The Concerto for Viola (2016) by António Pinho Vargas will be performed by the violist Diet Poppen and by the Gulbenkian Orchestra conducted by José Eduardo Gomes, during the Gala Concert of the 11th Young Musicians' Festival, taking place on October 2 at the Grande Auditório of the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. The programme of this concert will also include the premiere of the winning work at the SPA/ Antena 2 Composition Prize – Apneia by João Caldas – and a to-be-announced piece performed by the winning-soloist of the Maestro Silva Pereira Prize/ Young Musician of the Year 2020/21. “One of the focuses of the four-recent works for orchestra (including the Concerto for Viola), was to unveil and follow the 'leading tone', either in the lines or in the chords. Within the patent tensions, in non-tonal music languages one can chase and search which particular note, which instrumental sound or which determined sonic mass can acquire this property of being a 'leading tone'...“ – said this composer published by the MIC.PT in the MIC.PT Interview from February 2021.

Three new works by Hugo Vasco Reis, composer published by the MIC.PT, will have their premiere performances this month. On October 2 the Vertixe Sonora ensemble will perform the work Sculpture for a While (2021) for flute, bass clarinet, violin, cello, water, sticks and stones with amplification, at the Mixtur 2021 Festival in Barcelona. The premiere of the work Num Único Acorde (2021) will take place on October 8 at the Centro de Arte Caja in Burgos (Spain). Before, this piece will be recorded by the percussionist Miquel Bernat and included in the installation by the visual artist Pedro Vaz, author of the video, the original idea and the title. Finally on October 30 Hugo Vasco Reis' work Embracing Lines (2021) for clarinet, cello and harp will be premiered by the Collegium Novum Zürich at the Tonhalle in Zurich (Switzerland). “In my opinion the music discourse is the communication between all the agents who carry it out or perceive it, as a material and immaterial phenomenon. Composers, performers and the audience” – said Hugo Vasco Reis in the Interview realised by the MIC.PT in October 2019.

This month various works by Igor C. Silva will be presented outside of Portugal. On October 15 at the Philharmonie Luxembourg, the United Instruments of Lucilin conducted by Julien Leroy will perform Igor C. Silva's music for the film O Táxi 9297 by Reinaldo Ferreira (commission: Casa da Música/ Philharmonie Luxembourg). At this cine-concert Igor C. Silva will be also responsible for the realisation of the live electronics and improvisation. On October 23, at the Korzo Theater (the Netherlands), the Ensemble Klang and Stephanie Pan will perform for the second time the new multimedia opera by this composer published by the MIC.PT, entitled Follow (commission: Gaudeamus/ Miso Music Portugal). Additionally – his new work From This Side (2021) for flexible ensemble and electronics (commission: Sonoscopia), will be presented on October 16 at the Miragaia Music Group Auditorium in Porto; the piece Your Trash (2016) for percussion, electronics and video will be performed by Aldo Aranda on October 1 at the Callejón del Ruido Festival (Mexico), by Reed Puelo on October 15 at the University of Michigan (EUA) and by Gian Marco on October 26 at the Musikbauerei (Berlin). Finally, the piece Gin#122 (2014) for kalimba and electronics will be performed by Wim Pelgrims on October 2 & 3 in Duivelsteen (the Netherlands) and on October 23, at the Transit Festival (Belgium), the Nemo Ensemble will perform the work You Should Be Blind to Watch TV (2013) for ensemble and electronics.

The programme of the 28th edition of the L'Espace du Son Festival (Brussels, Belgium) includes a Portrait-Concert dedicated to the music of Jaime Reis (composer published by the MIC.PT). In this context, six of his works will be performed on October 22 at the Théâtre Marni: Phonopolis (2003-04), Omniscience is a Collective – Part I (2009), Fluxus, Lift (2013), Jeux de l'Espace (2015), Fluxus, pas trop haut dans le ciel (2017) and Magistri Mei: Bruckner (2020). This concert will also include two works by Jaime Reis' students – Mariana Vieira (The unexpected encounter with diversity; 2021) and Marta Domingues (Yliathim; 2019). During the L'Espace du Son Festival Jaime Reis will also give a masterclass dedicated to the spatial analysis of his works. Additionally, this month the composer's electroacoustic piece Fluxus, Lift, will be presented at the concert dedicated to Portuguese acousmatic music nowadays, which will take place on October 8 in the context of the CROMA – Contemporary Music Cycle of Oeiras. Finally, Jaime Reis' piece Fluxus, Transitonial Flow, has been selected for the Ai-Maako 2021 Festival (October 7-9; Chile) and these two composer's new publications have been recently released: Exploring polyphony in spatial patterns in acousmatic music, a chapter of the book Embodied Gestures (TU Wien Academic Press); and the essay The (idiomatic) piano in the structure and as a structural element in (my) music in the Aspekty Muzyki 2021 journal (Academy of Music, Gdańsk, Poland).

On October 3, the online radio/ platform frameworkradio.net, whose programming makes part of 12 FM radios including the Resonance 104.04 FM (the UK), will broadcast a radio programme realised by João Castro Pinto, entitled Soundscape Composition: between mimesis & abstraction, and dedicated to the composition of soundscapes. Founded in 2002 and managed by Patrick McGinley, frameworkradio.net is one of the oldest global radio platforms dedicated to the art of field recording, phonography, etc. Additionally, the Eufonia = Sound/ Art + Science Festival has commissioned a new piece to João Castro Pinto – a soundwalk integrating the set of virtual proposals, which, apart from nine installations, will make part of the Sonic Circuits 2021 programme. This event will take place online between October 22 and 24. The virtual soundwalk by this composer published by the MIC.PT will be created from sounds captured in the area of the Martim Moniz Square in Lisbon. Finally, the electroacoustic poetry piece Hiante, published on a CD-book by the Helvética Grimaces Éditions, with illustrations, poems and voice of Sofia A. Carvalho, as well as music and illustrations by João Castro Pinto, has been selected for exhibition and sale at the BOOKED – Artists’ Book Fair, taking place between October 1 and 9 in Helsinki (Finland). In this context, Hiante, which was released in 2019 at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon, has been selected for the Fair within an international competition which had 140 submissions.

Two new works by João Pedro Oliveira, composer published by the MIC.PT, will be premiered in October. The first one, Absence-Mémoire (2021) for cello, piano and electronics is a commission by the Duo Sigma (Miguel Rocha [cello] and Ana Cláudia Assis [piano]) for the project Mémoire... Miroir: the music by Jorge Peixinho reflected in the cello and piano repertoire. The premiere of this work will take place during the Duo's tour in Portugal: October 12 & 13 – Seia, October 14 – Viseu, October 15 – Vila do Conde, October 18 – Óbidos and October 21 – Lisbon. The second piece to be premiered, Coalescence (visual music; 2021), will be presented on October 15 at the Corwin Concert Series (UC Santa Barbara; USA) and at the L'Espace du Son Festival on October 23 (Belgium). Additionally – the work In Tempore (2000) will be performed at the Timucua Arts White House (Florida, USA), in the context of the Contemporary Art Music Project; the pieces Dark Energy (2018) and Things I Have Seen in My Dreams (2019) make part of the SIMN 2021 Festival's programme (Curitiba, Brazil; October 4-7); the piece Storms (2018) has been selected for the Ai-Maako 2021 Festival (Chile; October 7-9); the work Kontrol (2019) will be performed on October 16 at the Seoul International Computer Music Festival; and the work City Walk (2021) makes part of the concert by Nuno Aroso (percussion) and João Reis (staging), A Fog Machine e outros Poemas para o teu regresso (Aveiro, Coimbra & Castelo Branco – October 22, 28 & 30).

On October 7 the Casa da Música in Porto will host a monographic concert dedicated to the music of Miguel Azguime, performed by the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble (Sílvia Cancela [flute]; Nuno Pinto [clarinet]; Vítor Vieira [violin]; Filipe Quaresma [cello], Elsa Silva [piano] and Paula Azguime [sound design]). The concert, which will also include the participation of João Dias (percussion) and Camila Mandillo (soprano), will be conducted by Pedro Neves. It will present the 20 years of Miguel Azguime's creative work, including some of his chamber works and showcasing his multifaceted activity as performer, composer and poet. In this sense the concert's programme includes five works by this composer published by the MIC.PT: Ícone I (1992) for wooden barrel and ladder; Intermezzo A Laugh from the opera A Laugh to Cry (2013) for soprano and piano; D’un Horizon Tendu (2019) for violin, clarinet, piano and percussion; Trabalho Poético I: árvore (2016) for soprano, flute, clarinet, piano, violin and cello; and De Part et d'Autre (2011) for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and electronics. Additionally, Miguel Azguime's electroacoustic piece she being Brand (2014) will be presented on October 8 in the context of the CROMA – Contemporary Music Cycle of Oeiras, organised by the APC – Portuguese Composers' Association.

This month Patrícia Sucena de Almeida, composer published by the MIC.PT, photographer and multidisciplinary artist, who's particularly interested in the transversality between various arts, participates in the collective exhibition Admirável Mundo Novo (Brave New World), where she'll present two individual projects and be involved in two collective ones. The exhibition will take place on October 9 at the Porcelain Society in Coimbra. In these projects Patrícia Sucena de Almeida transversally combines the photography/ space and the sculpture/ mechanisms/ sound/ space. The exhibition is organised by the Pescada n.º 5 Group and the Há Baixa Association, being constituted by a safe, profusely illuminated, one-way, 500-meter path, with 45 stopping points at various pavilions: installation, video, sculpture, picture, painting, photography and music performances.

On October 2 at the Main Hall of the Teatro Aveirense, Vítor Rua, together with the director Edgar Pêra, will give a performance in the context of the cine-concert, Aveiro Revisited. Since the beginning of the 1990s this director has been organising cine-concerts in dialogue with other musicians and actors on stage. In Aveiro Edgar Pêra will be creating live filme footage in dialogue with the performer, musician and composer published by the MIC.PT Vítor Rua, while the VJammer and stereographer Claudio Vasques will be manipulating the images, mixing them with pre-edited films constituted by cine-diaries filmed in Aveiro by Edgar Pêra during various years, as well as with other films form the city's historic archives. “Since I'm both an improviser and composer, there's the constant ping-pong between these two complementary activities – said Vítor Rua in the MIC.PT Interveiw from December 2016.

In the context of the project Música Nova para Instrumentos Antigos (New Music for Old Instruments), on October 2 & 3 (Armazém 22 – Vila Nova de Gaia & Casa de Mateus – Vila Real), the Borealis Ensemble (António Carrilho [recorders] & Helena Marinho [pianoforte]) will give two concerts with the music by the four composers published by the MIC.PT in the programme: António Chagas Rosa, Cândido Lima, Daniel Schvetz & Sara Carvalho; as well as with the music by Eurico Carrapatoso, Vasco Negreiros, Carl Czerny, C. P. E. Bach J. C. F. Bach & J. S. Bach. The project Música Nova para Instrumentos Antigos aims at showing how it's possible to reinvent and deconstruct some common notions on the organologic limitations of some instruments, through the confrontation between the historical repertoire and contemporary creations. It offers a dialogue between 18th and 19th-century works and pieces by contemporary Portuguese composers, many of them composed for the Borealis Ensemble.

Croma – Contemporary Music Cycle of Oeiras is an initiative organised by the APC – Portuguese Association of Composers, whose first edition will take place between October 2 and 10, presenting a programme dedicated to some of the main music avant-garde formations, and aiming at broadening the horizons and boarders in the relation between the contemporary composers and the audience of today. On October 2, as the Cycle's forerun, the Croma organises the Seminar Boas Práticas em Criação Musical (Good Practice in Music Creation), with presentations and discussion panels on the sector's problems, directed to composers of all music-composition areas. The Croma's concerts, which will take place between October 6 and 10, will include in their programmes the music by various composers published by the MIC.PT, including: Ângela da Ponte, António de Sousa Dias, Eduardo Luís Patriarca (premiere), Jaime Reis, João Pedro Oliveira, João Quinteiro, Jorge Peixinho, Ka'mi & Miguel Azguime; as well as pieces by: Álvaro Salazar, Emmanuel Nunes, Eurico Carrapatoso, Fernando Lopes-Graça, Luís Neto da Costa (premiere), Mariana Vieira, Marta Domingues, Telmo Marques & Virgílio Melo. Each concert will be preceded with a Round Table with the participation of the composers, as well as the musicians and the ensembles performing the music at Croma: the Matosinhos String Quartet, Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, Vertixe Sonora & Lisbon Ensemble 20/21. Additionally, the Croma's programme will include Open Rehearsals, a Concert by the Students from the Ourearte – Music and Arts School in Ourém and the Music Academy in Chaves, who will perform the music by Christopher Bochmann (premiere), João Quinteiro (premiere) & Igor C. Silva (composers published by the MIC.PT); as well as a Masterclass conducted by Pierluigi Billone (October 8-10).

Resuming its in-person activities in 2021, the Duo Sigma, formed by Miguel Rocha (cello) and Ana Cláudia Assis (piano), will be on tour between October and November, around various Portuguese cities. The tour's programme will include premieres of works by various composers published by the MIC.PT: Carlos Marecos (O Carro de Jorge Peixinho, cello & piano, and O Aprendiz de Novos Sons, cello, piano & electronics), Bruno Gabirro (12 breves pensamentos em arco, cello, piano & electronics), Christopher Bochmann (Arietta, cello & piano), Miguel Azguime (Lettre à l’être imbu, cello & piano), João Pedro Oliveira (Absence...mémoire, cello, piano & electronics), Eduardo Luís Patriarca (...suddenly, this silence..., cello & piano) and José Carlos Sousa (15 Unu Sonu, cello & piano); as well as premieres of works by: Andreia Pinto-Correia (Tantalus, cello & piano) and Mariana Vieira (Dual, cello & piano). These works have been commissioned by the Duo Sigma in the context of the two projects: Mémoire... Miroir: the music of Jorge Peixinho reflected in the cello-and-piano repertoire (DGArtes) and O Aprendiz de Novos Sons (The Apprentice of New Sounds) (GDA). This month the Duo-Sigma concerts will take place at the following venues: Music Conservatoire and the House of Culture in Seia (October 12 & 13), Music Conservatoire in Viseu (October 14), Music Conservatoire in Vila do Conde (October 15), Music Academy in Óbidos (October 18) and the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra (October 21).

On October 7, 8 & 9 (Croma – Carnaxide, Montijo & Lisbon) the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group conducted by Rui Pinheiro will perform the finalist works of the 5th Jorge Peixinho International Composition Competition, whose jury is constituted by: Ivan Fedele, Gerhard Staebler; João Madureira, Carlos Caires & Jaime Reis (composers published by the MIC.PT); as well as Jorge Sá Machado & Ada Gentile. Additionally, on October 16 & 17 the GMCL under the baton of Adriano Martinolli d’Arci will give two concerts in Trieste and Castelnovo ne’ Monti (Italy). Their programme entitled Fiume del Tempo, will include works by the three composers published by the MIC.PT: Clotilde Rosa, João Madureira & Jorge Peixinho; as well as the music by Eurico Carrapatoso & Giampaolo Coral. Lastly, on October 29, 30 & 31 (Badajoz, Elvas & Alcobaça) the GMCL conducted by Rui Pinheiro will present the programme Rio do Tempo – Encomendas (4), with three premiere performances of the works: um sol mais sol que o sol (2021) by Carlos Marecos (composer published by the MIC.PT), Os ingleses fumam cachimbo (2021) by Alexandre Delgado & Fantasia para Clarinete Baixo e Ensemble (2021) by Anne Victorino d’Almeida; as well as with the music by Jorge Peixinho & Luciano Berio.

In September the New Music Review Lounge has published a new text (in Portuguese) by Pedro M. Santos, dedicated to the 1st edition of FIO – Informal Opera Festival, an initiative by the Sinfonietta-de-Braga Music Association, which happened on September 18 at various venues around Braga: Gnration, Nogueira da Silva Museum, Medieval Hall of the University-of-Minho Rectory & the Biscainhos Museum. The FIO aims at «challenging the traditional opera concepts» and «creating spaces for dialogue between creations, audience & artists». The FIO's 1st edition included the premiere of four new operas: IN(opeRA)VEL by Sara Ross, Tiago Schwäbl, Joana Providência; O concílio celeste by Fátima Fonte, Patrícia Portela, Sónia Baptista; Oráculos e Ladainhas by Sofia Sousa Rocha, Tiago Schwäbl, António Torres; and Maria Magola by Francisco Fontes, Marta Pais de Oliveira, Daniela Cruz.

In October the founding entities of the riZoma – Portuguese Platform for Intervention and Research in New Music, will meet in the context of the 9th online Meeting, to define the next steps within the development of this new network, which intends to foment the approximation with the audience, to stimulate a critical mass for intervention, to create dialogue with the trusteeship and to defend the richness and vitality of the contemporary-classical-music creation and practice. All the entities from the contemporary-classical-music area in Portugal, which would like to integrate the riZoma, can communicate their interest via the following e-mail: rizoma.plataforma@gmail.com.

The 11th edition of the Young Musicians' Festival, closing the 34th edition of the PJM – Young Musicians' Award, is taking place until October 2 at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon. This PJM edition has joined various candidates from the two consecutive years: the ones who applied last year, but didn't compete due to the pandemic, and the ones who applied this year. The Festival, organised and presented by the Antena 2 in partnership with the Gulbenkian Foundation, is constituted by various concerts focused on the different PJM laureates. At the the Festival's Gala Concert which will take place on October 2, the winner of the Maestro Silva Pereira Award/ Young Musician of the Year 2020/21 will perform the work with which he or she applied for the PJM, accompanied by the Gulbenkian Orchestra under the baton of José Eduardo Gomes. The concert's programme also includes the world-premiere of the work Apneia by João Caldas, winner of the SPA/ Antena 2 Composition Award 2021, as well as the Concerto for Viola (2016) by António Pinho Vargas, performed by the violist Diemut Poppen. The artistic director of the Festival and the PJM Award is the composer Luís Tinoco.