In July the In Focus MIC.PT section is dedicated to Armando Santiago, composer, conductor and professor, born in Lisbon in 1932 and who moved to Canada in 1972. His catalogue includes orchestral, chamber music and electroacoustic works. In the evolution of his activity, Armando Santiago has always expressed himself by means of diverse technical and aesthetic means. In his case, composition has emerged as a manner of responding to a personal need, looking for the fulfilment of each attitude's detail and adequacy.
In the 1960s, Armando Santiago studied Musique Concrète with Pierre Schaeffer in Paris, having also worked with Boris Porena and Goffredo Petrassi in Rome, as well as with Franco Donatoni in Siena. In 1978 he was nominated director of the Conservatoire of Music in Québec, a post which he maintained until 1985 and joined with the function of the Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra's conductor. Until his retirement in 1997, the composer also exercised his pedagogical activity as professor of the Conservatoire's Composition class. Armando Santiago is member of the SOCAN and the Canadian League of Composers.
In July visit the MIC.PT In Focus section with an Interview with Armando Santiago conducted by the MIC.PT. On October 7 the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon will host a concert dedicated to his music, with live broadcast by the Antena 2 and on YouTube. Its programme will include an on-line interview with the composer, as well as the performance, by the Matosinhos String Quartet and Elsa Silva (piano), of Armando Santiago's String Quartet 1995 and Groupes III (world-premiere). The event will also include the release of the new book by the Atelier de Composição, dedicated to the composer.

Ministério do Caos is the work by Manuel Brásio, composer published by the MIC.PT, which has been chosen for the Final of the 13th International Composition Competition of Póvoa de Varzim. The second piece selected for this initiative's last stage, entitled As Estruturas de Solaris, has been composed by Lucas Rei Ramos. The Final of the 2020 edition of the International Composition Competition of Póvoa de Varzim will take place on September 20, in the context of a concert by the Drumming – Percussion Group, during the 42th International Music Festival of Póvoa
de Varzim.

Works by Christopher Bochmann (Cartoon [2005] for baritone saxophone), João Pedro Oliveira (Integrais IV [1987] for saxophone) and Sara Carvalho (Imaginary Bars [2012] for tenor saxophone) – composers published by the MIC.PT –, are included on the new CD by the saxophonist Henrique Portovedo. Released in June on the Bandcamp platform under the R´Roots Productions label, Imaginary 1 features 20th and 21st century music for unaccompanied saxophone (from the soprano to the baritone), also including the music by: Filipe Vieira, Luís Carvalho and Virgílio Melo.

Chamber Music I is the CD by Hugo Vasco Reis, nominated for the Plays – Portuguese Music Awards, in the Category – Best Classical Music Album. The other nominees in this Category are: Cupertinos/ Luís Toscano – Manuel Cardoso: Requiem, Lamentations, Magnificat & Motets; Drumming – GP/ Luís Tinoco – Archipelago; Lopes-Graça Quartet, Leonor Braga Santos, Irene Lima – Joly Braga Santos Complete Chamber Music, Vol. 1. The award ceremony will take place on July 29, with live stream and broadcast on the RTP 1 from the Recreios Colosseum (Lisbon). Recently, Hugo Vasco Reis, composer published by the MIC.PT, has updated his >> YouTube Channel with new recordings, including: Paisagens, Quero-as Comigo (2019) & O Horizonte de uma Borboleta (2014).

Heavy Metals (2016) for bassoon and electronics is the work by João Pedro Oliveira, composer published by the MIC.PT, included on the new CD album released in May by the RMN Classical (Contemporary Collection). This is the first volume, entitled In Focus, of the RMN Classical editorial line giving focus not only to contemporary female and male composers with already established carriers and international recognition, but also to new voices in the universe of contemporary music. Additionally, in June the saxophonist Henrique Portovedo has released a new album with music by Portuguese female and male composers, Imaginary I, which includes João Pedro Oliveira's piece for saxophone Integrais IV (1987).

In June Miguel Azguime has released on his >> YouTube Channel three new recordings in Score Follower format, allowing for the audition of the music with the simultaneous following of the music text/ score. The new recordings are: >> Derrière Son Double (2001) performed by the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble conducted by Pedro Amaral;
>> Moment à l'Extrêmement (2006) performed by Marco Pereira (cello); and
>> Conver(say)tions (2011) performed by Suzanna Lidegran (violin), Elsa Silva (piano) and João Dias (percussion). Additionally, between July 2 and 11 the Teatro da Rainha (Caldas da Rainha) will host the premiere performances of the theatre piece Discurso sobre o Filho-da-Puta, with the text by Alberto Pimenta, staging by Fernando Mora Ramos, performance by the Vocal Chords Quartet (Cibele Maçãs, Fábio Costa, Marta Taveira and Nuno Machado) and music by Miguel Azguime. "From a musical point of view Discurso sobre o Filho-da-Puta (Speech on the Son of a Bitch) is almost a score. Alberto Pimenta's poetic writing has sonic qualities and thus it contains the elements favouring its distribution to various voices of a character being simultaneously one and multiple" – reveals this composer published by the MIC.PT in the programme note.

In May the choral work Besa el aura que gime blandamente (GL 53/1) by Gonçalo Lourenço (composer published by the MIC.PT), with Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer's text, was premiered on YouTube by the Virtual Choir created by the Swara Vocal Ensemble (Belgium) and the Parahyangan Catholic University Choir (Indonesia), under the baton of Ivan Yohan. The recording of this on-line premiere is available on >> Ivan Yohan's YouTube Channel.

In June Lino Guerreiro, composer published by the MIC.PT, released on his >> YouTube Channel various new recordings, including the first movement Inheritance of the piece
>> unClap Tones, performed by Marco Fernandes (percussion). "Clearly a Steve Reich's legacy, this piece's been born from my reaction to Clapping Music. It also explores the «open form» concept, applied to the orchestration" – reveals Lino Guerreiro.

Ângela da Ponte, António Pinho Vargas, Carlos Caires, Carlos Marecos, Jaime Reis, Nuno Peixoto de Pinho and Sara Carvalho – are the female and male composers published by the MIC.PT involved in the artistic project De casa para um mundo... (From home to the world). "This project, which has emerged early in the first days of the confinement, focuses on the voluntary and dialoguing participation of three forms of artistic expression – literature, visual arts and music. It will be soon presented to the public in a creative and questioning manner" – reveal the project's creators, Manuel de Novaes Cabral and Sobral Centeno. At the suggestion of Paula Freire from Vila Nova de Cerveira, such authors as Pedro Calapez, Albuquerque Mendes, Capicua or Gonçalo M. Tavares are now joined by the above mentioned composers, and also by: Ana Seara, António Victorino D’Almeida, Francisco Monteiro, Inés Badalo, Isabel Pires, Luís Soldado, Pedro Pinto Figueiredo and Sérgio Azevedo. Curated by Fátima Lambert, the exhibition De casa para um mundo, will be presented to the public at the Municipal Library in Vila Nova de Cerveira, integrating the programme of the 21st International Art Bienal of Cerveira (August 1 – December 31). The project consist of 15 works by 15 writers + 15 visual artists, which will be accompanied with 15 short music compositions, creating a dialogue between the artists who can't meet in person, but who can communicate through art.

This July the MIC.PT releases two new Notebooks dedicated to the two composers published by the MIC.PT – [ka'mi] (#20) and Pedro Rebelo (#10). The series, Portuguese, 20th and 21st Century Music Notebooks, constitutes an “introspection” into the work of each female and male composer, published by the MIC.PT, at the same time being an incentive to explore and (re)discover not only their music, but also their reflection on music philosophy and aesthetics. Each Notebook, in Portuguese and English, is composed of a biographical note, questionnaire/ interview or musicological article, two catalogues of works – according to instrumentation and chronological –, as well as discography. The next printed Notebooks, to be released shortly, will be dedicated to the following composers: Álvaro Salazar (#21), António de Sousa Dias (#13) and João Castro Pinto (#18).

The work for solo violin Oi In Lov (1997) by Cândido Lima has been selected for the Meridian International Festival · Planetarium, in the context of the Miso Music Portugal/ MIC.PT official application, as the Portuguese ISCM section, for this event organised by the Romanian ISCM Section (International Society for Contemporary Music) and scheduled between November 8 and 15 (Bucharest, Cluj and Timisoara). As in so many other titles, also here Cândido Lima enjoys playing with the onomatopoetic sound and the meanings of words in one word. Oi In Lov is an anagram of "violino" (“violin”) and an echo of the verse, “All you need is love”. Yet, whether it has something to do with the music is another matter...

Amílcar Vasques-Dias (AVDias0017)
Unha-gata (2015) · two tubas and piano

Ângela da Ponte (APon0007)
Lá no Água Grande (2017) · ensemble and electronics

Christopher Bochmann (CB0126)
Um leve tremor (2019) · choir, baritone and orchestra

This month the MIC.PT initiates the (re)release on >> YouTube of the Historical Interviews to female and male composers residing in Portugal, realised by the Portuguese Music Research & Information Centre between 2003 and 2011.
At the time when the MIC.PT has initiated a new series of audio and video interviews available on its >> YouTube Channel, as well as, since 2018, in the context of the >> Na 1.ª Pessoa (In the 1st Person) cycle of the >> Música Hoje (Music Today) radio programme (>> Antena 2), these historical registers constitute unique sources of the evolution regarding the language of each of the interviewed composers.
In July the MIC.PT (re)releases on the >> YouTube Channel eight of the many Archive Interviews (in Portuguese), with: Álvaro Salazar, Amílcar Vasques Dias, António Pinho Vargas, Christopher Bochmann, Filipe Pires, Luís Tinoco, Paulo Raposo and Pedro Amaral. To access the videos follow the links below and/ or visit the >> MIC.PT YouTube Channel. The (re)release of the other video Interviews from the MIC.PT Archive will be taking place during the following months.

In June the Folefest Association has announced the results of the Accordion Composition Award 2020. This year the jury constituted by Luís Tinoco, Daniel Moreira and Paulo Jorge Ferreira has distinguished three works for solo accordion and ensemble: Uma última reflexão by José Brandão (1st Award), Torma by Francisco Gomes (2nd Award), Silentium by Gonçalo Rodrigues (3rd Award). The awarded works will be published by the MPMP – Patrimonial Movement for Portuguese Music and premiered at a concert during the Folefest 2021 Festival, with live broadcast by the RTP – Antena 2.