This September the MIC.PT In Focus section is dedicated to Cândido Lima, composer published by the MIC.PT, pianist, professor, philosopher and essayist, who in 2019 celebrates various anniversaries, including:10 years after the premiere of the multimedia work composed for Viana do Castelo, Músicas de Villaiana – coros oceânicos; 40 years after the first performance of the work A-MÈR-ES for orchestra and electronics, at the Gulbenkian Foundation (on Iannis Xenakis' recommendation); 70 years after the successful 4th grade exam at a primary school in Viana do Castelo (as a reward the composer's father invited him for a tour on the Lima river); Cândido Lima's 80th birthday...
Cândido Lima is one of the most prominent figures in the universe of Portuguese contemporary music. His rich curriculum includes not only studies in Philosophy and Humanities, but also different academic grades in Musical Aesthetics and Arts – some of them obtained in Paris where he studied with Iannis Xenakis. As one of the first Portuguese composers to introduce electronic computer synthesis in music, Cândido Lima's aim has always been to achieve a kind of "fusion music" – an organic coexistence of different systems and cultures. One of his most recent works Ode ao Tejo – regresso de um piano de guerra was premiered in May at the Música Viva 2019 Festival.
What are the sounds from childhood included by Cândido Lima in the work Músicas de Villaiana? Who and why wished him death after the premiere of A-MÈR-ES? Who was jealous of this experience? And how does Cândido Lima exercise his creative freedom? The answers to these and other questions can be found in the MIC.PT September In Focus section, with the interview to Cândido Lima realised by Pedro Boléo and Jakub Szczypa on May 24 at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon.

The Eternal Feminine (O Eterno Feminino) is the title of the concert taking place on September 14 at the Casa da Música in Porto. Its programme includes the work Ricercari (1983-84) for orchestra by Clotilde Rosa, composer published by the MIC.PT. "This work was very well received, having been influenced by abstract painting – lines and textures" – says Clotilde Rosa in the MIC.PT Interview from October 2017. She continues: "Ricercari is a texture with various lines, coming together or separating. It's as the title suggests, they're always looking for each other and thus create a texture. The same happens in painting". The programme of this performance – by the Porto Symphony Orchestra Casa da Música conducted by Joana Carneiro and with the violinist Hyeyoon Park – also includes works by the composers: Sofia Gubaidulina, Kaija Saariaho and Unsuk Chin.

Feminine Virtuosity (Virtuosismo no Feminino) is the title of the concert taking place on September 17 at the Casa da Música in Porto. Its programme includes the premiere of the work State of(f) Emergencies (2019) by the composer published by the MIC.PT, Ângela da Ponte. "A moment when art receives less and less financial support, means that it's being practiced with more strength. There'll always be a stimulus to practice art in various areas. It's even advised to integrate it at companies, to improve the quality of life. Art is and will always be a human need" – says Ângela da Ponte in the MIC.PT Interview from February 2014. The programme of this concert – by the Remix Ensemble Casa da Música conducted by Sian Edwards and with the violinist Carolin Widmann – also includes the music by: Kaija Saariaho, Rebecca Saunders and Unsuk Chin.

In September the video-music Things I Have Seen in My Dreams (2019) by João Pedro Oliveira will be presented in the context of various events, dedicated to new sonic and visual creation: at the Atemporánea Festival in Buenos Aires (September 9-14); on September 19, at the Supernova Digital Animation Festival in Denver (USA); and on September 20, at the Mise-En-Place (Bushwick, NY, USA). Additionally, the premiere of João Pedro Oliveira's piece Kontrol (2019) for performer and electronics will take place at the 15th edition of the Visiones Sonoras Festival, taking place between September 25 and 28 in Morelia (Mexico). "There's an increasing tendency to associate music with other arts and in future it'll become stronger and stronger. The multi-sensorial experience «prophesied» by Aldous Huxley has gained more and more weight. This art can be consumed at home, without the need for access to other spaces. The future generations of composers will experience a huge alteration in the artistic and creative paradigms of the «why», «how», «for whom» and «by whom»" – says this composer published by the MIC.PT in the MIC.PT Interview from December 2017.

Hiante is a CD and book of electroacoustic poetry released by the Helvética Grimaces Éditions, with illustrations, poems and voice of Sofia A. Carvalho, as well as with illustrations and music by João Castro Pinto, composer published by the MIC.PT. The concert accompanying the release of this new publication will take place on September 28 at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. The event will have two parts: the first one will consist of a recreation of the segments of Hiante (Sofia A. Carvalho – voice; João Castro Pinto – electro-acoustic processing); during the second part João Castro Pinto will carry out the integral spatialisation of the work, reinterpreting it through the Loudspeaker Orchestra by the Miso Music Portugal. This CD is released in the context of the duo's artistic development from the work-in-progress entitled Spectrum Extenso, focused on the poetic work by Teixeira de Pascoes. It had its first public presentation in Geneva, in November 2018, in the context of the event organised by the Makaronic association – pem#9 poésies en mouvement réflexions. This edition is limited to only 50 CDs (screen printing), which will be available at the concert venue – O'culto da Ajuda.

Sounds Around Me is the name of the International Festival for Acousmatic Music, taking place between September 24 and 29 and which includes the participation of Jaime Reis. In this sense, this composer published by the MIC.PT will perform a master-class – Mixed Media Electroacoustic Music – and a presentation entitled: Mixed Music in my Musical Practice: Dialogues, "Mikrophonie" and "Sound Beams". In the context of this event, organised by the Ukrainian Institute in partnership with the Acousmatic Project, Jaime Reis will also present his electroacoustic work Fluxus, pas trop haut dans le ciel (2017). "What fascinates me isn't the idea that I'm able to do anything, but rather the idea of not knowing what I can still do. My work with the electronics has favoured this idea. I've had contact with relatively recent technologies, allowing me to experience music in the ways I've never considered possible" – says Jaime Reis in the MIC.PT Interview from October, 2016.

Sou já do que fui (2019) for 4 hand piano is a piece by Paulo Bastos, making part of the Transmusica recital by the Jost Costa Duo (Yseult Jost & Domingos Costa), which will take place on September 20 at the Robert Bosch Sall in Stuttgart (Germany). Another piece by this composer published by the MIC.PT – Cinco canções de Miguel Torga (2016) for guitar orchestra and voice – will be performed on September 29 at the Cidade Tiradentes Factory of Culture in São Paulo (Brazil), by the Guri Santa Marcelina Guitar Camerata with Thales Vieira Maestre (conductor). "Being influenced by the music which I study, my work has traced paths leading me towards the fields that I still can's define. I've adopted more extensive forms in search for a sonority of urban contours, connected with a subjacent imaginary rock, with the velocity of the things and life, with the repetitive and unidirectional sense of the world we live in" – says Paulo Bastos in the MIC.PT Interview from June, 2019.

Hypernormalization (2018) for voice, percussion and electronics is the work by Igor C. Silva – composer published by the MIC.PT – making part of the project Sticklip by the Dutch singer and composer Brechtje van Dijk a.k.a. Bec Plexus. It'll be performed in concert during the Gaudeamus Muziekweek – Gaudeamus Saturday Night 2019, on September 7 at the TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht (the Netherlands). On the day before, the singer and the pianist Saskia Lankhoorn will make a presentation on the new music which inspires them (including the piece by Igor C. Silva). Sticklip is composed of songs by nine composers – Molly Joyce, Richard Ayres, Pascal Le Boeuf, David T. Little, Amy Beth Kirsten, Igor C. Silva, Sanne Huijbregts, Arone Dyer and Bec Plexus. All of them are related with the theme: Something you don’t dare to say out loud. The Sticklip album, recorded with the contribution by Igor C. Silva and including the participation of the Portuguese percussionist João Miguel Braga Simões, will be released on March 2020 by the New Amsterdam Records.

Folias e Polifonias (2019) is the title of the new work by Fernando C. Lapa, which will be premiered on September 8 at the Casa da Música in Porto. The programme of this concert by the Portuguese Guitar and Mandolin Orchestra directed by Hélder Magalhães, also includes the premiere performance of the Variations on the Carnival of Venice for solo clarinet and plectrum orchestra by Luís Carvalho. This concert will be also performed by: Horácio Ferreira (clarinet), the Porto Teachers Choral Group, Os Afónicos RTP Choir, the Rio Tinto Orphéon, Portuscale BPI Orphéon, Ars Vocalis Choir, São Francisco Choir and the Sol Maior Choir. "I've always wanted my music to carry some potential of commu-nication, an affective weight. I've always been bothered with the rejection that the music of our time continues to induce, with a dose of injustice, in a significant part of the audience. I take the educational responsibility for trying to change this state of things" – says this composer published by the MIC.PT in the Interview from April, 2017.

Home Sweet Sound (2019) is a new music theatre, for a pianist performer, live electronics, everyday objects and digital support, by Vítor Rua (composer published by the MIC.PT) and by the pianist Joana Gama. Its premiere performance will take place on September 28 in the context of the Circular 2019 – Performative Arts Festival in Vila do Conde (Portugal). "Home Sweet Sound is a flux of creative gestures marked with humour and lyricism. Incidentally, within the notion of music / performance art and through the unbeatable quality of Joana Gama for this project, the performance becomes hypnotic, rich and radiant with life" – reveals Vítor Rua, one of the creators of this music theatre.

In the context of the Call for Scores / Projects for the World New Music Days 2020 the Miso Music Portugal / MIC.PT has invited six Portuguese contemporary composers to include their works in the Official Application of the ISCM Portuguese Section for this Festival dedicated to the music of our time. The invited composers are: Diogo Alvim and Virgílio Melo in the Category no. 1 (Piano Plus), Paulo Bastos in the Category no. 3 (Percussion Plus), Sara Carvalho in the Category no. 5 (Piano Trio), Christopher Bochmann in the Category no. 9 (Youth Orchestra) and Daniel Davis in the Category no. 11 (Choir). Subsequently, the works submitted by the ISCM Sections and Members from the world over, will be selected by an international jury to integrate the programme of the World New Music Days 2020 Festival, which will be taking place between April 21 and 30 in Auckland and Christchurch (New Zealand).

In August João Quinteiro has joined the group of Composers Published by the MIC.PT, having at the moment one work in the Catalogue of Scores Published by the MIC.PT – Madrugada I (2016) for wind orchestra and percussion. Additionally, four more scores by this composer are being prepared for edition by the MIC.PT in the months to come. Born in 1984, João Quinteiro is composer and integrated researcher at the CESEM (FCSH-UNL) in Lisbon. There, in collaboration with the Kunst-universität in Graz and the Luigi Nono Archives in Venice, he 's doing the PhD in Artistic Studies – Art and Mediation, under the supervision of Paula Gomes Ribeiro, Paulo Assis and Beat Furrer. The project's title is: Nono, Lachenmann, Mark André, the Performance of the Body as an Archetype Mechanism of Insurrection: a Genealogy of Opera after Darmstadt. This work is integrated in the creation of the opera Regresso. João Quinteiro is member of the directors' board at the APC – Portuguese Association of Composers.

In August Diogo Alvim has joined the group of Composers Published by the MIC.PT, having at the moment one work in the Catalogue of Works Published by the MIC.PT – Piece with a View (2018) for solo piano (graphic score). Additionally, five more scores by this composer are being prepared for edition by the MIC.PT in the months to come. Born in 1979, Diogo Alvim is an architect and composer of instrumental and electroacoustic music, as well as music for theatre and dance. He's also a performer of live computer music and author of various projects in the area of sonic art. He has developed collaborations with visual and sonic artists, choreographers and theatre directors, including: Ricardo Jacinto, Inês Botelho, Matilde Meireles and Tânia Carvalho. His research in the context of his PhD at the Sonic Arts Research Centre in Belfast, has been focused on the relations between music and architecture. Presently Diogo Alvim is integrated researcher at the CESEM (FCSH-UNL) in Lisbon.

The winners of the 2nd edition of the Manuel Emílio Porto National Choral Composition Competition, organised by the Lajes do Pico Municipality in partnership with the Portuguese Music Research & Information Centre – MIC.PT and the Portuguese Music Education Association – APEM, were announced in July by the president of the Lajes do Pico Municipality. In accordance with the decision of the jury – Christopher Bochmann, Jorge Matta and Marco Torre – the two winning works are: in the Vozes Brancas (White Voices) Category – Sentados num jardim a comer um pudim (2019) by Eduardo Serra; and in the Mixed Choir Category – Eu Sou A Tela (2019) by Miguel Jesus. Following the competition's rules, these two works are now included in the Catalogue of Scores Published by the MIC.PT.

Amílcar Vasques-Dias (AVDias0014)
Marwan (2018) · piano

Daniel Davis (DDav0004)
Colours (here in) (2018) · mixed choir

Diogo Alvim (DAlv0001)
Piece with a View (2018) · piano

Eduardo Serra (ESer0001)
Sentados num Jardim a Comer um Pudim (2019) · children's choir

João Quinteiro (JQui0001)
Madrugada I (2016) · wind orchestra and percussion

Miguel Jesus (MJes0001)
Eu Sou a Tela (2019) · mixed choir

The jury of the 8th edition of the SPA / Antena 2 Composition Award – constituted by the conductor José Eduardo Gomes (president), by the conductor and composer Nuno Côrte-Real and by the composer Daniel Moreira – has unanimously decided to give the 1st Award to the work Manifesto by the composer Francisco Fontes (born in 1993 in Braga), an the 2nd Award to the composer Rodrigo Cardoso (born in 1997 in Cinfães) for the work Beyond the Surface. The jury has also decided to distinguish with an Honourable Mention the work Dimezzato by the composer Rodrigo Bacelar (born in 1995 in Porto). The winning work of the SPA / Antena 2 2019 Award will be performed at the Gala Concert of the 9th Young Musicians Festival (Young Musician's Award – 33rd Edition), taking place between October 3 and 5 at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.