Two premiere performances of works by Christopher Bochmann, composer published by the MIC.PT will take place in December. The first one, Four Fancies (2016) for two guitars, will be performed on December 13 at the Athenaeum International Cultural Centre in Athens, by the Kontaxakis–Ivanovich Duo. This ensemble composed of the two guitarists, Michalis Kontaxakis and Dejan Ivanovich, will also perform this piece on December 14 at the Laima Municipality (Greece). Another premiering work by Christopher Bochmann is entitled All the world’s a stage (2019). This piece, composed for a percussion septet, will be performed on December 30 at the Garcia Resende Theatre in Évora, in the context of the 2nd Itinerant Percussion Festival organised by the Arte no Tempo Association (December 27-30).

The Lady and the Unicorn – profane cantata for voice and electronics in form of an opera (2013), is the work by António de Sousa Dias with poetry by Maria Teresa Horta, which will be presented during two spectacles at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon, on December 20 and 21. The work will be performed by Ana Brandão and its creation includes the participation of Daniel Worm d'Assumpção, responsible for the light design. "This work is particular in my production as it joins various aspects: digital art, installation, performance, composition, audiovisual conception, programming… a series of fields which I have always wanted to explore, despite being more associated with music creation" – said António de Sousa Dias, composer published by the MIC.PT, in the Interview given to the MIC.PT in April 2017.

On December 6 at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon João Castro Pinto will give a concert marking his new monographic work entitled The No Land Soundscape, released by the Australian Hemisphäreの空虚 label. At the concert this composer published by the MIC.PT will spatialise through the Loudspeaker Orchestra, three electroacoustic pieces from his CD Esofonia – acousmatic works 1999-2017 (Miso Records). He'll also give the premiere performances of the two works from the new CD: à-τόπος and où-τόπος. This new work was composed from the sound recordings made by João Castro Pinto between 1998 and 2019 in Amarante, Budapest, Coimbra, Moscow, Saint Petersbourg, Sesimbra, Travanca do Monte, Tallinn and Vienna. This month João Castro Pinto will also make a concert tour in the USA: at the Vox Populi Gallery in Philadelphia (December 10); at the Rhizome in Washington DC (December 12); at the Gallery on Fourth in Easton (December 13). Finally on December 16, João Castro Pinto and Sofia A. Carvalho will present the -Spectrum Extenso- intermedia performance, at the Experimental Intermedia Foundation in New York.

Miguel Azguime, composer published by the MIC.PT, is the next participant at the MUSIVUS cycle meeting, organised by the ACP – Portuguese Association of Composers at the SPA – Portuguese Authors' Society in Lisbon. The meeting, which will take place on December 10, will also include the participation of the flutist Sílvia Cancela. In this context, the two invited artists will develop their conversation around the work Et s’il à l’issue (2019) by Miguel Azguime. Additionally this month, in the context of another Antena 2 Recital at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon, this time performed by Hugo Queirós, this clarinettist will premiere Miguel Azguime's new work for contrabass clarinet and electronics – Avoir l’Air (2019). The programme of this concert, which will take place on December 17, also includes the music of: Gérard Grisey, Yann Robin, Bernhard Gander and Mike Svoboda. Once a month on Tuesday, the Miso Music Portugal in collaboration with the Antena 2, presents a recital with exceptional performers, broadcast live form the O'culto Ajuda in Lisbon, with the aim to give voice to the music of our time.

The work Drive_! (2013) for vibraphone, multi-percussion and electronics by Igor C. Silva, composer published by the MIC.PT, will be performed on December 28 by the percussionist André Dias, in the context of the 2nd Itinerant Percussion Festival,  organised by the Arte no Tempo Association (taking place at the Garcia de Resende Theatre in Évora). "For me it's completely impossible to dissociate composition from technological evolution. If we look at the past, composition has always evolved in parallel to instrumental development. I think that it's perfectly natural and almost obligatory to use the tools being developed at this moment. They are the reflection of the sound universe we live in, in the 21st century" – says Igor C. Silva in the MIC.PT Interview from August 2015.

The premiere of the spectacle Era um peito só cheio de promessas by Miguel Pereira, with music and sound design by Diogo Alvim (composer published by the MIC.PT), will take place on December 6 and 7 at the Sodre Dra. Adela Reta National Auditorium in Montevideo (Uruguay). "In the context of the 500th anniversary of Magalhães' circumnavigation voyage, my aim is to create a spectacle reflecting the legacy and the consequences of this event in our History. This is perhaps the certain opportunity to develop a work which allows for the meeting and cooperation between South American and Portuguese artists" – says Miguel Pereira. In the case of Diogo Alvim, music for dance, theatre and working in projects joining music with images in movement, constitutes an important part of his creative output.

The culmination of João Pedro Oliveira's 60th anniversary celebrations will be taking place in the context of various events during this month. On December 5 at the ESART in Castelo Branco, the Sigma Duo, with Ana Cláudia Assis on piano and Miguel Rocha on cello, will give a commented concert whose programme includes the works Enigma (2018) and Singularity (2019). Two days later at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon, the Duo's musicians will give a performance in the context of the release of the new monographic CD – The Sigma Duo Performs João Pedro Oliveira. The work by this composer published by the MIC.PT will also be highlighted in the framework of the 4th Contemporary Piano International Meeting (December 12-14 in Porto), through a round table, a workshop with the composer and also various concerts with his music performed by Ana Cláudia Assis and Madalena Soveral. Additionally, the music by João Pedro Oliveira is included in the programme of concerts by the Tesseract-DME Ensemble, taking place on December 15 and 16 in Seia. Lastly, on December 27 the Lisboa Incomum will host a concert supported by the MPMP, marking the release of the CD Pirâmides de Cristal, with João Pedro Oliveira's integral piano work.

The music theatre for children choir, narrator, instrumental ensemble and electronics, Bartolomeu, o Voador (2018) by Jaime Reis, will be presented on December 2 at the National Conservatoire of Lisbon by the Compasso Choir, directed by Teresa Cordeiro and by the students from the Contemporary Music Class, directed by Jorge Sá Machado. Another (acousmatic) work by this composer published by the MIC.PT, Fluxus, pas trop haut dans le ciel (2017), is included in the MicaDôme installation, organised in the context of the Journées Nationales de la Musique Electroacoustique – MANCA 2019 (December 2-7, Nice, France). Additionally, Jaime Reis's' pieces – Fluxus, Dimensionless Sound (B), Bartolomeu, o Voador and Interlúdio I –, are included in the repertoire of the International Performance Competition – Flute and Electronics, organised by the EMSCAN at the Lisboa Incomum (December 7-8). On December 11 Jaime Reis will participate in the Conference, Matter and Transcendence: Spirituality in Music and Fine Arts of the 20th and 21st Centuries (University of Évora). Lastly, his work Sândalo. Prata. (2018) for guitar and flute is included in the concert by the Tesseract-DME Ensemble (December 15, Seia).

Peixinho é Fixe (2) is the title of the concerts by the GMCL – Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, conducted by Tiago Oliveira. They'll be taking place on December 3 and 4 in Badajoz (Spain) and Elvas (Rodrigues Coelho Academy of Music, Portugal). The programme of these two performances includes four works by Jorge Peixinho, composer published by the MIC.PT: Welkom (1972), Remake (1985), Llanto por Mariana (1986) and Sine nomine (1987); as well as the music by José Río-Pareja (premiere of a new work commissioned by the CNDM) and by the Luso-Hispanic composer Inés Balado (Glosas). The performance of the piece Sine nomine by Jorge Peixinho will be realised with the participation of the students from the Rodrigues Coelho Academy of Music in Elvas.

Contradicting the idea of rivalry between schools, for the second time the percussionists from seven superior education Portuguese institutions which have a percussion course, reunite in an unprecedented event, putting music in the first plan. During four days (December 27-30, Garcia de Resende Theatre in Évora), the percussionists coming from each of the involved superior schools reunite in septets composed of students from the different institutions, to prepare a new work composed by one Portuguese composer – Pedro Berardinelli, Christopher Bochmann (composer published by the MIC.PT) and Luís Carvalho. The works will be premiered at the final event of the 2nd Itinerant Percussion Festival, organised by the Arte no Tempo Association. Its programme also includes percussions masterclasses and recitals by André Dias, Eduardo Lopes, Mário Teixeira, Miquel Bernat, Nuno Aroso and Pedro Silva.

Two works by the composers published by the MIC.PT – Näherungen – I. Nah aus der Ferne (2007) for trumpet and electronics by [ka'mi] and no man is an island (2014) for ad libitum wind instrument and electronics by Rui Penha – are included in the Plugged In recital's programme by the trumpet player João Silva. It will take place on December 14 at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon, in the context of the Emerging Talents cycle. The repertoire of this concert also includes the music by: Agostino Di Scipio, Michael Maierhof and Karlheinz Stockhausen. "At this recital the music for trumpet and electronics is put in perspective within a journey through diverse aesthetic and interpretative universes. This music path is marked by some emblematic works from this repertoire, exponentially challenging the techniques and canons of more traditional music execution" – says João Silva in the Plugged In recital's introduction.

On December 7 at the Matriz de Apúlia Church, the Pequenos Cantores de Esposende and the Ars Vocalis Choirs will present in concert their most recent discographic work entitled AETERNUM. The two Choirs join within this new project, following one of their main objectives which is giving value to the Portuguese music identity. AETERNUM is composed of works commissioned and / or dedicated to the Choirs by the composers published by the MIC.PT: António Pinho Vargas (Stabat Mater for choir, piano and violin) and Paulo Bastos (Missae breves for choir, organ and oboe); as well as by: Alfredo Teixeira (Dois cantos Espirituais da Ilha da Madeira for a cappella choir), Telmo Marques (fragments from Procura for choir, piano and marimba), Helena Venda Lima (Ave Maria for choir, piano and percussion) and Osvaldo Fernandes (Ave Verum for choir, piano and violin). The CD recorded in July 2019 at the S. Paio de Antas Paroquial Church, includes the musical direction of Helena Venda Lima and the performance by Diogo Zão (piano and organ), Carlos Pinto da Costa (violin), Luís Filipe Alves (oboe), André Silva (percussion) and Paulo Pontes (percussion).

The 4th Contemporary Piano International Meeting, organised by the CESEM / IPP in partnership with the ESMAE and Minas Gerais Federal University (UFMG, Brazil), will be taking place between December 12 and 14 at the Helena Sá e Costa Theatre in Porto. With the participation of around 50 researchers and performers representing 12 nationalities, this 3-day reunion aims at promoting a discussion on the recent developments within contemporary creation, regarding both musicological research and artistic practice. Apart from a wide range of performative practices and research subjects on piano music from the last 50 years, presented at lectures, recitals and artistic performances, this edition will highlight the work of João Pedro Oliveira (composer published by the MIC.PT), on the occasion of his 60th anniversary, through a round table, a workshop with the composer as well as various concerts with his music performed by Ana Cláudia Assis and Madalena Soveral. The programme of the Meeting's initiatives also includes the performance and the reflection on the music by other composers published by the MIC.PT, such as: Clotilde Rosa (by the pianist Ana Telles), Constança Capdeville (by the pianist Helena Marinho and the percussionist Luís Bittencourt) and Luís Antunes Pena (by the pianist Inês Lopes). Additionally the Meeting's programme will also include the music by: Carlos Lopes, Dimitris Andrikopoulos, Joana Sá and Nuno Lobo, among many other composers.

Works by two composers published by the MIC.PT – Uma Mesa é uma Mesa. Será? (2008) by José Luís Ferreira with story by Isabel Minhós Martins and O Leão e o Rato (2019) by Miguel Azguime with the story by La Fontaine – are included in the performances of the Sound Told Fairy Tales, taking place between December 3 & 5 at the Teatro da Rainha (Caldas da Rainha). This programme also includes the pieces: Platero e Eu (2019) with music by Luís Martins to the fragments of poem by Juan Ramón Jimènez, A Velha e o Ladrão (2008) with music by Sérgio Pelágio and story by António Torrado and Orfeu with music by Eduardo Raon and the story Orfeu adapted by Regina Guimarães. These performances include the participation of Ana Baptista, Francisco Sales and Miguel Azguime, as narrators, with the sound projection realised by Paula Azguime. The Sound Told Fairy Tales project – directed to young audiences and created by the Miso Music Portugal to give continuation to the disappearing tradition of storytelling – offers an innovative and enriched way of telling and listening to a story, with the sonic layer suggesting and complementing the semantic meaning of the words.

The December edition of the DME – Electroacoustic Music Days Festival will be taking place on December 15 and 16 at the Municipal House of Culture in Seia (Cinema). In this context the Tesseract-DME Ensemble will give two concerts whose repertoire includes various works by the composers published by the MIC.PT: Heart (2001) for guitar and electronics by Isabel Soveral; Sândalo. Prata. (2018) for flute and guitar by Jaime Reis; as well as three works by João Pedro Oliveira: Singularity (2019) for cello and electronics, Beyond (2006) for clarinet, cello and piano and In Tempore (2000) for piano and electronics. The programme of the December DME Festival also includes the final of the Nano Músicos Electroacústicos 2019 Competition.

Double is a project by the Xperimus Ensemble, integrating works for two pianists and two percussionists, encompassing a repertoire within "conventional" music writing, but also works exploring experimental languages, multimedia, extended techniques and free improvisation. The programme which the Xperimus will present on December 2, 3 one 5 in Coimbra, Aveiro and Viana do Castelo, includes the works by the two composers published by the MIC.PT: Estudo de pulsação e métrica by António Pinho Vargas and Static on my fingers by Igor C. Silva; as well as the music by José Alberto Gomes (Picasso do 5.º esquerdo) and Steve Reich (Quartet for 2 pianos and percussion). The Xperimus Ensemble is constituted by: Helena Marinho and Alfonso Benetti (pianos); Luís Bittencourt and João Dias (percussion).

Hugo Vasco Reis (HVReis0011)
From Where the Wind Blows (2016) · two clarinets

João Quinteiro (JQui0003)
Hermes, nove da noite (2017) · saxophone with spatialisation and live video

Paulo Bastos (PBas0005)
Vinte e quatro (1997) · 24 guitars

Three compositions by three Portuguese composers published by the MIC.PT, will represent Portugal in the framework of the next World New Music Days Festival of the ISCM – International Society for Contemporary Music. It will be taking place in April 2020 in New Zealand in Auckland and Christchurch. The works selected for the WNMD 2020, within the Official Application by the Miso Music Portugal / MIC.PT as the Portuguese ISCM Section, are: over the sands time stands still (2016), for violin, cello and piano, by Sara Carvalho; Íris-abandono… (2016), for vibraphone, by Paulo Bastos; and Colours (here in) (2018), for mixed choir, by Daniel Davis. The ISCM World New Music Days is a periodical event, every year taking place in a different country, being organised to celebrate contemporary music creation.

Since November the MIC.PT has a new Composer's Page dedicated to Manuel Brásio, composer, sound designer and percussionist, born in 1992 in Viana do Castelo. Manuel Brásio attended various performance masterclasses and workshops and he had the opportunity to have contact with the work by composers and musicologists, such as Robert Rowe, Matthew Davies, Bruce Pennycook, Filipe Lopes, Liviu Dănceanu and Cândido Lima. In 2014 he graduated form Composition at the ESMAE in Porto, having worked with Filipe Vieira, Carlos Azevedo, Carlos Guedes, Fernando C. Lapa, Daniel Moreira, Pedro Santos, Dimitris Andrikopoulos, Eugénio Amorim, Rui Penha and Fredrick Gifford. Manuel Brásio was scholarship holder of the Gulbenkian Foundation in the framework of the Contemporary Music Experiences project. In July 2016 he made his Master's in Multimedia – Interactive Music and Sound Design at the FEUP. Presently, he directs associative projects dedicated to artistic invention, such as the AISCA (Viana do Castelo) and Interferência (Porto). He has recently composed the piece for solo oboe, Bom dia Sophia, a commission by the Antena 2 for the Young Musicians' Award 2018. He has also created the sound design for Rita Al Cunha's documentary Os Estrangeiros, as well as the soundtrack for the national tour of FANZINE with the Montemuro Theatre. The latest multimedia performance of his authorship, SUPRAHUMAN, has been presented throughout Portugal.

From now on the MIC.PT has a new Performer's Page dedicated to the Contratempus Quartet from Porto, overcoming academic barriers in order to bring the sublime art of music to a wider audience. The Contratempus Quartet has an unusual formation, being composed of a soprano, clarinet, cello and piano, thus representing the voice, the wind instruments, the strings and the great orchestra. It presents the possibility of a wide range of colours made available by the contrasting tones of the instruments. This is what makes the Contratempus a special formation. To this day, it has been dedicated to the interpretation of contemporary music, premiering works by Portuguese composers, including: Fernando C. Lapa (Destinos, Variações a partir de um Coração), Daniel Moreira (O escuro silêncio da chuva, Ninguém & Todo-o-Mundo ), Sérgio Azevedo (Viagem interior), Nuno Côrte-Real (Os dilemas dietéticos de uma matrioska do meio), Fátima Fonte (A querela dos grilos), Jorge Prendas (As sete mulheres de Jeremias Epicentro) and Telmo Marques (Simplex). Recently, the multimedia component of the Quartet's operas has gained a more central role, becoming a crucial element in its creations. Presently, the Contratempus in constituted by: Brenda Vidal Hermida (piano), Crispim Luz (clarinet), Susana Lima (cello) and Teresa Nunes (voice).