The work Kontrol (2019) for percussion and electronics by João Pedro Oliveira is included in the programme of the SEAMUS 2021 virtual conference, organised by the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States, which will be taking place between April 23 and 25. Another work by this composer published by the MIC.PT, Timshel (2007) for ensemble and electronics, will be worked on and performed in concert during the Academy by the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble – To Explore and to Perform the Music of Today (April 16-18 and 22-26, O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon). Additionally, various João Pedro Oliveira's audiovisual and electroacoustic works will be presented in the context of the two monographic on-line concerts – on April 23, within the cycle Sonic Perspectives organised by the Mexican Centre for Music and Sonic Arts; and on April 30 in the context of the Sound Junction concerts at the University of Sheffield (UK). And lastly, João Pedro Oliveira has been distinguished with a Honourable Mention at the newEar Contemporary Chamber Ensemble 2020-2021 Composition Contest, whose results were announced in March.

The piece Your Trash (2016), for percussion, electronics and video, by Igor. C Silva, composer published by the MIC.PT, will be presented this month in the framework of two concerts: on April 14 by Miłosz Pękala at the Kody Festival in Lublin (Poland); and on April 28 by Victor Barceló at the Centro Centro in Madrid, in the context of the concert entitled Soledad Digital. «The work Your Trash has been thought as a sarcastic joke about the digital trash that we all have in our computers, smartphones, etc. In this context, the percussionist is asked to upload different videos and photos, what makes the piece's video personalised for each performer» – says Igor. C Silva.

On April 24 Paulo Bastos will make a presentation in the framework of the colloquium, The Issues of Music Education, coordinated by Dr Elisa Lessa and organised at the Department of Music – Institute of Arts and Humanities of the University of Minho (April 23-24). The title of the presentation by this composer published by the MIC.PT is – New Paths for the 21st Century. The Composition School of Braga. Since 1996 Paulo Bastos has worked as professor at the Calouste Gulbenkian Conservatoire of Music in Braga where he teaches Introduction to Composition Techniques, Analysis, Composition and Electronic Music.

On April 7 Vítor Rua will make a presentation – Sonic Interventions, or Musical Interventions, that is the question –, at the virtual Seminar Sonic Itineraries in Performance Art, realised in the framework of the Nucleus for Research in Art History – Contemporary Artistic Practices of the Space-Memory Transdisciplinary Research Centre. «For decades the Performance in Portugal has been linked to musicians composing music works for their performances. Names such as Jorge Peixinho, Carlos Zíngaro, Jorge Lima Barreto and Vítor Rua, worked closely with performers such as Ernesto de Sousa, António Barros, Silvestre Pestana, Manoel Barbosa, Rui Órfão, Carlos Gordilho, Fernando Aguiar, Alberto Pimenta, ... These performances constitute musical or sonic interventions? Or both? Or is it the same thing?» – asks Vítor Rua, composer published by the MIC.PT, in the abstract of his presentation.

In March Christopher Bochmann, composer published by the MIC.PT, has initiated a cycle of open on-line lessons, Supporting Music Interpretation. This initiative promoted by the Youth Symphony Orchestra (OSJ), is comprised of 14 lessons in the context of which Christopher Bochmann approaches subjects such as the Rhythm, Dynamics, Tuning & Harmony. The March lessons (The Rhythm I-IV) are available on the OSJ YouTube. The next sessions, at 6h45 p.m. live on the OSJ Facebook, are sheduled for this month: April 2 (Friday) · The Rhythm V; April 5 (Monday) · Dynamics I; April 7 (Wednesday) · Dynamics II; April 9 (Friday) · Tuning I; April 12 (Monday) · Tuning II; April 14 (Wednesday) · Harmony I; April 16 (Friday) · Harmony II; April 19 (Monday) · Harmony III · April 21 (Wednesday) · Harmony IV; and April 23 (Friday) · General.

On April 14, in the context of the 14th Viseu International Spring Music Festival, the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group (GMCL) conducted by Tiago Oliveira, will give a concert entitled Rio do tempo · Peixinho é Fixe (4). The Festival, taking place until April 25, is an initiative by the Proviseu/ Dr. José Azeredo Perdigão Regional Music Conservatoire, with the artistic direction of José Carlos Sousa (composer published by the MIC.PT). The programme of the GMCL concert is comprised of six works by Jorge Peixinho (composer published by the MIC.PT): Ulivi Aspri e Forti I (1982), O Canto da Sibila (1976), Coração Habitado (1966), Deux pièces meublées (1988), …A silenciosa rosa/ Rio do tempo (1994) and Ciclo Valsa IIa (1985). This programme will be also presented on-line on April 18, via streaming from the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon.

Works by three composers published by the MIC.PT are included in the programme of the youth-music-theatre performance, Diz-Concerto by the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble, conducted by Pedro Neves. This event will take place on April 12, via live streaming from the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon to various secondary schools all around Portugal. The pieces comprising this programme are: Sonho (2015) by Daniel Martinho for Fernando Pessoa's poem; Ao desconcerto do mundo (2014) by Ângela da Ponte for the poem by Luís Vaz de Camões; and Fala do velho do Restelo ao astronauta (2015) by Sofia Sousa Rocha for José Saramago's poem. Diz-Concerto is a music theatre performance which continues the tradition of works such as Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf. It constitutes a musical and theatrical space joining a narrator with the orchestral instruments (flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano), with the electronics, and also joining the texts/ poems by renowned Portuguese authors with new music.

The Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble Academy – To Explore and to Perform the Music of Today –, destined at the students of the 7th, 8th and superior instrumental levels, will be taking place this month during two periods – April 16-18 and 22-25 –, at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. The repertoire which will be worked in this context includes seven pieces by the composers published by the MIC.PT: Ângela da Ponte, António de Sousa Dias, Cândido Lima, João Pedro Oliveira, Miguel Azguime, Ricardo Ribeiro and Rui Penha; as well as a piece by Luís Tinoco. In the context of this Academy the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble and the maestro Pedro Neves, provide a new and unique programme for all the music students who wish to explore, decipher and perform the music of our time, becoming involved in the discovery of a stimulating, contemporary repertoire. The Academy will culminate with a public concert, performed by the students and the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble, on April 25 at the O'culto da Ajuda (live streaming).

Jaime Reis (JReis0007)
Sangue Inverso, Ametista (II) · Inverso Sangue, Granito (II) (2015-17) · flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello

Miguel Azguime (MA0038)
Trabalho Poético I: árvore (2016) · soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano

Rui Penha (RP0008)
no man is an island (2014) · wind instrument [improvising soloist] and spatialized electroacoustics

In March the MIC.PT has activated a new Composer's Page dedicated to Eli Camargo Júnior, professor at the Artistic Music School of the National Conservatoire in Lisbon, where he has implemented the Basic Composition Course and where presently he teaches Composition and Analysis of Performance Techniques. Eli Camargo Júnior also coordinates the Didactic Project, EMCN Music and Image Centre, created in 2020 in partnership with Jorge Machado (electronic music) and João Vasco Almeida (photography and video). This initiative, presently in progress, has been approved by the Pedagogical Council of the National Conservatory in Lisbon. It provides multimedia formation to the students of the Composition Course. In the context of his activity as a composer, since 2004 Eli Camargo Júnior's music has been performed by soloists and groups such as the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, the Metropolitana Soloists, Entre Madeiras Trio, Júlio Guerreiro, Paulo Amorim, Luís Gomes or Catherine Strynckx. He has also received institutional support, for example, in the framework of the Antena 2 Concert, The work of Eli Júnior for Guitar, or the monographic concert Elle, organised at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon (prod. Miso Music Portugal).

Form now on the MIC.PT website has a new Performer's Page dedicated to Bruno Belthoise, pianist, performer, improviser, soloist and founding member of the Pangea Trio. Bruno Belthoise has premiered various works dedicated to him by composers such as Emmanuel Hieaux, Alexandre Delgado, Bernard de Vienne, Sébastien Béranger, Jean-Pierre Deleuze, Fernando C. Lapa or Sérgio Azevedo. He is regularly invited to participate in festivals and smaller events in Portugal, France and various other countries, performing a repertoire ranging from Bach to composers of our time and including the music of Portuguese composers from the 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries. Bruno Belthoise's discography comprises more than 25 albums, which have accompanied the career of this creative performer and multifaceted artist. He enjoys different forms of performing, being also passionate about the art of storytelling associated with the piano and giving, in this context, narrated concerts for young audiences. In 2022 he is invited by the Philharmonie de Paris for the first performance of the Piano Concerto op. 78 by Anne Victorino d´Almeida in the context of the France-Portugal Cross-Year.

In the context of the Call for Scores for the World New Music Days 2021, the Miso Music Portugal/ MIC.PT, as the Portuguese ISCM Section, has invited six Portuguese contemporary composers to include their works in the Official Application for this Festival dedicated to the music of our time; the composers are: Ângela Lopes in the Category no. 9 (Electronic Music) with the work Reciclo-Recírculos – em forma de sanza (2019), Armando Santiago in the Category no. 7 (Solo Piano) with the work Groupes III (2019), Filipe Esteves in the Category no. 9 (Electronic Music) with the work Barra-a-Barra (2020), Jaime Reis in the Category no. 4 (Chamber Music – Group A) with the work Sangue Inverso – Ametista (II) · Inverso Sangue – Granito (II) (2015-17), Miguel Resende Bastos in the Category no. 6 (Choral SATB Works) with the work A Soldier's Cemetery (2016) and Rui Penha in the Category no. 10 (Electronic Music with One Instrumentalist) with the work no man is an island (2014). The pieces submitted by the Sections and Members of the ISCM – International Society for Contemporary Music from the world over, will be selected by an international jury to integrate the programme of the World New Music Days 2021 Festival, which will be taking place between September 17 and 25 in China (Shanghai and Nanning).

In March the New Music Review Lounge has published a new review (in Portuguese) by Pedro Boléo, A escuta improgramável, dedicated to the CD NowState with the music of Gonçalo Gato. This album, released under the Kairos label, assembles various works by this composer, written throughout various years, between 2008 and 2018. NowState is a CD which also assembles a set of excellent performers and ensembles – Alexander Soares (piano), CHROMA, ensemble recherche, Martin Fahlenbock (flute) and Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble conducted by Pedro Carneiro.

The MIC.PT YouTube Channel has released a new video with the interview to Jakub Szczypa, MIC.PT coordinator, conducted by Pedro Boléo in the context of the radio programme Invention and Research Music, produced by the MIC.PT and Miso Music Portugal for the Antena 2 and broadcast in February. This interview, “illustrated” with various musical miniatures from the CD Cadavres Exquis – Portuguese Composers of the 21st Century, is dedicated to the activity of the Portuguese Music Research and Information Centre – MIC.PT, in the time when 20 years pass after conceptualising this project dedicated to research, dissemination, edition and information on the music by the composers residing in Portugal.

In order to encourage the creation and diffusion of new electroacoustic works, the Miso Music Portugal promotes the 22nd International Competition of Electroacoustic Composition – Música Viva 2021. This initiative is directed to composers of all ages and nationalities. Each participant can submit only one work, which hasn't been comercially released and which hasn't been awarded at any other national or international competition. The deadline for the works’ submission is August 31, 2021. The winning work will be announced during the Música Viva 2021 Festival, which will be taking place at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon between November 4 and 20. The International Jury of the Música Viva 2021 Competition is comprised of the composers: Flo Menezes (Brazil) · Todor Todoroff (Belgium) · Miguel Azguime (Portugal).

The Portuguese Author's Society (SPA) and the RTP – Antena 2 promote another edition of the SPA/ Antena 2 Composition Prize, with the objective to disseminate and encourage contemporary music creation and to spread the work of young composers. The Competition is destined at Portuguese composers or foreigners residing in Portugal for more than four years, born after January 1, 1986. The submissions for the Competition should be sent via registered mail until July 23, 2021 (reception date).

The New Arias Competition – Opera XXI Marathon, organised in the framework of the OperaFest Lisbon 2021 Festival, intends to stimulate Portuguese contemporary opera, potentiating new composers, new repertoire, new operas, new performers, in order to create the opera of the future and to bring it closer to the modern world. This 2nd edition focuses on the mastery of composing arias, the opera's key moment, in which the power of music is coupled with the power of lyrical singing, in all its splendour persisting beyond the opera itself. The Competition is directed to composers up to 40 years old and the submissions are open until April 30.