Ensemble, Perspective Trio, OrquestrUtópica, CantAnima, as well as interpreted by soloists including Luís Madureira, Marie Friederike Schöder and Zinajda Kodric, in venues like Musikprotokoll, Impuls Academy Festival and halls as CCB, S. Luiz Teatro Municipal in Lisbon, Casa da Música in Oporto, Minoritensaal, Helmut List Halle and Stefaniensaal in Graz.
In 2015, he received the second prize in the Styria Cantat Choir Competition for his piece Cantos for a cappella choir. During 2016 he composed, as Young Composer-in-Residence in Casa da Música, Perante sonora flor esta (Orquestra Sinfonica do Porto, Baldur Brönnimann), Ferocidade (Perspective Trio), and Désir t’a appris l’inanité du désir – Fantasia Canonica (Remix Ensemble, Peter Rundel). In January 2017, his radio play Eine Schwalbe falten, composed during an artistic residency at the Millay Arts, was premiered in the Austrian national radio Ö1.
In addition to his work as a composer, he also sings as a countertenor and works as a conductor of two choirs and one orchestra in Graz.