In September the MIC.PT In Focus section is dedicated to Miguel Azguime – composer, performer and poet –, who celebrates his 60th anniversary throughout 2020.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the events organised for this occasion have been interrupted in March, and they will resume this Autumn. In October, the São Luiz Municipal Theatre in Lisbon will host two concerts with Miguel Azguime's music – a monographic concert performed by the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble and a performance by the Cantando Admont Ensemble which will include the premiere of the new work for 12 voices a cappella, Language Building, commissioned to Miguel Azguime by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation; before its premiere in Lisbon, the work will be also presented in Austria – Graz and Vienna. In November, the Neuen Vocalsolisten will premiere the work Cantos para libertar o Ar, in the context of the Música Viva 2020 Festival at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon; and in December, at the Belém Arts Centre (CCB) in Lisbon, the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble Soloists with the Camerata Alma Mater and Pedro Neves (direction), will premiere the new Triple Concerto for clarinet, cello, piano and orchestra, Miguel Azguime's homage to Beethoven.
Additionally – on September 20, the Miso Ensemble will perform the opera Salt Itinerary at the Alguén que Respira! Festival in Santiago de Compostela (Spain); and the composer's >> YouTube Channel has been updated with three new recordings in the Score Follower format: >> De Part et d’autre (2010-11) performed by the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble and Laurent Cuniot (direction); >> Le Feu qui Dort (2008) performed by the Matosinhos String Quartet; >> Águas Marinhas (2004-05) performed by the Camerata Aberta and Guillaume Bourgogne (direction).
This September visit the MIC.PT In Focus Section with a new MIC.PT Interview to Miguel Azguime (composer published by the MIC.PT).

Home Sweet Sound (2019), for a pianist performer, melodica, metronome, electronics, everyday objects and digital unit, is a music theatre work which has been born from the encounter between Vítor Rua (composer published by the MIC.PT) and the pianist Joana Gama. "Home Sweet Sound is an idiomatic journey, a language panel between the tutti; its variation and idiolectal multiplicity makes any stylistic classification and univocal typology unsusceptible, since it's a heterophonic montage; it's a discontinuous and deconstructive flux with differentiated idiolectal and idiomatic sides. Home Sweet Sound portrays 24 hours form the life of a 21st century pianist; his/ her «home» is the grand piano; the «sound» is his/ her own Life..." The work will be performed by Joana Gama and Vítor Rua on September 10 and 11 at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. The event will have live streaming on the >> Miso Music Portugal's YouTube Channel.

The work Variações a partir de um coração (sobre melodias tradicionais) (2018) for soprano, clarinet, cello and piano by Fernando C. Lapa (musical composition) and Eduarda Ferreira (poetry), will be presented at a staged concert by the Contratempus Quartet, on September 11 at the Pasteleria Torres Vermelhas Association in Porto, in the framework of the Cultura em Expansão programme. This performance has been directed by Catarina Costa e Silva and has the lighting design by Mariana Figueroa. Two days later, on September 13 at the Cine-Teatro Avenida in Castelo Branco, the GMCL · Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, conducted by Joàn Pagés, will premiere the work de outras estrelas, based on Marco Lucchesi's poetry and commissioned to Fernando C. Lapa in 2019. The new piece by this composer published by the MIC.PT will be also performed by the GMCL on September 25, at the Musikgymnasium Schloss Belvedere in Weimar (Germany).

The new work by Jaime Reis, dedicated to Beethoven, Sangue Inverso – Quartzo (2020), will be premiered on September 11 at the Luisa Todi Forum in Setúbal, in the context of the concert Beethoven – and his time – Bomtempo, organised by the Musicamera Produções. This event has also in its programme the music by Ludwig van Beethoven, João Domingos Bomtempo and Luis Spohr, and it includes the participation of: Luís Pacheco Cunha (violin), Isabel Pimentel (viola), Catherine Strynckx (cello), Alejandro Erlich Oliva (double bass), Katharine Rawdon (flute), Bethany Akers (oboe), Paulo Gaspar (clarinet), Luís Vieira (horn), Franz-Jürgen Dörsam (bassoon) and Taíssa Poliakova (piano). This month another Jaime Reis' work, Fluxus, pas trop haut dans le ciel (2017), will be presented in the framework of the virtual event Kunstuniversität Linz SOUND CAMPUS -> Ars Electronica Festival 2020 (Metaverse), taking place between September 9 and 13 (Linz, Austria). Additionally, on September 3 this composer published by the MIC.PT will participate in the Mixed Music Days of the Rio de Janeiro Federal University, organised by Pedro Bittencourt.

In July and August João Pedro Oliveira received two first awards for the acousmatic work La mer émeraude (2018) at the Cittá di Udine Competition (Italy) and at the Destellos Competition (Argentina). Additionally, his work Magma (2014) for violin and electronics is finalist at the 1st Chalki International Composition Competition in Greece. This month, João Pedro Oliveira is one of the invited composers at the Escuta Aqui! Festival, where between September 12 and 19 he will be tutor of composition students living in Brazil. Furthermore, four works by this composer published by the MIC.PT have been selected in the context of various events: the video-music Tesseract (2017) has been chosen for the Currents New Media and Supernova Digital Animation Festival (September 19); the video-music Petals (2016) has been selected for the New Music on the Bayou Festival (September 17-19); the work Kontrol (2019) for virtual percussion and electronics makes part of the Aveiro_Síntese 2020 biennale (September 19); and the video-music Things I Have Seen in My dreams (2019) will be presented at a concert organised by the Centro Ricerche Musicali at the Goethe Institute in Rome.

The Catalan label la mà de guido, will soon release the new DVD by the GMCL · Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, entitled Momentos, with the recording of Constança Capdeville's (1937-92) 75th anniversary concert, from November 12, 2012, at the São Luiz Municipal Theatre in Lisbon. The artistic directors of this event were João Paulo Santos and António de Sousa Dias and its programme was composed of four works by Constança Capdeville (composer published by the MIC.PT), including the premiere of Tibidabo 89 – Museu de Autómatos. On this occasion, the GMCL also premiered the work Keep Smiling (2012), commissioned by the Group to António de Sousa Dias (composer published by the MIC.PT).

On September 15 the Porto-based label Crónica will release a new digital algum (+ cassette), which includes two electroacoustic works Listen to Me #1 and #2 (2020) by Pedro Rebelo. These two pieces result from Pedro Rebelo's 2017 residency at the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory, in Braga, Portugal. It was an opportunity for this composer published by the MIC.PT, to discover the world of nanotechnology research, in particular through following researchers working on a project in the area of food safety. The residency resulted in a sonic installation at the GNRation in Braga, and its sonic materials gave life to the two pieces presented on this album, released with the support of the Queen’s University Belfast.

1+1=1 (ONE+ONE=ONE) is the performance directed by Paula Pinto and with music by António de Sousa Dias (composer published by the MIC.PT), joining dance, music, video and words around the universe of the Portuguese artist Almada Negreiros. This project results form the work developed at the 14th Compota Creative Residency, involving a multidisciplinary team of profissional artists, students from the Dance College and the Music College of Lisbon, and pupils from the basic dance course at the Luís António Verney School. The performance 1+1=1 will be presented on September 25 and 26, at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon (live streaming on the >> Miso Music Portugal's YouTube Channel).

Initially planned between May 15 and 31, the Aveiro_Síntese biennale was postponed in March in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. The event has returned at the end of August, a little more spread over time (until September 20), presenting most of the initially planned programme. In September, the programme of this initiative organised by the Arte no Tempo Association, includes premieres of new works written by composers published by the MIC.PT, such as: Trio for horn and electronics (2020) by Ângela Lopes (on September 6), as well as two pieces by Carlos Caires (on September 4 and 6, respectively) – Ludwig Sonate (2020; commission by the CCB) and Uníssono (2020; commission by the Arte no Tempo, financed by the DGArtes). The 4th biennale is also an opportunity to attend live performances with the music by Bernardo Lima, Cláudio de Pina, Hugo Xavier Almeida, João Carlos Pinto, João Pedro Oliveira (composer published by the MIC.PT), Luís Antunes Pena, Luís Salgueiro, Marta Domingues and Mariana Vieira, together with the pieces by Giacinto Scelsi, Iannis Xenakis, Ludger Brümmer, Luigi Nono, Panayiotis Kokoras or Steve Reich. In September, the biennale's concerts will be performed by the violinist André Gaio Pereira, the ars ad hoc ensemble, the Orquestra XXI conducted by Dinis Sousa and by the percussionist Nuno Aroso, among various other musicians. The events will be taking place in Aveiro (Portugal) – at the Misericórdia Church, as well as the GrETUA and the Aveirense Theatres.

On September 18, at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon, the GMCL · Lisbon Contemporary Music Group will present various initiatives celebrating the three 2020 anniversaries: the 50th anniversary of the creation and permanent activity of the GMCL; the 90th anniversary of Clotilde Rosa (1930-2017); and the 80th anniversary of Jorge Peixinho (1940-95). The initiatives will include: 1) a recital with solo works by these composers published by the MIC.PT, perfromed by Paulo Amorim (guitar), Ana Telles (piano) and Anne Kaasa (piano); 2) a concert by the GMCL, with the participation of three invited conductors: Rui Pinheiro, Christopher Bochmann, Adriano Martinolli d’Arcy and Tiago Oliveira (and with the music by: Clotilde Rosa, Constança Capdeville, Isabel Soveral and Jorge Peixinho); 3) a round table and the release of two books: one evoking and summing up GMCL's 50-year activity and the other one – In Memoriam Clotilde Rosa. The event will have live streaming on the >> Miso Music Portugal's YouTube Channel. This month the GMCL will also give two other concerts – on September 13 in Castelo Branco, New Conductors, New Paths (3); and on September 25 in Weimar (Germany), Our Music Outside (3). The programme of these performances will include the music by: Clotilde Rosa, Christopher Bochmann, Fernando C. Lapa, Jorge Peixinho and Luciano Berio.

The Speed Residency & Stream Festival has been taking place at the Lisboa Incomum venue in Lisbon since the end of August and it will last until the end of September. It's composed of various concerts performed by Portuguese musicians, and with the music by composers published by the MIC.PT, such as (in chronological order): Clotilde Rosa, Manuel Brásio, [ka'mi], Rui Penha, Sara Carvalho, João Pedro Oliveira and Christopher Bochmann. In September, this festival with live stream on Facebook and YouTube, will include the participation of Monika Streitová (flute) and Ana Telles (piano) – Duo Anima Feminae, Manuel Brásio, Electroville Jukebox, João Silva (trumpet; Plugged In project) and Henrique Portovedo (saxophone; Imaginary 1 project).

The 2nd on-line Meeting · Portuguese Music Perspectives – Network Cooperation, organised by the MIC.PT, will take place on September 8. This 2nd Meeting will assemble Portuguese formal and informal entities (organisations, associations, research and education centres, orchestras, vocal and instrumental ensembles, ...), dedicated the the dissemination of Invention and Research Music in Portugal. During the Meeting the participants will discuss solutions of improving the situation of Invention and Research Music and its composers in Portugal, particularly in the context of the following areas – "Education", "Circulation/ Programming" and "Promotion".
All the Entities dedicated to Invention and Research Music in Portugal, which would like to join and participate in the 2nd on-line Meeting · Portuguese Music Perspectives – Network Cooperation, should send an e-mail to mic[at]mic.pt until September 6 (the number of participants is limited).

In July the Cultural Association – OUT.RA and the Portuguese Music Research and Information Centre – MIC.PT, have initiated a collaboration in the context of which the PMIC shares with the Association various contents from the www​.​mic​.​pt website (in English). These materials — texts, articles, biographies, interviews and images – fall within the scope of the Unearthing the Music Project, coordinated by the OUT.RA, and they are republished on the Project's website/ database: >> www.unearthingthemusic.eu. Unearthing the Music – Sound and Creative Experimentation in Non-Democratic Europe, is a collaborative project uniting five organisations from five different European countries, all actively interested in the history and in the stories surrounding experimental music in Europe, particularly in the countries and regimes where the conditions for creative freedom were hardly met, throughout the second part of the 20th century. Presently, the MIC.PT shares with the OUT.RA various materials concerning the composers: Álvaro Salazar, Amílcar Vasques-Dias, Armando Santiago, Constança Capdeville, Filipe Pires and Lopes e Silva; as well as the article, A History of Electroacoustic Music in Portugal, by António Ferreira.

Ângela da Ponte (APon0008)
Ensaios Sobre Cantos IV (2019) · adufe and electronics

Cândido Lima (CL0180 · didactic score)
rev. Antonio Fruscella
Workbooks of Inventions – Guitar I (2007/11) · guitar

Carlos Caires (CCr0008)
All-in-one Expanded (2012) · orchestra and electronics

Carlos Caires (CCr0009)
Os sons em volta (2019) · ensemble and electronics

Christopher Bochmann (CB0127)
Dialogue IV: Flights of Fancy (2015) · bass clarinet, piano

Daniel Moreira (DMor0004)
Sextet (2013) · clarinet, trumpet, horn, trombone, piano and vibraphone

Miguel Azguime (MA0027)
Mes Ententes pour 4 personnages (2012) · saxophone quartet and electronics

Miguel Azguime (MA0037)
Tra le terre (2015) · flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano

This September, in the context of the series Portuguese 20th and 21st Century Music Notebooks, the MIC.PT releases another new Notebook, this time dedicated to João Castro Pinto (#18). This Series of bilingual editions constitutes an “introspection” into the work of each 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) and António de Sousa Dias (#13).

In July and August the >> MIC.PT Score Catalogue has been enriched with eight new scores by: Ângela da Ponte (Ensaios sobre Cantos IV), Carlos Caires (All-in-one Expanded and Os sons em volta), Christopher Bochmann (Dialogue IV: Flights of Fancy), Daniel Moreira (Sextet), Miguel Azguime (Mes Ententes pour 4 perssonages and Tra le terre) and Cândido Lima (Workbooks of Inventions – Guitar I · rev. Antonio Fruscella · didactic score). The last edition, Workbooks of Inventions – Sounds to Discover – Titles to Invent – Guitar I, constitutes the revision, by the guitarist Antonio Fruscella, of this Cândido Lima's didactic score. "The Portuguese composer Cândido Lima has honoured me greatly by sending and dedicating to me his work for guitar, Cadernos de Invenções – Sons para descobrir – Títulos para inventar, volume I and volume II, in April 2020. Although Lima’s knowledge of the guitar is both wide and imaginative, this specific work hadn't been previously revised by any classical guitarist. I have revised both volumes in order to promote fluent playability from the perspective of a guitarist’s technical possibilities. Consequently, I revised the score’s layout, so as to include more technical instructions and hence facilitate reading" – explains Antonio Fruscella in the introduction to this revision. This Cândido Lima's piece makes part of the series Workbooks of Inventions – Introduction to Contemporary Music – Sounds to Discover – Titles to Invent, constituted by short and abstract compositions, like aphorisms or epigrams in the fashion of Bach’s Preludes and Inventions, or miniatures which various 20th century composers were writing in between other works of greater proportions.

In 2014 the MIC.PT has established a partnership with the Babel Scores, a French-based platform and structure, whose main activity is the diffusion and dissemination of classical contemporary music, created in the last 40 years. Its aim is to facilitate, at a global level, the access to the on-line information and materials, regarding this genre of music creation. In this context, and in the sense to diffuse even more effectively the music created by the composers residing in Portugal, the MIC.PT shares through the >> Babel Scores various scores from the >> MIC.PT Score Catalogue by: [ka'mi], Bruno Gabirro, Cândido Lima, João Madureira, Miguel Azguime and Paulo Ferreira-Lopes. From now on, in the framework of this partnership, the >> Babels Scores Catalogue also includes the scores by these four female composes published by the MIC.PT: Ângela da Ponte, Ângela Lopes, Isabel Soveral and Sara Carvalho. In the following months the MIC.PT will share, through the Babel Scores, other scores from the MIC.PT Catalogue. Among the subscribers and partners of this on-line platform one can find various internationally renowned institution, dedicated to music archiving, research and education, including: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Boston Conservatory at Berklee, University of Cambridge, Columbia University, Conservatoire National de Musique et de Danse de Lyon, ESMUC · Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, Festival Mixtur, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Hochschule für Musik und Theater · Hamburg, IRCAM, Koninklijke Conservatorium Den Haag, McGill University, Musikfabrik, Stanford University or The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, among many other entities.

The jury of the 9th edition of the SPA/ Antena 2 Composition Award, constituted by José Eduardo Gomes (conductor), Ana Seara (composer) and Carlos Azevedo (composer), has unanimously decided to give the 1st prize to the symphonic orchestral work Point of Departure by the composer Jorge Ramos, and the 2nd prize to João Barradas for the piece The Edge of Sea, also for symphony orchestra. Presently, Jorge Ramos is realising the Doctorate in Music – Composition at the Royal College of Music in London, dedicated to the influence of technology and electronics in the orchestration process. João Barradas is one of the most renowned European accordionists, who is active, simultaneously, in classical music, jazz and improvised music.