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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Sara Braga Simões

Photo: Alfredo Rocha

Soprano Sara Braga Simoes is a winner of several national and international prizes. Operatic Roles include Pamina (Die Zauberflöte - Mozart) Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro – Mozart), Zerlina (Don Giovanni – Mozart), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel - E. Humperdinck), Despina (Così fan Tutte - W.A. Mozart), The Governess (The Turn of the Screw – B. Britten), Spinalba (La Spinalba - F. António de Almeida), Sleeping Beauty (Sleeping Beauty – O. Respighi), Jenny (Three sisters who are not sisters – N. Rorem), Rowan (The Little Sweep - B. Britten). She sang Ein Deutsches Requiem – Brahms, Des Knabem Wunderhorn – Mahler, E vo - Berio, Trois poèmes de Stephan Mallarmé - M.Ravel, Nuits d’étè - H.Berlioz, Te Deum - Dvorack, Madrigals (Book I) - George Crumb, Shîr - João Pedro Oliveira*, D’une saison… l’autre - A. Lemeland*, Lacrymosa - Yanov-Yanovsky, Magnificat, Dixit Dominus and Gloria - A.Vivaldi, The Devil’s Suite - Peter Maxwell Davies, Christmas Oratorio - Saint-Saëns, Stabat Mater - G.B.Pergolesi and Haddock’s Eyes - David Del Tredici. Sara was directed by Martin André, Cesário Costa, Laurence Cummings, Marc Tardue, Osvaldo Ferreira, Stefan Asbury, Peter Rundell, Ferreira Lobo, Manuel Ivo Cruz, Brad Cohen, Peter Birgamin, Armando Vidal, Jaroslav Mikus, Gunther Arglebe, Yoichi Sugyiana, among others. Engagements for this season include her London debut with the world premier of Pedro Amaral’s opera in London: The Dream, Nino Rota’s Aladin (as The Princess) and George Benjamin’s A Mind of winter in Centro Cultural de Belém (Lisbon). (text by Sara Braga Simões)

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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