Tiago Derriça

Composer Tiago de Sousa Derriça was born in Lisbon in 1986. He started his musical studies at age seven, then he attended the CMML (Metropolitan Conservatory) where he studied Cello with Eugen Prochác, Peter Flanagan and João Pires. During this period of time he had Composition lessons with the composer Pedro Faria Gomes. In 2004, 2007 and 2008 Tiago Derriça attended Leiria Summer Conducting Workshop with Jean-Sébastien Béreau. He also took part of the Second National Workshop of the OSAM (Metropolitan Academic Orchestra) with the conductor Michael Zilm. He graduated in Composition at the ESML (Lisbon College of Music), where he studied with João Madureira, Luís Tinoco, Sérgio Azevedo, Vasco Azevedo, Roberto Perez, Benoît Gibson, António Pinho Vargas and others. Tiago was admitted at the UE (Évora University) where he is studying Composition with Christopher Bochmann. His works has been performed by various chamber groups, as well as the OSL (Lisbon Sinfonieta Orchestra), OML (Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra), EUCO (European Union Chamber Orchestra), Ricercare Choir and NOL (Lisbon New Orchestra) where he is composer-in-residence.(text by Tiago Derriça)

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Tiago Derriça's "Diaphonia" by Lisbon Sinfonietta, cond. Vasco Pearce de Azevedo (2nd Renaissance of Portuguese Composition project on You Tube):

Luís Tinoco

Luís Tinoco (b. 1969, Lisbon) made his First Degree in composition at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. He was then awarded with scholarships by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Centro Nacional de Cultura to complete a Masters degree in Composition at the Royal Academy of Music, in London. At the RAM he was awarded with the Edward Echt, Mosco Carner, Battison Haynes, Charles Lucas and the Howard Carr Memorial Prize. Currently he is doing a PhD research at the University of York. Since 1999, Tinoco has lectured Composition at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. For the Portuguese Classical radio – RTP Antena 2, he wrote and presented A Century’s Score - from 2000 to 2003 -, and he is the author of The Geography of Sound, for the same radio, on air since 2004. Also for the RTP he is the artistic director of the Young Musicians Prize. Tinoco’s work has been recorded on CD by the Arditti Quartet (UK); Galliard Ensemble (UK); Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (Canada); John Wallace / Royal Scottish Academy Brass, (UK); Apollo Saxophone Quartet, (UK); QuadQuartet (PT) and by Pedro Carneiro (UK). A CD devoted to his chamber works performed by the Ensemble Lontano, conducted by Odaline de La Martinez (Lorelt Records), was launched in November 2005 at the Purcell Room / South Bank Centre, in London. Future CD releases include a new recording with the Arditti String Quartet and the percussionist Pedro Carneiro, on the Dutch label Etcetera, in Feb. 2010. Tinoco’s orchestral music has been regularly commissioned, performed and / or programmed by various orchestras such as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Utah Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, El Paso Symphony Orchestra, Turin Philharmonic, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, Oporto National Orchestra and the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra. Amongst other, Tinoco’s music has been conducted by (in alphabetical order) Martin Andre, Stefan Asbury, René Bosc, Joana Carneiro, Cesário Costa, Cliff Colnot, Sarah Ioannides, Susanna Malkki, Odaline de La Martinez, David Alan Miller, Ludovic Morlot, Donato Renzetti, Peter Rundel, Jonathan Stockhammer, Yaron Traub, Tapio Tuomela and Ilan Volkov. Recent projects have included Search Songs and …from the Depth of Distance - two song cycles for soprano and symphony orchestra; and Evil Machines - a music theatre project with libretto and stage direction by the former Monty Python Terry Jones. Future projects include the premiere of Paint Me, a chamber opera with libretto by Stephen Plaice. Luís Tinoco’s music is published in the UK since 2005, by the University of York Music Press.

(text by Luís Tinoco)

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Mário Redondo

Born in Lisbon, in 1971, baritone Mário Redondo has a degree in Law, completed the Course for Actors (ESTC), and attended the Singing Course of Lisbon’s Conservatory. Most important professional opera work: “Il Matrimonio Segreto”, D.Cimarosa - Geronimo (T.N.São Carlos, 2000); “Albert Herring”, B. Britten - Sid (T.Aberto, 2002); “Trouble in Tahiti”, L.Bernstein - Sam (Amiens - France, 2003); “Os Fugitivos”, J.E.Rocha (world premiere - T.Trindade, 2004); “Simon Boccanegra”, Verdi - Pietro (TNSC, 2004); “Beggar’s Opera”, Gay/Britten - Lockit (Teatro Aberto, 2005); “The Nose”, Chostakovitch – Ivan Iakovlevitch (TNSC, 2006); “Le Nozze di Figaro”, Mozart - Count (T.Trindade, 2006); “Tosca”, Pucinni - Angelotti (S.Carlos, 2008); and “Fidelio”, Beethoven – D.Fernando (TNSC, 2008). Soloist in: “The Seven Deadly Sins”, Kurt Weill (T.Camões, OSP, 2000); “Swing, Dig The Rhythm”, with music by L.Bernstein (Royaumont - France, 2003); “Mass in B Minor”, Bach (Belfast, 2006); “Night Waltz – the music of Paul Bowles” (CCB, 2007); and “In Terra Pax”, Frank Martin (TNSC, 2008). Has worked since 1992 as a professional actor. Most important works in this area: the plays “Kvetch” (S.Berkoff - T.Trindade, 2004) and “The Misanthrope” (Molière – Lisbon, 2009); and the movies “Sinais de Fogo” (Luís Filipe Rocha, 1994), “Capitães de Abril” (Maria de Medeiros, 1999), and “Amália” (C.Coelho da Silva, 2008). Lately, he’s engaged in a very successful musical theatre career, of which the best examples are “The Threepenny Opera”, in the role of Mack The Knife (T.Aberto, 2005); the world premiere of “Einstein’s Dreams”, by J.Rosemblum and J.S.Lessner, in the role of Einstein (T.Trindade, 2005/2006); the leading role in “Sweeney Todd” (T.Aberto, 2007); and “Evil Machines”, a musical fantasy by Monty Python's Terry Jones with music by Luís Tinoco (T.S.Luiz, 2008). (text by Mário Redondo)

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Ana Paula Russo

As a soloist, soprano Ana Paula Russo has sung in many Lied and Oratorium concerts, as well as in Opera. Some of her outstanding works were for the Gulbenkian Foundation, RTP (Portuguese Radio and Television), Europalia-91 (in Brussels) and Lisbon 94 – capital of culture.In 1989, she represented Portugal in the “Cardiff Singer of the World” Competition. She took part in some important music festivals, such as Capuchos, Leiria, Estoril, Algarve, P. de Varzim, F. da Foz and the International Festival of Macao. In concert, she sang works as, for instance, “Das Buch der hängenden Gärten” (Schönberg), “Les Noces” (Stravinsky),”Les Illuminations” (Britten), Cantata op, 29 (Webern), works by A. Chagas Rosa, “Carmina Burana” (C. Orff), “Stabat Mater” (Rossini and Dvorak) and many others. The Opera and Scenic music have had a major importance in APRusso’s career. Among many others, we can point out roles as: Rosina (The Barber of Seville), Oscar (Un ballo in maschera), Marie (La fille du regiment), Ninette (The love of the three Oranges),Musetta (La Bohéme), Adele (Der Fledermaus), Clorinda (La Cenerentola), Ernesta (As Damas Trocadas), Hanna (The merry Widow), Najade (Ariadne auf Naxos), Cunegonde (Candide), Vespetta (Pimpinone), Eurydice (Orphé aux Enfers), Nightingale (The Nightingale by Stravinsky), Minette (The English Cat by H.W Henze), D.Anna (D. Giovanni). In April’98 she was one of the singers in the world premiere of the opera “Os Dias Levantados” by António Pinho Vargas – this work was recorded on cd by EMI. In 1998, Ana Paula was chosen to sing the female leading role in the opera “White Raven” (world premiere) by Philip Glass in the Expo’98 in Lisbon. This opera was also sung in Madrid (Teatro Real) and in New York (Lincoln Center/NY State Opera). In the 10th anniversary of Fernando Lopes Graça’s death (2004), she sang the soprano soloist part in the composer’s Requiem – this performance was released on cd in 2006. In 2008 she sang in the world premiere of “Evil Machines”, a musical fantasy by Terry Jones (Monthy Python), with music by Luis Tinoco. Together wih Carlos Gutkin (guitar player), she recorded a very successful cd with ibero-american music, “Melodia Sentimental”. In 2009, she sang the main soloist part in Marcos Portugal’s “Missa Grande”, recorded in cd.

(Text by Ana Paula Russo)

Nuno Dario

Nuno Dario is an explorative composer; his aesthetical concerns are focused on blurring the boundaries between musical genres. He began his musical studies privately with Dulce Nagy. He then studied classical guitar with Piñeiro Nagy at Academia de Amadores de Musica, composition with Christopher Bochmann, piano with Alexei Eremine and conducting with Roberto Perez. From 1999 to 2003 and 2005/06 he got his first degree in Composition with distinction from Lisbon College of Music, where he worked with composers Sérgio Azevedo, Christopher Bochmann and Luís Tinoco. His professional activity spreads over several musical genres, writing music for film and television as well as for the Web. Many of his works have been performed in Portugal and abroad by MikroDuo (in Switzerland), Trio GrandOpus or Epabi Symphony Orchestra to name just a few. A special highlight to his most appreciated theatre works such as ‘Dracula’ or ‘Hamlet’ (music and sound design) for the Lisbon Players. Nuno also kept furthering his conducting studies with Ernst Schelle and Neil Thomson leading to a freelance conducting career. He was principal conductor at Gymnasium Opera Classical Orchestra, co-musical director of Ensemble JER and he performed at prestigious venues with orchestras such as Epabi and Esproarte Symphony, Tejo National and other contemporary music chamber ensembles. He taught Analysis and Techniques of Composition, Choir and Orchestra at several music conservatories and professional school of music in Portugal from 2001 to 2007. In 2008 he enrolled on his composition PhD program at Royal Holloway College in London under the supervision of British film composer Brian Lock; his thesis being focused on film music. Nuno was granted the PhD scholarship by the Foundation for Science and Technology, a department of the Portuguese Ministry of Science and High Education. (text by Nuno Dario)

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José Luís Ferreira

Composer José Luís Ferreira (b. 1973, Lisbon) made his First Degree in composition at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, in 2001, where he studied with Christopher Bochmann, António de Sousa Dias and António Pinho Vargas. He attended several composition courses, workshops and seminars in Portugal with Emmanuel Nunes, Salvatore Sciarrino, Jean-Claude Risset, John Chowning, Per Anders Nilsson, Trevor Wishart e André Bartetski. Presently, he's doing a PhD Music research on Computer Music at Universidade Católica Portuguesa (UCP) in Oporto/ CITAR (Research Center For Science and Technology in Art). His music, for different kinds of instrumentation with or without electronics, has been performed by several portuguese musical ensembles (Remix Ensemble / Orchestrutópica / Sinfonietta de Lisboa / Ricercare / Saxofínia/ Machina Mundi). In 2001, he won the Festival Musica Viva's acusmatic composition contest with the piece “Le bruit d`une tête qui frappe contre les murs d`une très petite cellule”. He also works as a musical assistant (computer music) with several composers performers/ ensembles, namely: Francisco Monteiro, João Madureira, Luís Tinoco, José Júlio Lopes, Orchestrutópica, Orquestra Metropolitana and Machina Mundi. Since 2002, José Luís Ferreira has lectured several courses at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, Faculdade de Belas Artes and Escola Técnica de Imagem e Comunicação (ETIC).

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Diogo Alvim

Portuguese composer Diogo Alvim (b. in Lisbon in 1979) finished his Diploma in Architecture in Lisbon in 2004. He had also been studying Harpsichord at the Lisbon National Conservatoire wih teacher Cândida Matos, and Analysis and Composition Techniques with teachers Carlos Gomes and Eurico Carrapatoso. He attended several harpsichord workshops and sang in several choirs. From 2004 to 2006 he lived and worked in London as an architect. During that period, he attended a course on Computer Music at the London School of Contemporary Music and the course “Compose and Perform” at the Goldsmiths University with composer Fumiko Miyachi. In the meantime, he collaborated with dancer/choreographer Tânia Carvalho on the soundtrack of her show “Explodir em Silêncio Nunca Chega a Ser Perturbador”. He returned to Lisbon to study Composition at the Lisbon Superior School of Music, and to continue his Harpsichord studies. Currently in his last year of the Composition Course, he has studied with composers Sérgio Azevedo, João Madureira, Carlos Caires and Luis Tinoco. He has also been attending the Gulbenkian Composition Seminars with Emmanuel Nunes. Diogo Alvim has had several pieces premiered at the event Peças Frescas since 2007. He participated in the 6th and 7th editions of the Gulbenkian Orchestra's Workshop, with the pieces “Pequeno Concerto para Clarinete e Paisagem” (Esther Georgie, cl.), and “Concatenação”, both conducted by Joana Carneiro. In July 2008, his piece “Topografia” was played at a “first reading” concert by Orchestrutopica with conductor Cesário Costa, held at the Portuguese Music Festival, in CCB, Lisbon. In October 2008 he premiered “Distância (Ocupação_3)”, for electronics, at a concert held at the Instituto Franco-Português, programmed by Miso Music Portugal.

Diogo Alvim's "Pequeno Concerto para Clarinete e Paisagem", by Esther Georgie (cl), Gubenkian Orchestra, cond. Joana Carneiro (2nd Renaissance of Portuguese Composition project on You Tube):

João Antunes

Composer João Antunes was born in 1975 in Lisboa. He began studying music at the Academia de Amadores de Música de Lisboa, where he studied techniques of composition and musical analysis with Pedro Rocha and Eurico Carrapatoso. He graduated in composition in 2006 at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, having studied with Sérgio Azevedo, Luís Tinoco and Christopher Bochmann. He is currently working on his masters thesis in composition at the Universidade de Évora under the guidance of Professor Christopher Bochmann. In 2005, his work Ecos destorcidos was presented in the Música Viva Festival. He participates in seminars in composition driven by Emmanuel Nunes, in the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, since 2006. Following these seminars, he wrote Sphinx (2006) and Paisagens Reveladas (December 2008) for the Gulbenkian Orchestra. In 2007 he participated in the I Reading Panel of the Algarve Orchestra, presenting his piece Sopro de Inquietação. This piece was selected for the 2007/2008 season of the Orchestra. He was also com,missioned another piece for two sopranos and orchestra (Minha Partilha de Mim), for the same institution. In 2008, his piece for flute solo Hesitante - Confiante was incorporated as a compulsory piece work for Young Musicians Prize in 2008 (antena 2/RDP). He is currently working on a set of four songs for chorus and piano (Elementos Elementares), commissioned by the Academia de Música de St. Cecilia de Lisboa. João Antunes is currently teaching techniques of composition and musical analysis in the Fundação Musical dos Amigos das Crianças and Conservatório Regional Silva Marques. (adapted from text by João Antunes)

João Antunes' "Minha Partilha de Mim", by Sónia Alcobaça, Raquel Camarinha, Patrícia Quinta, Algarve Orchestra, cond. Cesário Costa(2nd Renaissance of Portuguese Composition project on You Tube):

Martin André

British conductor Martin André went to the Yehudi Menuhin School where he studied the piano. At Cambridge University he combined playing the piano with conducting. Now as a conductor he divides his time equally between the opera house and the concert platform. Concert appearances in the UK have included the Philharmonia, BBC Concert Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia and Royal Scottish National Orchestra, among others. Abroad he works regularly with orchestras in countries such as Holland, Norway, Israel, Australia and, in Portugal, Oporto National Orchestra and Remix Contemporary Ensemble. He made his opera debut conducting for Welsh National Opera, with whom he spent many seasons as a resident conductor. During this time he worked on a wide variety of operas, particularly 19th century Italian repertoire. He continues to work across a broad range of composers, although is particularly recognised for his interpretations of Verdi, Mozart and Janáček. He has the rare distinction of being the only conductor to have performed for all the major British opera companies. Internationally he has made numerous appearances in the opera houses of Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Holland, Israel, New Zealand, Portugal, South Africa and the USA. In Portugal he performed the opening concert of Casa da Música in 2005 and in 2006 he created the Youth Orchestra of Portugal, which proved to be such a success and was renamed Momentum Perpetuum. Every year since then it has played the new year’s concert in Casa da Música and in July 2008 it has toured in Italy. He also conducted the Portuguese National Symphony Orchestra, playing works by Luís Tinoco, António Pinho Vargas and Joly Braga Santos on the opening concert of the “Música Portuguesa Hoje” festival in Centro Cultural de Belém, Lisbon. (adapted from text in Martin André’s website)

Discography

Sofia Sousa Rocha

Composer Sofia Sousa Rocha was born in 1986, in Braga. She started studying piano at the age of seven, enrolling four years later at the Conservatório de Música Calouste Gulbenkian in Braga. She studied violin with Manuel António Sá. In 2001 she started her first Composition studies with Paulo Bastos at the Conservatory of Braga, where she also studied Electroacoustic. In 2004 she successfully applied to the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa (ESML) to complete a First Degree in Composition, graduating in 2008, with a mark of 18 (out of 20). She studied with some of the most well recognized Portuguese composers such as Christopher Bochmann, Luís Tinoco, Carlos Caires and Carlos Marecos, among others. She studied singing with Sandra Medeiros between 2005 and 2008. Currently she is studying with Susana Teixeira. As a student at ESML Sofia Sousa Rocha co-organized various events, including the concerts "Peças Frescas" (Student Composers' Concerts), promoting the youngest Portuguese musicians and composers. She also co-directed the IV and V Music Festivals of the ESML in the S. Luiz Theater. Recent activities include the composition of new pieces commissioned from the Young Musicians Prize, promoted by Antena 2 – Portuguese Radio Broadcast and Alcobaça Music Festival. She has also participated in the II Reading Panel of Algarve Orchestra with “Papagaio sem penas” (2008). Subsequently this piece was selected for the season 08/09. She is currently teaching musical analysis and composition at the Escola de Música do Orfeão de Leiria / Conservatório de Artes. (text by Sofia Sousa Rocha)

Sofia Sousa Rocha's "Homenagem a Berio" (electronics) (2nd Renaissance of Portuguese Composition project on You Tube):

Nicholas McNair

Pianist Nicholas McNair, resident in Portugal since 1980, likes to see all his musical activity, composing, performing, preparation, editing, improvising or teaching, as part of a single whole. Head chorister of Canterbury Cathedral at the age of 12, he later studied at Cambridge University and the Royal College of Music. In London he wrote a series of commissioned chamber and choral works supported by the Arts Council of Great Britain, the RVW Trust and other private foundations. The British Council sponsored a concert of his works in Queluz Palace, Portugal in May 1991, and commissioned a cantata “Magnificat” in 1992. He worked with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, researching and preparing for performance the principal operas of Mozart and Beethoven, all recorded by Deutsche Grammophon-Archiv. His editions also include the operas Antigono by Antonio Mazzoni (Lisbon October 1755) and La Notte Critica by Niccolò Piccinni (Lisbon 1767). A teacher at the Escola Superior de Música in Lisbon, he works frequently with the Gulbenkian Choir and Orchestra as organist and pianist. He has collaborated as editor, repetiteur or composer, with stage directors and composers such as Robert Wilson and Philip Glass (Lisbon, Madrid, New York), Carina Reich and Bogdan Szyber (Lisbon, Stockholm), Terry Jones and Luís Tinoco (Lisbon), António Pinho Vargas, Luís Bragança Gil, Tim Carroll, Paulo Matos, André Gago etc. He has created live music for 150 silent films, appearing also in the Cannes Festival of 1995 and at the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., in 1997. He gave a recital of improvisation at the 1st Mafra Festival (1997), and the first of his 8 CDs, “Classical Improvisations”, was released by Eroica in 1998. His improvisations (live and in transcription) have been used in performances with poets and actors such as André Gago, and in concerts of his works (e.g. Mãe d’Água, Lisboa March 2003). (text by Nicholas McNair)

Hugo Ribeiro

Composer Hugo Ribeiro was born in Lisbon in 1983 and began his musical studies with Vera Belozorovitch (piano) and Carlos Marecos (Composition Techniques and Analysis), concluding his Piano Secondary Course in 2005. He finished his composition degree in 2005 at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa where he studied with Luís Tinoco, António Pinho Vargas and Christopher Bochmann, amongst others. In 2007 he obtained his Mmus degree in composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London where he studied with Simon Bainbridge and Paul Patterson. In 2004 he has frequented the summer composition courses in Darmstadt where he worked with Bryan Ferneyhough, Georg Friedrich Haas, Toshio Hosokawa and Tadeusz Wielecki. Also in 2004 he attended an Orchestral Conducting Course directed by the conductor Jean Sébastien Béreau. In 2004, 2006 and 2007 he was selected for the Gulbenkian Workshop for Portuguese Young Composers, where his pieces Message-Homage, Impromptu and In memoriam were premiered by the Gulbenkian Orchestra conducted by Guillaume Bourgogne. From other public presentations of his music one can highlight the premiere of Echoes for 15 instruments at the Foyer of the Queen Elisabeth Hall (London) performed by soloist from the London Sinfonietta and Royal Academy of Music, conducted by Christopher Austin; and the premiere of Letter for Kundera for 14 players at the Spitalfields Festival (London) performed by the Manson Ensemble conducted by Baldur Brönnimann. He was distinguished with the 1st Prize in the 2nd International Composition Competition Póvoa de Varzim “Orchestra Category” (2007) and won the national competition Opera in Creation 2008 at the S. Luiz Theatre in Lisbon (Portugal). He’s currently preparing his PhD at the Canterbury Christ Church University (where he works with Prof. Paul Max Edlin and Prof. Paul Patterson, as supervisor) and working in the score of Os Mortos Viajam de Metro, an opera in Portuguese with libretto by Armando Nascimento Rosa. (text by Hugo Ribeiro)

Hugo Ribeiro's "rust coloured landscape", by Tadashi Imai (piano) and the Royal Academy of Music Composers Orchestra, cond. Christopher Austin (2nd Renaissance of Portuguese Composition project on You Tube):

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):

ka'mi

Composer [ka’mi] was born in Lisbon, in 1973. He studied guitar and graduated in Musicology in 2001 by the UNL-FCSH (under Mário Vieira de Carvalho, Rui Vieira Nery, Salwa Castelo-Branco, Manuel Carlos de Brito, Luísa Cymbron and Tomás Henriques, among others), then studied Composition at the ESML (Christopher Bochmann, António Pinho Vargas, Luís Tinoco, João Madureira, Roberto Perez and Sérgio Azevedo, among others). He attended the Summer Courses in Darmstadt in 2004 (Brian Ferneyhough, Georg Friedrich Haas, Toshio Hosokawa, Chaya Czernowin, Enno Poppe and Wolfgang Mitterer). In 2005 he attended the Composition Seminars with Emmanuel Nunes at the Gulbenkian Foundation. In 2006, the work for ensemble O Berio is presented in the “Música Viva” Festival in Lisbon. Selected for the 3rd, 5th and 6th Gulbenkian Orchestra Workshop for Young Composers with the works Fragment for Ensemble, Glosa (in memoriam) for Orchestra and Peça para Eça for Orchestra, conducted by Guillaume Bourgogne and Joana Carneiro. After graduating in Composition, he pursued his studies in Composition with a post-graduate course with Gerd Kühr and Pierluigi Billone at KUG in Graz, Austria. He was selected for the 1st Atelier for young Composers with Algarve Orchestra in 2007 with the work Oito Minutos para Orquestra, conducted by Cesário Costa. He attended the IMPULS 2007 seminars in Graz, supervised by Beat Furrer, Enno Poppe and the ensemble KlangforumWien, and was invited to be part of the official Portuguese section for the Festival ISCM - World Music Days 2008, in Lithuania. He was selected for the Festival “Steirischer Herbst” in co-production with “Musikprotokoll”- ORF. In 2008, the work Rastos de uma Resposta for trumpet was commissioned by Antena 2/RTP for the Young Musicians Award 2008. He’s currently producing his Doctorate thesis with Prof. Reinhard Kapp at MDW in Vienna, Austria, on the subject of Microtonality. (adapted from text by ka'mi).

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ka'mi's "Jenseits des klanges", by the Ensemble für Neue Musik KUG, cond. Edo Micic (2nd Renaissance of Portuguese Composition project on You Tube:

Quarteto Lopes-Graça

Quarteto Lopes-Graça was formed within the Lisbon National Conservatory School of Music and is created by musicians with outstanding solo and chamber careers, teachers of that institution: Luís Pacheco Cunha and Anne Victorino d'Almeida, violins; Isabel Pimentel, viola; Catherine Stryncks, cello. This project intends to bestow the Conservatory, likewise many of its fellow-schools in the world, with a reference group in the strings’ area, capable of developing a permanent teaching activity (quartet master-classes) as well as promoting the school, both in Portugal and abroad. The ensemble performed in Lisbon’s Centro Cultural de Belém as well as in the Festival “In search of a lost Concert House”, in Lisbon. It performed twice in “La Folle Journée” (Nantes, 2005 and 2006) and in many other venues around the anniversaries of Lopes-Graça and Mozart. It pays a very special attention to the repertoire by contemporary Portuguese composers, having given a few world premieres of such works. Its first CD includes major creations by Lopes-Graça and António Victorino d’Almeida. It privileges the staging of Portuguese composers' works, considering the relative wealth of international level creations for string quartet by composers such as Santos Pinto, Viana of Mota, Cláudio Carneiro, Luís de Freitas Branco, Frederico de Freitas, Joly Braga Santos, Fernando Lopes-Graça or the more recent António Victorino d’Almeida, Luís Tinoco, Amílcar Vasques Dias (work dedicated to this quartet). Nevertheless, it remains deeply involved in the rendering of the great classical works such as the ones created by Haydn, Mozart, Cherubini, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky or Shostakovich. (adapted from text by Quarteto Lopes-Graça)

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Luís Cardoso

Luís Cardoso began his musical studies in 1993 at the Amateur Academy for Music (Academia de Amadores de Música). In 1996, he continued his education at the School of Music of the National Conservatory, where, in 2001, he completed the course in Voice with Professor Filomena Amaro. He studied Analysis and Compositional Techniques with Eurico Carrapatoso. He received his first degree in composition from the Superior School of Music in Lisbon where he studied with Luís Tinoco, Christopher Bochmann and António Pinho Vargas. He won the composition contest of ESMAE/Casa da Música (2003) with the piece Serenata, which was premiered by the Remix Ensemble in March 2005 at the Casa da Música, Porto. In 2005 Luís Cardoso composed Trio de cordas, a commission from the Orchestrutópica premiered in September 2005 at the Festival Expresso Oriente at Culturgest, Lisbon. He won the competition “Opera in Creation” with Antígona (2006), a short chamber opera. Also in 2006, he received honorable mention in the 1st Composition Competition of the International Music Festival of Póvoa de Varzim, in the Chamber Music category, with the piece Pater Noster, for baritone and string quartet. In 2006 he participated in the Composition Seminars of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, under the orientation of Emmanuel Nunes. In January 2007, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, under the direction of Maestro Guillaume Bourgogne, premiered Heptâmetro, as part of the 5th Workshop for Young Composers. He has also lectured at commented concerts with the Duo Contracello and the Capela Quartet. More recently he presented conferences on Portuguese contemporary music in Finland and Sweden, by invitation from Instituto Camões. Luís Cardoso was Young Resident Composer in Casa da Música during 2008. (text taken from Ava Musical Editions)

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mp3: Luís Cardoso's "Quatro Estrofes", for solo cello, played by Nuno Abreu

Ana Seara

Born in 1985, composer Ana Seara started studying music at the Conservatório de Música Calouste Gulbenkian de Braga, where she attended with distinction the unique Complementar Composition Course taught in Portugal. She was rewarded, for 4 consecutive years, at the Regional Piano Competition held annually in Braga. In 2007 she graduated in Composition at Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. As a student of that school, she organized projects like "Peças Frescas" - coordinated by Luís Tinoco, in partnership with the S. Luiz Teatro Municipal (Lisbon), new composer's concerts and co-organized and produced the III, IV and V ESML Music Festival. In 2005, her work, Resson [ÂNSIAS] ... was presented in the Música Viva Festival. She competed for the first edition of the International Composition Competition of Póvoa de Varzim, getting an Honorable Mention in the category of chamber music, while, on the following 2 years, at the same competition, she won a 1st and a 2nd prize in the "Music for Orchestra" category and a 2nd prize for chamber music. In 2007, she was commissioned a piece for the Young Musicians Prize, promoted by the Antena 2 radio station, and another by OrchestrUtópica, premiered at Culturgest, in Lisbon. She has also participated in the II Reading Panel of the Algarve Orchestra. Subsequently this piece was selected for the season 08/09. She’s currently working on her masters thesis in composition at the University of Évora under the guidance of Professors Christopher Bochmann and Carlos Caires, and preparing two works commissioned by the Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra and the Grupo de Música Contemporânea de Lisboa. (adapted from text by Ana Seara)

Excerpt of Ana Seara's "Percance", by pianist Joana Gama (Peças Frescas event):

Fernando Guimarães

Born in Oporto, tenor Fernando Guimarães completed his singing degree at his hometown, under the guidance of António Salgado. He went on to win awards in his country’s foremost singing competitions, such as the Concurso Nacional de Canto Luísa Todi (2nd prize) and the Young Musicians Award (both in 2007). As the winner of the L’Orfeo International Singing Competition, he sang the leading role of this Monteverdi Opera in Mantova (on the 400th birthday of its premiere) and Budapest. As an opera soloist, Fernando sang: Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Rossini), Ferrando in Così Fan Tutte, Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Don Basilio in Le Nozze di Figaro (Mozart), Jaquino in Fidelio (Beethoven); Nencio in Haydn’s L’Infedeltà Delusa (in Strasbourg, with Le Parlement de Musique and Martin Gester); Ippolito in La Spinalba (F. A. de Almeida); Testo in Monteverdi’s Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (Gulbenkian Foundation), etc. His concert repertoire includes, among others: Johannespassion, Matthäuspassion, Mass in B minor, Magnificat, Weihnachtsoratorium and several Cantatas (J. S. Bach), Messiah and Ode to St. Cecily’s Day (Händel), Mass in C minor and Requiem (Mozart), Serenade for tenor, horn and strings (Britten). He was part of the cast for the musical Evil Machines (music by Luís Tinoco over a libretto by Terry Jones), with world premiere in January 2008, at Teatro S. Luiz (Lisbon). Fernando Guimarães debuted recently at Teatro Nacional de S. Carlos (as Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte), the Main Auditorium of Gulbenkian Foundation (with Haydn’s Paukenmesse, under the conducting of Erwin Ortner), and Casa da Música (Porto). In 2008, he was part of the european tour of the Académie Baroque Européene d’Ambronay, singing works by Gabrieli and Monteverdi under the conducting of Jean Tubéry. (text by Fernando Guimarães)

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Fernando Guimarães sings the aria "Possente Spirto" from Monteverdi's L'Orfeo, recorded at Teatro Bibiena, in Mantova (Italy), with Ensemble Concerto, Concerto Palatino, cond. Roberto Gini, dir. Gianfranco De Bosio(with Shen Yang as Caronte):