Paulo Ferreira Lopes

Composer Paulo Ferreira Lopes studied composition with Constança Capdeville in Lisbon between 1988 and 1991. In 1994 he moved to Paris. Between 1995 and 1997 studied Composition in Paris with Emmanuel Nunes, Antoine Bonnet and Computer Music with Curtis Roads. In 1996 he received a Master in Composition at the University of Paris VIII under the advice of Horacio Vaggione. In 1996 further studies in composition with Karlheinz Stockhausen at the "Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik", Darmstadt. Also in 1996, distinguished as Researcher with a scholarship of the French Government by the "Ministere de la Recherche" at the "Departement d’Esthétique et Technologies des Arts" of University of Paris VIII. In 1997, composition-prize at the exhibition "Documenta X" in Kassel, Germany. Founder and Director (between 1992/95) of the Electronic Music Studio C.C.I.M. Founder and Director (2000) of the Summer Workshops - olhAres de Outono at Univesity Catholic Porto. Since 1998, artist in residence and researcher at ZKM - Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie - Karlsruhe Germany. Since 2002, member from the European Parlament of Culture. In 2004 he received the Doctor degree from the University of Paris VIII. Since June 2004, Director from the Research Centre for Science and Technology in Art CITAR and Professor at Portuguese Catholic University. Since 2007 invited Professor at Karlsruhe Music University - Music Informatic Departement. In 2004 his work was selected by the International Society for Contemporary Music to represent Portugal in the World Music Days 2004. Paulo Ferreira-Lopes works has been produced in international festivals - Musica Strasbourg, Música Viva, Estoril Summer Festival, documenta X - Essen, Biennal S. Paulo, ZKM-Karlsruhe, World Music Day’s, Gulbenkian Foundation, Expo 98 Portugal , through important ensembles of the contemporary artistic scnene as AccrocheNote, OrchestrUtopica , Ensemble Modern Frankfurt, etc..

(text by Paulo Ferreira Lopes)

Works:

http://ima.zkm.de/~pfl/ceT_5_8.mp4
http://ima.zkm.de/~pfl/tal.mp4

Website

Constança Capdeville

Composer, pianist and percussionist, Constança Capdeville's musical theatre is a combination of music with scenical elements, which she put into practice with the various music groups she founded. She started her musical studies in Barcelona before permanently establishing herself in Portugal after 1951 due to the social and political circumstances that emerged from the Spanish Civil War. She carried on her higher studies at Lisbon's National Music Conservatory, where she took piano classes with Varela Cid and composition classes with Jorge Croner de Vasconcellos. She graduated in ancient music interpretation (transcription, scoring, clavichord, piano accompaniment) by attending Macário Santiago Kastner's classes. She participated in some musicology projects with Gulbenkian, the National Library and the Ajuda Library. In the summer of 1962 she held a scholarship from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and took composition classes in Galicia with Philip Jarnach. This led to the piece Variações sobre o nome de Stravinski (Variations on Stravinski's name), which earned her the National Conservatory's Composition Prize. Countless seminars and improvement courses led to the presentation of her works in national and international festivals. She followed closely the performance of Lisbon University Orchestra, in which she participated many times as a composer and interpreter. She was also a member of Lisbon's Minstrels, of the chamber group Convivium Musicum and of Lisbon Contemporary Music Group. In 1969, after a request from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, she participated for the first time in Gulbenkian's Music Festival, which allowed her to follow her own style, and became a regular eversince. She was a forerunner in the writing of musical theatre pieces in Portugal, a genre to which she dedicated herself more and more, especially after 1980 with the group ColecViva, founded and directed by her. She also distinguished herself in the teaching of composition, namely at Santa Cecília's Music Academy, Lisbon's Higher School of Music and the Musical Sciences Department of Lisbon's Universidade Nova. In 1992 she was awarded the posthumous honourable state title Grau de Comendador da Ordem de Santiago de Espada. (adapted from text in PMIC)

Sérgio Azevedo

Photo: Carlos Mateus de Lima

Composer Sérgio Azevedo was born in Coimbra in 1968. He studied composition at the Academia de Amadores de Música (Lisbon) with composer Fernando Lopes-Graça and finished his studies of composition at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, with Christopher Bochmann (a disciple of Nadia Boulanger) and Constança Capdeville. He followed several seminars at IRCAM and other institutions and worked in short periods with composers like Emmanuel Nunes (at the Gulbenkian Foundation), Tristan Murail, Phillipe Manoury, Jorge Peixinho, Louis Andriessen and Simon Bainbridge. He won several prizes of composition, in Portugal and abroad (like the United Nations Prize), and his works have been played and commissioned regularly in several countries (Spain, France, UK, Austria, Germany, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, USA, etc) by prestigious ensembles, soloists and conductors (Luca Pfaff, Pascal Roffé, Jürgen Bruns, Nikolai Lalov, Bruno Belthoise, Artur Pizarro, António Rosado, Miguel Borges Coelho, Anne Kaasa, Jose Ramon Encinar, Galliard Ensemble, Remix Ensemble, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Kammersymphonie Berlin, etc), some of them being available in commercial CDs. He works frequently with schools and students, composing a great deal of didactic pieces, ranging from piano solo to small ensembles and school orchestras. He’s also a prolific writer on music, with two books published, Inventing Sounds (Caminho 1999) and Olga Prats - Um Piano Singular (Bizâncio 2007) and several articles. He also contributes to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and works for other prestigious magazines and CD labels. In 1993 he was appointed teacher of composition at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. He was also author of broadcastings at RDP - Antena 2 since 1993 and member of the CESEM, Center for Aesthetic and Music Studies between 1993 and 2007. In 2007 he began his doctorate degree at Universidade do Minho with Elisa Lessa and Christopher Bochmann. His music is published by AVA - Editions (www.editions-ava.com). (adapted from text by Sérgio Azevedo)

Blog

Other pages:

http://www.classical-composers.org/comp/azevedo
http://www.composers21.com/compdocs/azevedos.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A9rgio_Azevedo

António de Sousa Dias

Composer António de Sousa Dias, born in Lisbon in 1959, completed his Superior Course in Composition at the Lisbon National Conservatoire and a PhD in musicology in Paris VIII. He is a member of CITAR and post doctoral researcher at CICM (MSH Paris Nord / Université Paris VIII) with a fellowship from FCT / MCTES (Portugal). His research project in progress : InstallaSon - KITTy : Vers le développement d’outils d’assistance à la conception et construction d’espaces musicaux navigables. Most of his compositional work is for cinema and television. Outside Portugal, his compositions have been played in several countries, mainly in Europe (France, Spain, Italy, Russia, etc.). Deputy director of Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa (from 1995 to 2001) he taught there Composition and Electroacoustics (since 1987). Member of ColecViva, directed by Constança Capdeville, as direction assistant, sound synthesis and percussion since 1985. Since 1992 he collaborates with the Grupo Música Nova, directed by Cândido Lima. (adapted from text by António de Sousa Dias)

website

Eurico Carrapatoso

Photo by João Tuna

Portuguese composer Eurico Carrapatoso (b. 1962) graduated from Universidade in Porto with a degree in history in 1985. He taught social and economic history as an assistant professor at the Universidade Portucalense. In 1985 he began his musical studies with Borges Coelho, Fernando Lapa and Cândido Lima. In 1988, he began his composition studies with Constança Capdeville. His final studies were with Jorge Peixinho from 1991-93 at the Conservatório Nacional, where he graduated with highest honors. Carrapatoso has taught composition at the Escola Superior de Música and the Academia de Orquestra in Lisbon. Since 1989, he has taught Analysis and Techniques of Composition at the Conservatório Nacional in Lisbon. His works have been performed by most major ensembles and orchestras in Europe, Asia, Australia and Americas (Brazil, USA). He has won several awards, including the Lopes-Graça Prize (1998) and the Francisco de Lacerda Prize (1999); in addition, his works have represented Portugal three times at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers (Paris: 1998, 1999 and 2006). In May 2001 he won the Identidade Nacional Prize. In June 2004 he was decorated by the President of the Portuguese Republic with the Commendation of the Order of the Infante Dom Henrique. (text by Eurico Carrapatoso)

More detailed biographies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurico_Carrapatoso and
http://composers21.com/compdocs/carrapat.htm

Available discography

Eurico Carrapatoso's "Deploração sobre a morte de Jorge Peixinho" (5th mov. - "Paisagem Onírica com Anjos"), played by the Oporto National Orchestra, cond. Mark Foster:

also on You Tube:

http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=BxiaBwLLJE8
http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=YB3za18lfXk&feature=channel
http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=h4f3dkh0qdA&feature=channel
http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=vItALhNKwdA&feature=channel

Olga Prats

Born in 1938, pianist Olga Prats built a distinguished career for herself, in which Portuguese composers, traditional music and chamber music have always played major roles. She graduated at the National Conservatoire in Lisbon, under Abreu Motta, and followed further studies in Köln and Freiburg (namely with Gaspar Cassadó and Sándor Vegh), where she won the prize for Best Foreign Student, in 1959. On her return to Portugal, she studied with Helena Sá e Costa and in 1965 won the Luís Costa Prize for Best Spanish Music Performer. She attended the Estoril Summer Courses with Jean Françaix, Karl Engel, Paul Tortelier and Ludwig Streicher and has played with a great number of orchestras, such as the Pommersfelden Festival Chamber Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Buenos Aires Symphony Orchestra and Oporto Orchestra. Her wide repertoire ranges from Bach to Xenakis, including Schumann, Brahms e Stravinsky, and comprises Portuguese contemporary composers. She premiered and recorded several works by Fernando Lopes-Graça, Constança Capdeville, António Victorino d’Almeida, some of which were dedicated to her, and, among the new generations, Sérgio Azevedo and Sara Claro. She was the first Portuguese performer to play and record Astor Piazzolla’s music. She’s a founding member of Opus Ensemble, the prestigious and internationally acclaimed Portuguese ensemble. As a teacher, she tutored at the National Conservatoire and Lisbon Superior School of Music.

Discography