João Godinho

Composer João Godinho was born in Lisbon, 1976, and took music and piano lessons from the age of six to seventeen. The option of studying music composition was preceded by a degree in Business Administration. He graduated in composition in 2006 at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, having studied with Sérgio Azevedo, João Madureira, Christopher Bochmann, Luís Tinoco, Carlos Fernandes and José Luís Ferreira. His music interests are not restrained to classical and contemporary music. Jazz, ethnic, world, brazilian and latin music; pop, electronic and recent trends; music for film, theatre and dance; they all have a strong influence in his activity as a musician. As a self-taught student, he dedicates a special attention to improvisation, having also studied with Nicholas McNair, and to jazz, having studied at the Hot Clube de Portugal jazz school. Together with Alexandra Ávila, he founded the Lisbon Jazz Summer School, whose first edition took place in July 2005 at the Centro Cultural de Belém. His professional debut was in 2006 with the premiere of Kaminari – Ballet Music for choreographer César Moniz’s new ballet company, followed by a premiere of De Queda em Queda, a piece for piano and string quartet, commissioned by OrchestrUtópica. In 2007 he was commissioned a piece for marimba solo, by Antena2/ Young Musicians Competition. In 2008 he premiered “O Marionetista”, for alto saxophone and string quartet, comissioned by OrchestrUtópica and Festival de Música do Estoril. In the same year, he wrote fado arrangements for orchestra (and a version for small ensemble), for fado singer Joana Amendoeira. Apart from his music studies, he maintains several professional activities connected to the music field. Since September 2008 he has been working as a musical adviser for the programming of Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon. (adapted from text by João Godinho)

João Godinho's "De Queda em Queda", by Elsa Silva (piano), José Pereira and Jorge Maggiorani (violins), Jano Lisboa (viola) (2nd Renaissance of Portuguese Composition project on You Tube):