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):

Madalena Soveral

Madalena Soveral was born in Porto, where she studied music, first under mother guidance, Hélia Soveral, later under Reine Gianoli, Marian Rybicki and Claude Helffer. In 1966 she was awarded the “900 Musicale Europeo” prize, in Naples (Italy). Madalena Soveral has given regular concerts since 1990, both solo and with orchestra, as well as various forms of chamber music festivals of Naples, Santiago de Compostela, Sceaux, Festival de Montpellier-Radio France, Mantova (Italy), The UNESCO Twentieth Century Music Festival (Paris), Música Nova (Brasil), The 1st Lisbon Festival of Contemporary Musics (Lisbon, T.N.S.C.), to name but a few. During her career, she has focused on a 20th century repertoire working with a variety of composers and performers. She has performed the world premiere of numerous pieces, including those written especially for her: Estudos de Sonoridades (Filipe Pires), Interrogations (Miguel Graça Moura), Dominos (Sharon Kanach), In Tempore, for piano and electronic (João Pedro Oliveira), and Episode, for two pianos and two percussions (Francis Bayer). Coordenator Professor at the Escola Superior de Música e das Artes do Espectáculo do Porto, she’s been working in the last hears on a research project on 20th Century Portuguese Piano Music, at the University of Paris 8. Étude Analytique des Litanies du feu et de la mer d’Emmanuel Nunes, carried out between 1997-99, is the first part of that work. In 2005 she completed the Doctorat in Music with the teses Quatre compositeurs, Quatre oeuvres: la musique portugaise pour piano des années 90, about the piano’s compositions by António Pinho Vargas, Filipe Pires, João Pedro Oliveira and João Rafael. Since 2006 she joined the research Center CESEM of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. (adapted from text by Madalena Soveral)

Discography

MIC page

Ana Telles

Pianist Ana Telles has pursued musical studies in Lisbon and New York. She has graduated from Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, Manhattan School of Music and New York University. She has studied piano with Sara D. Buechner, Nina Svetlanova, Dmitry Paperno, Sequeira Costa and Alicia de Larrocha, as well as chamber music with Isidore Cohen and Sylvia Rosenberg, among others. She has devoted much attention to the study and interpretation of Messiaen’s piano music and has played all his works for piano and small orchestra plus a few others. She studied privately with Yvonne Loriod-Messiaen. She’s very much committed to the cause of contemporary music and has worked closely with composers such as Philippe Hurel, Emmanuel Nunes, João Pedro Oliveira, Pedro Amaral, Christopher Bochmann, Alain Bioteau, João Rafael, Carlos Caires, Guy Leclerq, Alexandre Delgado, José Júlio Lopes, Joaquim Santos, Thomas Bloch and Lucya Dugloszewski. She plays regularly in Portugal, Germany, France, Italy, Ireland, Cuba, Brasil, Taiwan and the USA, as a soloist or integrated in chamber music groups, and participated in festivals in Portugal and abroad. She played as a soloist with the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, the Classical Orchestra of Madeira, the “Filarmonia das Beiras” Orchestra and the OrchestrUtópica (all from Portugal), among others. She currently prepares a doctoral thesis on Portuguese composer Luís de Freitas Branco’s piano music at the Paris IV University (Sorbonne) and the University of Évora (Portugal). In addition, she produces musical programmes for the Portuguese classical radio station and teaches at ISEIT (Instituto Piaget), Almada (Portugal). (adapted from text by Ana Telles)

Ana Telles plays Joaquim dos Santos' 1st Piano Concerto (1st mov.), with Orchestra Nova Amadeus, cond. Jean Sebastian Béreau:

Also on You Tube:
http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=-da4nQ1cDM8
http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=YaIuVeasyaQ
http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=BEtnyNlCx8c