João Rafael

Composer João Rafael was born in 1960 in Caldas da Rainha, Portugal. From 1979 to 1985, he studied composition and piano at the Lisbon Conservatoire, obtaining his composition diploma with Christopher Bochmann in 1985. He continued his composition studies with Emmanuel Nunes, first in Paris (1985-88, with a scholarship from the Gulbenkian Foundation, Lisbon) and then in Freiburg (Germany) at the "Institut für Neue Musik" (1988-92, with scholarships from the DAAD and the Heinrich-Strobel Foundation) obtaining a composition diploma (Aufbaustudium). In Freiburg he also studied electronic music with Mesias Maiguashca. In October 1990, his piece Transition for clarinet solo won the first prize at the International Composition Competition "Camillo Togni" in Brescia in Italy. Other pieces received further prizes in international composition competitions and were selected to be played in important festivals all over Europe. In December 1994, a "Concert-Portrait" took place in Freiburg with the Ensemble Recherche conducted by Kwamé Ryan. In June 1995, Radio France (France Musique) dedicated to João Rafael one of the programmes "Auto-Portrait". Further Radio-Portraits were realized on the Portuguese Radio in 1991, 1996, 1998 and 2002. Regular analysis seminars and workshops, as well as text and analysis publications, in Portugal, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, United Kingdom, Russia and USA. João Rafael works regularly in the domain of electronic music both as a composer and as an interpreter. His pieces have been performed by internationally renowned soloists, ensembles and orchestras in important festivals in Portugal, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. They have also been broadcasted in almost all European countries. (text by João Rafael)

João Rafael's "Occasus", by Ensemble Recherche, cond. Kwamé Ryan (2nd Renaissance of Portuguese Composition project on You Tube):