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Details as performer
 António Pinho Vargas was born in Vila Nova de Gaia in 1951. Composer,  musician  and essayist.  He graduated  in History  by the Faculty  of Letters  of the  University  of Porto,  has the  Piano  degree  from  the Porto  Conservatoire  and a  Masters  in Composition  by the Rotterdam  Conservatoire.  Teacher  of composition  at the  Lisbon  School  of Music  since  1991  and  Researcher  at  the  Centre  for  Social Studies  of the  University  of  Coimbra  since  2006. He finished  his  PhD  in  Sociology  of  Culture  at  the  University  of  Coimbra  in 2010 with  the  dissertation  "Música  e  Poder: para uma sociologia da ausência da música portuguesa no contexto europeu".   He was decorated with the Infante D. Henrique commendation by the President of the Republic in 1995 and was awarded the Municipality Medal of Cultural Merit in 1998. António  Pinho  Vargas  recorded  10  jazz  albums  as  pianist/composer  including  the two double discs  Solo (2008)  and  Solo II (2009),  and  Improvisations  (2011),  recorded  live  at  Instituto  Superior  Técnico.  Five monographic albums  with  some  of  his  works  have  already  been  published.  He  composed  four  operas,  a  Requiem  and  two  sacred  oratorios,  ten orchestra  pieces,  eight  works  for  ensemble,  twenty  chamber  works,  including  three  string  quartets,  seven  pieces  for  soloists  and music  for  five  films,  having  twice  received  the  award  for  best  music  in  film  festivals,  for  Tempos  Difíceis  (1986)  by  João Botelho  and  Cinco  Dias,  Cinco  Noites  (1994)  by  José  Fonseca  e  Costa.  

His  works  have  been  performed  in  several  European countries (Spain,  France,  Italy,  England,  Germany,  Holland,  Belgium,  Denmark, Poland,  Serbia,  Slovenia,  Russia)  and  in  the  United States, Australia,  China,  Indonesia  and  South  Korea.  From  his  roughly  fifty pieces,  the  following  can  be  highlighted:  the  operas Édipo, Tragédia  de  Saber  (1996),  Os  Dias  Levantados  (1998)  and  Outro  fim (2008) ,  the  string  quartets  Monodia, quasi  un  Requiem (1993), Movimentos  do  subsolo  (2008) ,  the  Suite  for  Solo  Cello  (2008), Estudos  e  Interlúdios  for  6  percussionists  (2001),  the orchestra works  Acting  Out  (1998),  A  Impaciência  de  Mahler  (2000),  Graffiti [just  forms)  (2006),  Six  Portraits  of  Pain,  for  solo cello  and ensemble  (2005),  Um  Discurso  de  Thomas  Bernhard,  for  narrator  and orchestra  (2007)  and  Onze  Cartas  for  orchestra, three  pre-­recorded  narrators  and  electronics,  Requiem(2012)  for  choir  and orchestra and  Magnificat  (2013),  also  for  choir  and orchestra, Concerto para Violino (2015), Concerto para Viola (2016), Memorial (2018) , Sinfonia (subjetiva) (2019), Oscuro (2022) and more recently Collections & translations (…varianti…) - Quarteto de Cordas nº5, premiered by the Leipzig quartet. (2024).

He wrote  the  books  "Sobre  Música:  ensaios,  textos  e  entrevistas"  (Afrontamento, 2002)  and  "Cinco  Conferências  sobre  a História  da  Música do  Século  XX"  (Culturgest,  2008)  and,  in  2011,  the  book  "Música  e  Poder: para  uma  sociologia  da  ausência  da música  portuguesa  no contexto  europeu"  (Almedina,  2011).  In  2012  he  was  granted  the  José  Afonso Prize  for  the  album  Solo II  and the  prestigious  11th University  of  Coimbra Award.  He recorded 10 jazz albums as a pianist/composer, including the double CDs, Solo (2008), Solo II (2009) and Improvisações ( 2011). Naxos edited Requiem & Judas (2014) and reedited digitally Os Dias Levantados and Verses and Nocturnes (2015), just as Warner reedited in 2017 Monodia and the album Magnificat – De Profundis. The CD Violin Concerto was edited and released by MPMP Património Musical Vivo and more recently the CD Lamentos (2023) by Artway Next. This last CD won the Prémio Play in 2024 in the "Best Album for Classical Music" category.

EXTERNAL LINKS António Pinho Vargas

Last update: 11th June 2024