Miguel da Silva began his musical studies at an early age at the Conservatoire National de Région in his hometown of Reims. He later entered the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where he studied with Serge Collot. He was awarded First Prizes in both Chamber Music and Viola, the latter unanimously and with the jury’s special distinction.
In 1985, he won First Grand Prize at the Paris International Chamber Music Competition in the sonata category and joined the Orchestra of the Paris Opera.
Passionate about the string quartet from an early age, Miguel da Silva left the Paris Opera in 1987 to found the Ysaÿe Quartet with three close friends. The ensemble then pursued advanced studies in Cologne with the Amadeus Quartet.
Following a series of First Prize victories at major international competitions, including Portsmouth and Évian, the Ysaÿe Quartet embarked on a distinguished international career, performing throughout Japan, the United States (including Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York), Israel and Europe, appearing at such prestigious venues as the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, Berlin, and at the Lockenhaus, Stresa and Salzburg festivals. The quartet concluded its remarkable journey in early 2014, when its members chose to pursue individual artistic careers.
As a chamber musician, Miguel da Silva has collaborated with many of the world’s leading artists, including Michel Portal, Jean-Claude Pennetier, Paul Meyer, Leonidas Kavakos, Pierre Amoyal, Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, Antonio Meneses, Augustin Dumay, Henri Demarquette, Truls Mørk, Gary Hoffman, Pascal Rogé, Emmanuel Pahud, Jean-François Heisser and Christophe Coin.
He has also appeared as soloist with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, the Polish Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre d’Auvergne, the Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra of Budapest, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Orchestre National de Montpellier and the Pamplona Orchestra, under the baton of conductors including Peter Csaba, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Arie van Beek and François-Xavier Roth.
Alongside his performing career, teaching has always been central to Miguel da Silva’s artistic commitment. In 1993, at the Conservatoire National de Région de Paris (now the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Paris), he and his colleagues from the Ysaÿe Quartet founded France’s first dedicated string quartet class. Their students—including the Ébène, Modigliani, Voce and Hermès Quartets from France, as well as the Aviv Quartet (Israel), the Incanto Quartet (Switzerland) and the Différence Quartet (Latvia)—have since won many of the world’s leading international string quartet competitions.
In addition to directing the string quartet class at the CRR de Paris, Miguel da Silva regularly gives masterclasses at the Académie Musicale de Villecroze, the Aldeburgh Festival, the Académie Maurice Ravel in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, the Banff Centre (Canada), the Savonlinna Music Academy (Finland) and the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
He also serves as Artistic Advisor to the Académie Musicale de Villecroze.
Since September 2009, following two seasons teaching viola and chamber music at the Musikhochschule Lübeck, where he succeeded Walter Levine, Miguel da Silva has been Professor of Viola at the Haute École de Musique de Genève. He also teaches regularly for the European Chamber Music Academy (ECMA) and the International Summer Academy (ISA) of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.
Miguel da Silva is currently Artist in Residence at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Belgium, alongside distinguished artists including baritone José van Dam, violinist Augustin Dumay, pianist Louis Lortie, cellist Gary Hoffman and the Artemis Quartet.