This month the MIC.PT In Focus section is dedicated to José Luís Ferreira (1973-2018), to remember this composer published by the MIC.PT, musician, teacher and performer, whose premature disappearing in February last year, only at the age of 44, has certainly made Portuguese art and research music much poorer.
It was precisely to innovation and research in art music – acoustic, electroacoustic and mixed – that José Luís Ferreira dedicated himself completely, having developed the essence of his sonic grammar in direct connection with the musical technology and informatics. In the context of these domaines he affirmed his creative freedom, always sharing the results of his findings and putting into practice the premisses of his Doctoral Thesis – Mixed Music and Dynamic Relation Systems – in a pedagogical context at the Lab for Mixed Music, and in the framework of various other projects, for example, with the MPMP Ensemble or the Miso Music Portugal.
How would José Luís Ferreira ’s next piece sound? Which aesthetic direction would he have taken? The answers to these and various other questions on the composer have been provided by the participants of the MIC.PT Questionnaire – some of José Luís Ferreira ’s friends, colleagues, students, teachers and collaborators. In March their answers are presented in the MIC.PT In Focus section as a kind of “collage-portrait” of the composer.

Two new works by Cândido Lima, composer published by the MIC.PT whose 80th anniversary is celebrated in 2019, will be premiered this month.
On March 23, in the context of the final concert of the Contemporary Music Reencounters 2019, organized by the Arte no Tempo association, the Orquestra das Beiras and the CMAGG Choir with Dinis Sousa (direction), Ângela Alves and João Carlos Soares (choral direction), will perform the premiere of the work A Arca do Poeta (2018) for youth choir and orchestra, based on the poetry of Fernando Pessoa / Alberto Caeiro (O Guardador de Rebanhos). Another Cândido Lima's premiered work is the piece for flute and electronics Uma Flauta para Turim (2016), which will be performed on March 26 during the Antena 2 Recital at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon by Sílvia Cancela, flutist to whom the work is dedicated. Thus mentions Cândido Lima in the programme note: "The work is dedicated to a flutist and to a flute from Turin, travelling somewhere, perhaps, to Portugal... It’s a kind of substitution of an imaginary psychological void by interposed person; a kind of personal sublimation induced by another person..."

Two works by Miguel Azguime – composer published by the MIC.PT – will be premiered at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon in March. The first one entitled Du reste, un fil de sable (2019) for percussion quartet and electronics, will be performed by the Drumming – Percussion Group on March 22. The second premiere, of the piece Et s’il à l’issue (2019) for flute and electronics, is included in the programme of the Antena 2 Recital by Sílvia Cancela, which will take place on March 26. This month there are two other performances with Miguel Azguime's music. On March 9 the Helena Sá e Costa Theatre in Porto will host the iconic multimedia opera – the Salt Itinerary (2003-06) by the Miso Ensemble (Paula Azguime and Miguel Azguime), Perseu Mandillo (image and camera) and Andre Bartetzki (video programming). Additionally, in the end of March – on the 30th – the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensem-ble conducted by Petter Sundkvist, with Frances M. Lynch (voice) and Miguel Azguime (narration), will perform the work (ThS)inking Survival Kit (2010). On March 8 Miguel Azguime will also give a Composition Masterclass at the Superior School of Music and Performance Art in Porto.

Macrophylla IV ​(2018) for accordion and electronics and Macrophylla V ​(2018) for ensemble and elec-tronics are two pieces by Ângela da Ponte, whose premieres will take place on March 15 and 17, in the con-text of the Contemporary Music Reencounters 2019 (March 7-23), organized by the Arte no Tempo association in Aveiro (Portugal). The two performances of the music by this com-poser published by the MIC.PT will take place in the context of the concerts – New Music for New Musicians · NMpNM – performed by the students from various Portuguese music / art colleges and Dinis Sousa (direction). "My music reflects my life experience, which can come from a personal one, gaining form of mythology or poetry. However, I'm also inspired by nature, perhaps because of having been born and having lived on an island with the most beautiful land-scape" – told Ângela da Ponte to the MIC.PT in 2014.

LILT ​(2019) is a work for bassoon and electronics by Ângela Lopes, whose premiere will take place on March 17 at the Con-temporary Music Reen-counters 2019 (March 7-23, Aveiro). This piece, commis-sioned by the Arte no Tempo association, has been written in partnership with the two young artists from the Fine Arts School in Porto: Inês Silva and Xavier Paes. This concert (NMpNM) also includes the music by: Ângela da Ponte, Tiago Cutileiro, Igor C. Silva, Pedro M. Rocha, Filipe Lopes, Carlos Caires, Ricardo Ribeiro and João Carlos Pinto. "Our role is to form, instruct, disseminate, promote, manifest ourselves through difference, intervene, correct, modify, innovate, change paths, to know how to do our art well, not to make concessions, to be an example for change and to always walk straight ahead..." – said this composer pub-lished by the MIC.PT in the MIC.PT Interview from 2012.

The work Blindspot Box (2018) for bass clarinet, electronics, video and lighting by Igor C. Silva is included in the pro-gramme of the composed and improvised music recital by Maija Anttila – taking place on March 1 in Liége (Belgium). Another piece by this com-poser published by the MIC.PT – Static on my fingers (2017) for a group of improvisers, electronics and video – makes part of the performance by the Electroville Jukebox (Rodrigo Pires de Lima, João Dias and José Grossinho), which will take place on March 8 at the CriArte Auditorium in Carcavelos (Portugal). Additionally in the first half of the month, on March 12, Igor C. Silva will be lecturer at the Research Musical Language Day at the Royal Conser-vatoire of Brussels. In the second half of the month, on March 22, the Drumming – Percussion Group will perform his work Sweet Data (no amnesia) (2018) for percussion ensemble and electronics, during the concert at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon, which will also include the music by Steve Reich, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Miguel Azguime.

Give Guitars to People is a meta-idiomatic impro-visation performance and a Concrete Music project by Vítor Rua (improviser and composer published by the MIC.PT), Jochen Arbeit and NATürlich, which will be presented on March 16 at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. “Give Guitars to People deals with isolated «sonic experi-ences» where every module is autonomous and self-sufficient. It’s a collective improvisation experience; three guitars as a central and privileged mean in search for a unique sonority. The dynamics between the musicians leads to a meta-idiomatic meeting, a conversation uniting their multiple vocabulary and aesthetics composed of diverse, but merging variables” – reveal the musicians in the project’s programme note. And they continue: “It’s not necessary to hear a nightingale during two hours in order to be enchanted; an isolated song is enough. Only a couple of seconds of listening to the sound of cicadas are sufficient for us to marvel with its refined texture. A unique moment of listening to sea waves is already relaxing…”

Sinfonia («subjetiva»)​ (2019) is a new work and a “challenge to history and orchestral tradition” by António Pinho Vargas. Its premiere by the Metropolitan Orchestra of Lisbon conducted by Pedro Amaral, will take place on March 24 at the Belém Arts Centre (CCB) in Lisbon. The same performance will also include another work by this composer published by the MIC.PT – Six Portraits of Pain (2005) with Pavel Gomziakov on the cello – accompanied by a film by the cinematographer Teresa Villaverde (premiere, commissioned by the CCB). On the CCB website the organizers of the concerts reveal that: “Teresa Villaverde inverts the habitual relation between the film and the «soundtrack», proposing a cinematographic creation based on the music by António Pinho Vargas. The music has been born as first, and the film has emerged as second, as a «cine-track» for a musical score. Orchestra and cinema in live creation.”

In the first half of March João Pedro Oliveira will lead a masterclass and conference for com-posers, as Invited Artist at the series of concerts at the Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, USA), taking place between March 5 and 9. Two works by this composer published by the MIC.PT will be presented in the context of this event: Mosaic (2014) for piano and electronics by Ana Cláudia Assis (March 5) and Timshel (2007) for ensemble and electronics by the Flageolet Ensemble (March 9). In the second half of the month João Pedro Oliveira will be Invited Composer at the 2019 John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium (University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, USA), where on March 27 the Arditti Quartet will perform his work Espiral de Luz (2005). Additionally, his electroacoustic work with video, Storms (2018), is included in the programme of the Diffrazioni Multimedia Festival, taking place between March 26 and 31 in Florence (Italy).

Sou já do que fui​ (2019) is a new work for piano four hands by Paulo Bastos – composer published by the MIC.PT – which will be premiered by the Duo Jost-Costa, on March 8 in the context of the Camino de Genere Festival (Teatro Comunale, Camino al Tagliamento, Italy). “This work emerges in the context of the «Trans-musica» project, a transnational production by five composers form South Africa, Germany, France, Italy and Portugal, and a piano duo – Duo Jost-Costa (France and Portugal). The piece crosses the unifying theme of identity from an individual perspective – the identity of the “I”. Indeed «sou já do que fui» (I am what I’ve already been) is an autobiographical work, approaching in a conscious way the sonorities and general features of my music during the last years. The title originates from the following eclogue by Luís de Camões: «I am what I have already been, so different, that when somebody calls my name I am amazed to realize that I am still like myself»" – reveals Paulo Bastos.

The work Homero (2012) for narrator and four hand piano by Fernando C. Lapa based on the story by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen will be performed on March 24 at the Conference-Concert Rencontre at the House of Portugal – André de Gouveia (Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris). The event organized around this writer, whose Centenary is cele-brated in 2019, includes the participation of José Manuel Esteves (narrator), João Costa Ferreira and Bruno Belthoise (piano). Also this month, the Contratempus Quartet will perform the piece Variações a partir de um coração (2018) for quartet based on traditional melodies, with the music by Fernando C. Lapa, text by Eduarda Freitas, staging by Catarina Costa e Silva and lighting by Mariana Figueroa. Presently, this composer published by the MIC.PT is also jury member at the Folefest Award for Accordion Com-position 2019 and the Pedro de Araújo International Composition Award of the Organ Festival of Braga.

On March 15 at the concert organized by the Guildhall New Music Society (London, United Kingdom) at the Silk Street Music Hall, the clarinetist Ed Holmes will perform the work analogous (2015) for solo clarinet by Daniel Davis. Presently, this composer published by the MIC.PT is student of the Doctoral Programme in Composition at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, under the guidance of the composers Julian Philips and Richard Baker; and with the support by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.

Henrique Piloto (HPil0001)
Oh, que eco que aqui há! (2017) · white voices

Tomás Sousa Ferreira (TSFer0001)
Na Mão de Deus (2017) · mixed choir

Ângela da Ponte (APon0002)
Divertimento for viola solo (2017) · viola

Hugo Ribeiro – compositor editado pelo MIC.PT – composer published by the MIC.PT is winner of the Musa Prize, an initiative developed by the MPMP – Patrimonial Movement for Portuguese Music, in partnership with the Natural History and Science Museum of the Porto University. The Competition’s Jury – João Pedro Oliveira, Pedro Teixeira and Martim Sousa Tavares – has also decided to give a honourable mention to the composer Miguel Jesus. The winning works's are conceptually based of the poetry of Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, being composed for an a cappella vocal group. The concert of the Musa Prize laureates will be taking place on March 22 at the BBVA Tivoli Theatre in Lisbon. Additionally, on March 25 the National Music Museum in Lisbon will host a Round-Table moderated by João Almeida, and with the participation fo the winner-composers, the Jury members and the conductress Clara Alcobia Coelho.

The work Divertimento (2011) for orchestra by Christopher Bochmann will be presented on March 2 at the Ruy de Carvalho Municipal Auditorium in Carnaxide. The pro-gramme of the concert, performed by the Chamber Orchestra of Cascais and Oeiras with Marta Xavier (clarinet) and directed by this composer published by the MIC.PT, also includes works by Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Albert Roussel and Carlos Seixas (Tocata e Minuete orchestrated by Christopher Bochmann). Las month – on February 27 at the Mateus d’Aranda College in Évora – the Contemporary Music Group of the University of Évora premiered the work Turbilhão (2019) for 12 instruments by Christopher Bochmann. Additionally, the composer is President of Jury in the context of the 2nd Manuel Emílio Porto National Competition of Choral Composition, organized by the Lajes do Pico Municipality in partnership with the MIC.PT and the APEM, whose aim is to promote the creation of new choral repertoire and Portuguese literature. (more information below)

The two pieces for piano and for toy piano by Sara Carvalho – Postlude, still in Fugue (2009) and Perto do coração selvagem (2014) – are included in the programme of the recital, which the Bulgarian pianist Borislava Taneva will give in Luxembourg on March 19. "How I get closer to a musical / sonic idea always involves an enormous sensorial process. Within this process I delineate and give structure to my material, for which I select the techniques that allow me to communicate better my ideas. And it's in this manipulation of the material that I get to understand its potential" – says this composer published by the MIC.PT in the Interview given to the MIC.PT in December 2014.

The work The horn calls you back! (2018) for two horns and piano by Ricardo Matosinhos – composer published by the MIC.PT – is winner at the Featured Division of the Inter-national Horn Association Composition Competition 2018. Last month the MSR Classics label released a new CD: Portuguese Perspectives – Music for Oboe, Piano & Strings. Here, the oboist Courtney Miller, the pianist Minji Kwon, Scott Conklin & Katie Wolfe (violin), Christine Rutledge (viola) & Anthony Arnone (cello), perform the music by Sérgio Azevedo, Eurico Carrapatoso, Anne Victorino D’ Almeida, Manuel Pedro Ferreira, António Fragoso, and Ricardo Matosinhos's' work Os Contos do Oboé (2017).

tracking reality # 1 (2019) for three performers, live projection and eight transducers is a new work by Luís Antunes Pena (commission by the Arte no Tempo / DME Festival / AFEA – Music Conservatoire of Seia), which will be premiered on March 4 at the Casa da Cultura de Seia in the context of the DME Festival – Electroacoustic Music Days, by the Nadar Ensemble (Belgium). Involving electronics, video and lighting, this performance, which will repeat on March 7 at the Teatro Aveirense during the Reencounters for Contemporary Music 2019, also includes the works by other renowned composers: Natacha Diels, Pierre Jodlowski and Michael Beil. This month the piece im rauschen, cantabile (2012) for double bass and electronics by Luís Antunes Pena – composer published by the MIC.PT – is included in the programme of the CEMICircles Festival for Experimental Music and Intermedia (March 1-2, Texas, USA).

In March the work Fluxus, pas trop haut dans le ciel (2017) by Jaime Reis will be presented during two concerts in the context of the Russolo Award 2018, where this composer published by the MIC.PT is one of the laureates. The first one will take place on March 10 at the Licences Festival in Paris, and the second on March 31 at the Ground Khodynka Space in Moscow. Another work by Jaime Reis Fluxus, Drag (2015) for cello and double bass is included in the programme of two concerts by the Contracello Duo – To See the Sounds, to Hear Images – on March 15 and 17 at the Lisboa Incomum and the Helena Sá e Costa Theatre in Porto. This project also includes pieces by: Clotilde Rosa, Ângela Lopes, Isabel Soveral, João Pedro Oliveira and António Chagas Rosa. On March 7 at the Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), Jaime Reis will give a conference – 2002-18, from the Síntese cycle to Sangue Inverso-Inverso Sangue – followed by a concert with his music.

The Portuguese Author’s Society (SPA) announced in February the list of the nominates for the 2019 SPA Award. The nominates in the category Music – Best Classical Music Work are: Hugo Vasco Reis for the CD edition O Espaço da Sombra (2018), dedicated to the Portuguese guitar, and where this composer published by the MIC.PT is simultaneously author, performer and producer; António Pinho Vargas (composer published by the MIC.PT), for the work Memorial premiered on December 15, 2018 by the Metropolitan Orchestra of Lisbon, at a concert organized to celebrate the 20th anniversary of José Saramago's Nobel Award; and Nuno Côrte-Real for the opera Canção do Bandido (2018), with the libreto by Pedro Mexia and premiered last November at the Teatro da Trindade in Lisbon (co-production: Teatro da Trindade – Inatel / Teatro Nacional de São Carlos / Temporada DARCOS).

On March 26, the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon will host another recital in the framework of the cycle organized by the Miso Music Portugal in collaboration with the Antena 2. In this context, renowned Portuguese musicians have performed significant music works, together with the music by Portuguese contemporary composers, including important premiere performances. They've also presented acoustic instruments in combination with electronic, sonic transformations. This time the performer in focus is the flutist Sílvia Cancela, who will perform premieres of works by the three composers published by the MIC.PT – Erso (2013) by Nuno Peixoto de Pinho, Uma flauta para Turim (2016) by Cândido Lima and Et s'il à l'issue (2018-19) by Miguel Azguime; as well as works by the two composers: Doina Rotaru and Kaija Saariaho. The concert will be broadcast live on the Antena 2.

The second edition of the Contemporary Music Reencounters, organized by the Arte no Tempo association, will be taking place in March (7-23) at the Teatro Aveirense (Aveiro, Portugal). Once again the composer in focus will be Cândido Lima (composer published by the MIC.PT) and, returning to Portugal, Beat Furrer (the event encompasses world premieres by the former and the Portuguese premieres by the latter), as well as Tiago Cutileiro (composer published by the MIC.PT), with the recent production of his opera TNSoMDN – Tudo Nunca Sempre o Mesmo Diferente Nada, premiered in February. The Reencounters, reflecting the Arte no Tempo's continuous "bet" on the future of music, include the broad participation of young musicians and composers from various generations, many of them published by the MIC.PT: Ângela da Ponte, Ângela Lopes, António Chagas Rosa, Carlos Caires, Diogo Novo Carvalho, Filipe Lopes, Igor C. Silva, João Pedro Oliveira, Jorge Peixinho, Luís Antunes Pena, Pedro Amaral, Pedro M. Rocha, Ricardo Ribeiro, Rui Dias, Tiago Cutileiro, and many others.

Toc, Toc, Toc (2009) for narrator, instrumental ensemble and electronics by João Madureira, and (ThS)inking Survival Kit (2010) for voice, instrumental ensemble and electronics by Miguel Azguime – these are the two works by the two Portuguese composers published by the MIC.PT in the programme of the concert by the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble, taking place on March 30 at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. This performance also includes the piece Chant d’Ailleurs by Alejandro Viñao. This time the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble, conducted by Petter Sundkvist and with the special participation of Frances M. Lynch (voice) and Miguel Azguime (narration), will be composed of: Sílvia Cancela (flute), Nuno Pinto (clarinet), Elsa Silva (piano), Vítor Vieira (violin) and Filipe Quaresma (violoncelo). As usual, the live electronics will be realized by the Miso Studio. Since its premiere at the Música Viva Festival 2007, the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble has been continously dedicated to the development and performance of new music repertoire by Portuguese contemporary composers.

The Lajes do Pico Municipality and the Choral Group of Lajes do Pico, in partnership with the Portuguese Music Research & Information Centre (MIC.PT) and with the Portuguese Association for Musical Education (APEM), organize the 2nd Manuel Emílio Porto National Competition of Choral Composition. Its objective is to promote the creation of new choral repertoire, simultaneously giving value to Portuguese literature. The Competition is directed to composers of any nationality, residing in Portugal for more that five years and without age limits. It encompasses two categories: Mixed Choir and White Voices. The members of the jury are: Christopher Bochmann (President), Jorge Matta and Marco Torre. The composers should submit their works until May 31, thus ensuring the compliance of the Competition's Rules.

The Music Conservatoire of Coimbra (CMC), the Institute of Ethnomusicology – Centre for Studies in Music and Dance (INET-md) and the University of Aveiro are the organizers of the ENCAPE 2019 – National Meeting on Composition and Musical Analysis: Educational Perspectives, taking place between June 26 and 27 in Coimbra. The main objective of this initiative is to reunite different interveners (teachers, researchers and other people interested) to debate, develop ideas and to disseminate research in music education within the areas of Composition and Musical Analysis. Additionally, the organizers aim at thematic transversality and at encouraging dialogue between the various areas of artistic education. In this sense, the organizers of the ENCAPE 2019 invite to submit presentations in Portuguese, above all integrated in the Meeting’s main themes. The deadline for submission of resumes is April 7.

On March 2 the Casa Municipal da Cultura in Seia will host in its Auditorium the 4th concert of the CriaSons Festival, with the programme Ouvi, claramente ouvido o lume vivo, designed by Eurico Carrapatoso. In this performance the composer presents a repertoire specially dedicated to the string quartet, deciding to celebrate "life and art" with concerts where he introduces his personal stamp, yet always in dialogue with other works. This concert is thus composed of five pieces – three by Eurico Carrapatoso, including the premiere of a new version of Llaços, Contradanças e Descantes; one piece by Fernando Lopes-Graça; and one by Miguel Jesus (world premiere of Elogio da Morte, based on the poetry of Antero de Quental). The works will be performed by Angélica Neto (soprano) and the Lopes-Graça Quartet.

The Portuguese renowned pianist and pedagogue José Carlos de Sequeira Costa passed away in the end of February. He was student of the Portuguese composer José Vianna da Motta (1868-1948) and founder of the Vianna da Motta International Music Competition. As performer he gave concerts around the world with many renowned orchestras, having also released CDs with works by different composers (Bach / Busoni, Beethoven, Vianna da Motta). His vast repertoire has included the integral work for piano and orchestra by Schumann, Chopin and Rachmaninoff. Since 1976 José Carlos de Sequeira Costa was piano professor at the University of Kansas in the USA, where he resided until today.