PEDRO AMARAL "IN FOCUS" ON MIC.PT IN FEBRUARY
Pedro Amaral – composer, conductor, musicologist and professor – celebrates this year his 40th anniversary. He began his composition studies as Fernando Lopes-Graça’s private pupil and then settled in Paris where he studied with Emmanuel Nunes. His skills as conductor were developed with Peter Eötvös and Emilio Pomarico. “I undertake theoretical work because the act, to me, and in particular the act of composition, is always accompanied by thought”, stresses the composer and musicologist and researcher of the work of Karlheinz Stockhausen. The investigation of the work of the German “visionary” marked him as musician and scholar in his historical reflection and in the consolidation his own musical language. On April 25th 2010 Pedro Amaral premiered in London his first opera “O Sonho” (“The Dream”), based on an unfinished drama by Fernando Pessoa and staged by Fernanda Lapa. The work was performed by a prestigious cast of Portuguese singers accompanied by the London Sinfonietta conducted by the composer. Visit the mic.pt website and discover the work of Pedro Amaral, the composer “In Focus” in February.

Kairos, Emanuel Dimas de Melo Pimenta
Kairos is the history of the first design of architecture – in its most elevated sense – for a space project. Between 2008 and 2011, the Portuguese composer, architect and urban planner Emanuel Dimas de Melo Pimenta designed a building to be permanently in orbit of planet Earth. Beyond an architectural design it also is a reflection on the human condition, on the possibility of the end of wars, of the leap of Humanity to the Universe and on a civilizational metamorphosis.

Arte e Zen, Emanuel Dimas de Melo Pimenta
Art and Zen is a book by the architect, musician, philosopher and intermedia artist Emanuel Dimas de Melo Pimenta. A reflection about what art is and its deep implications in life, the book was written in the Italian mountains of Abruzzo. Emanuel Pimenta has been involved with Zen since many years. He studied Zen aesthetics with the composer Hans Joachim Koellreutter, who lived in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s. He also collaborated with John Cage along his last seven years of life.

Contextos da Modernidade, Ângelo Martingo
The Atelier de Composição presents the first volume of a new book series, which aims to disseminate the musicological work realized by Portuguese authors dealing with composition in Portugal. “…various Portuguese composers or residing in Portugal were inquired on the questions of identity, procedures and compositional materials, as well as on the relevance and cultural contextualization of classical music.”

Emmanuel Nunes - Escritos e Entrevistas, Paulo Assis
The Centre for Studies on Musical Aesthetics and Sociology (CESEM) and the Casa da Música published a book, which collects writings and interviews of Emmanuel Nunes from 1961 to 2011. This edition was coordinated by the researcher Paulo Assis.

 

Manuel Durão, Die Tür
New work for cello and piano by Manuel Durão, was premiered on January 13th by Lilia Seifert (piano) and Nathanael Vorwergk (cello) at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig (Germany).
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Manuel Durão, Lisbon revisited
Manuel Durão’s work from 2009 for viola and voice, based on the text by Álvaro de Campos, was premiered on January 13th by Marion Gomar (voice) and Chloé Parisot (viola) at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig (Germany).
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Eduardo Patriarca, Processione
New work for string quartet by Eduardo Patriarca, commissioned by the Matosinhos Municipality, was premiered on January 19th at the Cine-Teatro Constantino Nery (Matosinhos) by the Matosinhos String Quartet.
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Jorge Campos, Convergëre IV
Work for clarinet and electronics by Jorge Campos was premiered by Nuno Silva on January 20th at the Casa Museu Dr. Anastácio Gonçalves, having been repeated on the following day at the Museu da Música.

Emanuel Pimenta, STliz
New work by Emanuel Pimenta was premiered by Maurizio Barbetti (viola), Francesco Cuoghi (guitar and electronics) and Gioliano Mammoli (video and installation). The presentation took place at the Teatro della Fortuna in Puglia (Italy).
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Simão Costa, Pi_add(a) Forte
New work by Simão Costa for two pianos, electronics, video and dance was premiered by Simão Costa (piano), Joana Sá (piano), Yola Pinto (dancer) and Rita Sá (video) at the Rehearsal Room of the Belém Culrutal Centre on January 29th.
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2012 NEW MUSIC SESSION
The New Music Session, one of a kind in Canada, gives young composers and musicians from all over the world the occasion to improve their skills for two weeks by working with the musicians of the NEM and well-known composers. For the 2012 New Music Session, Lasse Thoresen (Norway) and John Rea (Canada) will be the guest composers.
For two weeks, artistic coordinators, guest composers, young composers and musicians, staff and musicians of the NEM will work intensely during composition and analysis classes, seminars, workshops, rehearsals and concerts.

1st CARAVELAS COMPOSITION COMPETITION
On January 3rd 2012 the jury of the 1st Caravelas Composition Competition distinguished one piece with Honorary Mention: Zoey: Duas Imagens Poéticas.
The piece, based on Fernando Pessoa's text, was composed by Nuno Alexandre Sousa.

46th DARMSTADT INTERNATIONAL SUMMER COURSE FOR NEW MUSIC
A meeting point for composers, interpreters, performers, sound artists, and scholars. For discovery, learning, networking, exchange and debate, collaboration, and – last but not least – invention. This is what the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music have in store. Every two years in the summer, around the clock, for two weeks. Whether attending seminars, workshops, concerts, or lectures, participating in discussions, rehearsals, spontaneously organized events or chance encounters, one is immersed in the music of our time.

SOUND ENTITY QUALITY RESEARCH QUERY
The composer and researcher Isabel Pires since various years has been developing a work of scientific investigation within auditive perception of sound qualities. The final objective of this work was to develop a new paradigm of study of the sound signal, which would have in consideration some sound qualities understood auditively. During the process it became obvious to test in large scale the qualities emerging from certain sound types. Thus, in order to cover the most wide and varied sample possible, the test was conceived in a form of a website.