This month, António de Sousa Dias (a composer published by the MIC.PT) will participate in the Behind Sound and Image cycle, whose 2023 edition entitled Memory of Sound and Image features the work of Susana de Sosua Dias. For this director, the sound in cinema is fundamental, and, in this sense, she has collaborated with António de Sousa Dias to work on the sound of her films. The cycle will occur between October 20 and 22 at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. Its programme will include a conversation with the mentioned creators, conducted by Pedro Boléo, about the possible sound-image interactions and the exhibition of Susana de Sousa Dias’ three films: Natureza Morta (2005), 48 (2009) and Luz Obscura (2017). The cycle’s opening will feature the presentation of the audiovisual installation Natureza Morta, a co-creation between António de Sousa Dias and Susana de Sosua Dias from 2010. Additionally, together with João Svidzinski and Alain Bonardi, António de Sousa Dias is co-author of two articles in the 9th number of the Informatique et Musique journal, entitled “Inharmonique” (1977) de Jean-Claude Risset: création, ré-création et avenir.

This month, Christopher Bochmann (a composer published by the MIC.PT) will have a busy schedule starting on October 1. On this day, his composition Wandering from Clime to Clime (2023) will have its performance at the Cine-Teatro Avenida in Castelo Branco, with Gonçalo Pescada on accordion and the Castelo Branco Sinfonietta conducted by Bruno Cândido. In the middle of the month, on October 19, a monographic concert will be held in collaboration with Antena 2 at the ISEG auditorium in Lisbon. Its programme will include the premiere of the three parts of My Ladye Celia’s Songbooke (2004-2023) and the presentation of the work Four Poems (2017; the version for baritone and piano). The performers of this concert, with a live broadcast on the Antena 2 (Portuguese national radio), will be Armando Possante (baritone) and Ricardo Martins (piano). On October 31, the month will conclude with the premiere of Christopher Bochmann’s Golfadas de Silêncio (2023), with texts by Eugénio de Andrade. The Orquestra Sinfónica Juvenil and the Cetóbriga Chamber Choir, conducted by the composer, will perform the piece at the São Luiz Theatre in Lisbon.

Constança Capdeville and Clotilde Rosa are the two composers published by the MIC.PT, whose works are part of the concert programme by the GMCL – Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, which will occur on October 31 at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. The works are Momento I (1976) and O Caminho de Orfeu (2003). This GMCL concert, integrated into the Mundos (Worlds) cycle, presents the aesthetic diversity of 20th and 21st-century Portuguese music, ‘reflecting the various music creation experiences and sources through which the composers express themselves – either urban or rural, philosophical or oneiric, more pragmatic or based on moments of poetical lyricism.’ In this sense, the concert’s programme also includes the music of Jorge Peixinho (a composer published by the MIC.PT), António Victorino d’Almeida and Nuno Figueiredo.

The work O Silêncio (2013) by David Miguel (a composer published by the MIC.PT), with text by Eugénio de Andrade, is part of the concert by the São Tomás de Aquino Ensemble, conducted by João Andrade Nunes, occurring on October 29 at the Municipal Auditorium in Sabugal, in the context of the 2nd Sons do Côa Festival. Designed for a cappella choir and entirely dedicated to music by Portuguese composers, this concert offers ‘a celebration itinerary, allying music and poetry, and summoning up a diverse group of Portuguese language poets from the second half of the 20th century, revisited by composers born within this mother tongue’, emphasise the organisers. In this sense, the concert’s programme will also include music by Alfredo Teixeira, Eurico Carrapatoso, Fernando Lopes Graça, João Costa, Manuel Faria, Miguel Jesus and Sara Ross.

This month, Hugo Vasco Reis (a composer published by the MIC.PT) will have three works performed in Austria and France. The first one is the recent String Quartet no. 1 – Imago (2023), whose presentation by the Kunstuniversität Graz students will occur on October 7 at the ARTikullationen 2023 festival at the Theater im Palais in Graz. Then, on October 28, two of Hugo Vasco Reis’s works will have their presentation at the Musée d’Art moderne et contemporain in Strasbourg (France). The performance of the first piece, Some Lines Mixing a Color (2019) for soprano, saxophone, accordion, viola and cello, will be by the Síntese – Contemporary Music Group. For the performance of the premiere of the second work, Figuras Reconfiguradas (2023), for undetermined instruments, the Síntese musicians will join the performers from the Collective Lovemusic. ‘The rational and emotive aspects, and the interior need to create, to say something, are always present in my music practice. If I cease to have this need one day, I will take a break or change my activity’ – said Hugo Vasco Reis in the MIC.PT interview from October 2019.

We Live in a Bubble (2019), a piece for flexible wind trio and electronics by Igor C. Silva (a composer published by the MIC.PT), will have its performance twice this October by the flautists Verena Barié, Alina Loewenich and Francesco Marzano. The performers will give the first concert on October 9 at the Lisinski Hall in Zagreb (Croatia). Then, they will travel to Cologne, Germany, to make a performance on October 13 at the city’s Historical Archives. Contrary to the suggestion within the piece’s title, in September 2015, Igor C. Silva told the MIC.PT, that ‘it is completely impossible to become isolated from the massive quantity of stimuli we are being exposed to every day. To ignore these stimuli, making them completely inexistent in my music, would mean to ignore the present and the world where I live’. Regarding another composition, Non”/sense%)8$messages#_! (for a nonsense reality) (2012) for orchestra and electronics, the composer also highlighted the presence of a socio-political side in his work: ‘I intend to create a kind of reflection on the almost senseless present we live in’.

This month, the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group (GMCL) will present two works by Jorge Peixinho (a composer published by the MIC.PT) in Montijo and Lisbon. The first one, Coração Habitado (1966), the group conducted by Rui Pinheiro, will perform during the final of the 6th Jorge Peixinho/ GMCL International Composition Competition on October 5 and 8 at the Casa da Música Jorge Peixinho (Montijo) and on October 7 at the Belém Cultural Center (Lisbon). Organised biannually by the GMCL, this competition encourages music creation and dissemination, contributing to incrementing contemporary chamber music repertoire. The second Jorge Peixinho’s work, Llanto por Mariana (1986), the group conducted by Amâncio Cabral, will perform on October 31 at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon at the Mundos concert, presenting the diversity of Portuguese, 20th and 21st-century music.

The French translation, by João Svidzinski, of an excerpt from José Luís Ferreira’s PhD thesis, Mixed Music and Dynamic Relation Systems (Portuguese Catholic University, March 2014; supervised by António de Sousa Dias), has recently been published in the 9th number of the Informatique et Musique journal, entitled “Inharmonique” (1977) de Jean-Claude Risset: création, ré-création et avenir. This article presents the project realised by José Luís Ferreira in partnership with António de Sousa Dias – Jean-Claude Risset’s “Inharmonique”: recast and a real-time version proposal. The project’s objectives were the complete technology transfer and documentation and the proposal of a real-time version of the work Inharmonique. This article reports the project’s first version. Here, the author introduces the concept of dynamic relation systems and applies it to implementing Risset’s composition.

Cantos d’Alquimia – coração de barro preto (2023), a new work by Manuel Brásio (a composer published by the MIC.PT), is one of the six pieces created in the context of the Nove Aldeias, Um Povo project. This initiative, featuring six world premieres and developed by the Banda Musical de Loivos, also includes compositions by José Tiago Batista, Camila Menino, Francisco Ribeiro, Solange Azevedo, and João Silva. Nove Aldeias, Um Povo (Nine Villages, One Folk) will occur between October 7 and 22, passing through Valpaços (October 7), Chaves (the 8th), Vila Pouca (the 14th), Ribeira de Pena (the 15th), Boticas (the 21st) and Montalegre (the 22nd). The initiative aims to teach music and develop a community spirit through communitarian artistic participation. It is also a way to ‘fight isolation’ and preserve ‘the cultural roots’ of Trás-os-Montes by ‘encouraging artistic creation and contributing to the valorisation and dissemination of artists from our region’, as the creators and organisers involved in the project emphasise.

On October 5, the Sond’Ar-te Electric Ensemble conducted by Pedro Carneiro will perform Miguel Azguime’s work De Part et d’Autre (2010-2011) at the Mixtur Festival in Barcelona. In this context, this composer published by the MIC.PT will also give a Composition masterclass and make a presentation, The Spectral Agreement, to talk about his music (October 6-7). Additionally, the opera A Laugh to Cry (2013), with Miguel Azguime’s music and libreto and Paula Azguime’s staging, will have its performance at the Centro Gaiás Museum in Santiago de Compostela on October 29 (Contemporary Optics · Vertixe Sonora). At this concert, conducted by Pedro Neves, the Sond’Ar-te will perform with the soloists Camila Mandillo (soprano), Andrea Conangla (soprano), André Henriques (bass-baritone), Miguel Azguime and Jade Mandillo (speakers). Lastly, the creation of Paula Azguime and Miguel Azguime’s installation Águas Gémeas, with the 6th class at the Sabóia School Group (Odemira, Portugal), will take place between October 1 and 3.

On October 8, the work ...when I waked, I cried to dream again (2017) by Sara Carvalho (a composer published by MIC.PT) will have its performance in Guarda, at the auditorium of the Casa da Cultura in Famalicão da Serra. This concert is part of the 17th edition of the Síntese – Contemporary Music Festival, organised by Síntese – Contemporary Music Group. The performer of this piece for solo alto saxophone will be Luís Salomé, a young instrumentalist from Guarda who has already gained a solid reputation in contemporary music. ‘For me, music is incapable of not expressing anything. It does not seem relevant if what it expresses to each of us is what the composer idealised. Music has the power to induce imaginative representations. And I think this is how we understand it when we try to make sense of what we hear’, said the composer in an interview with the MIC.PT from December 2014.

The new work by Sofia Sousa Rocha (a composer published by the MIC.PT), Quatro canções de luz e de sombra (2023), for soprano, saxophone, accordion and string quartet, will be performed at the 17th Síntese Festival, on October 14 in Castelo Branco. At this concert, marking the centenary of the Portuguese poet Eugénio de Andrade, the Síntese – Contemporary Music Group, conducted by Jan Wierzba, will perform four works commissioned from four Portuguese composers. Another Sofia Sousa Rocha’s work, the opera Lugar Comum (2022), with libretto by Mário João Alves, will have its presentation on October 11 at the Municipal Theatre in Guarda by the Contratempus Quartet and various invited artists: Teresa Nunes (soprano), Miguel Leitão (tenor), Crispim Luz (clarinet), Carolina Leite Freitas (cello), Sérgio de A (piano), Leonor Keil (dancer) and Ana Rosa Silva, Beatriz Ramos, Natalie Gonçalves and Teresa Queirós (choir).

Another presentation of the CD Caprichos, released by the Artway Records, will occur in October. It includes two works by Paulo Bastos (a composer published by the MIC.PT): Cinco canções de Miguel Torga (2020) and La courbe de tes yeux (2022), for soprano and guitar, performed by the L’Effetto Ensemble (Dora Rodrigues, soprano; Rui Gama, guitar). This performance will occur in Juvisy-sur-Orge (France) at the Guitar’Essone 2023 Festival (October 21-22), dedicated to guitar music; aiming to establish a link between the music of the past and the ‘discovery of new works, promoting creativity’. Additionally, Paulo Bastos will have his work Branca rosa brava (2023) for voice, string quartet, alto saxophone and accordion premiered at the 17th Síntese – Contemporary Music Festival. It will be performed by the Síntese – Contemporary Music Group on October 14th in Castelo Branco.

Ode Marítima Remix is a theatre piece with music created by Vítor Rua (a composer published by the MIC.PT), which will be presented in various places in October: on the 12th at the Alma Box (Montemor-o-Novo); on the 14th at the Municipal Theatre (Covilhã); and between the 27th and 29th at the Commune Theatre, São Paulo (Brazil). With João Garcia Miguel’s staging and performance, this piece ‘lies between Lautréamont’s Maldoror and the Howl that Allen Ginsberg would give’, as the programme notes reveal. It’s a ‘savage and compulsive poem of departure and return, an ineffable journey through senses in a sensual and explosive arrhythmia, rich in metaphor, and intoxicating in its nervous and syncopated enumerations. (...) It’s a monologue, a multiple dialogue with the world, divided in various apparitions as a starry night or the textural aromas of a sea breeze.’

The submissions for the 1st International Lied Composition Competition (Álvaro García de Zúñiga/ Casa de Mateus/ Sond’Ar-te) are open until March 21, 2024. The competition is an initiative by the Sond’Ar-te Electric Ensemble in partnership with the Casa de Mateus Foundation and the blablaLab Cultural Association. The competition is open to composers of any nationality, without age limits. The submitted compositions must be written for a duo, within a combination selected between soprano and the following instruments (with or without electronics): flute, clarinet, violin, cello or piano. The selection of the texts must encompass Álvaro García de Zúñiga’s work. The members of the competition jury are Iris Ter Schiphorst (composer; Germany), Philippe Leroux (composer; France) and Miguel Azguime (composer; Portugal).

The DME Project presents the 12th edition of the Electroacoustic Nano Musicians Competition to promote electroacoustic composition among the younger generations. Only official music students under 21 years old can apply. The deadline is November 27, and the jury is formed by the composers João Pedro Oliveira and Jaime Reis, the artistic director of the DME Project. The pieces written for any instrument must last less than five minutes, and the presence of electronics is mandatory. The selected works will have a public presentation by the competition composers at the Seia Music Conservatory in December this year at a concert integrating the DME Festival. The final results and the distribution of the different prizes will be known only at the end of the festival.

To encourage national music composition for children and youth choirs, Miso Music Portugal is promoting the Águas Gémeas competition. The applications are open until October 31, and the competition has no age limit. Only Portuguese composers, or the ones residing in Portugal, are eligible, and the works must be inedited/ original. The competition is part of a homonymous scientific research and artistic creation project directed by the anthropologist Pedro Prista and developed in the territory of the Santa Clara dam in Odemira. The project’s theme dedicated to water focuses on the reformulation of a resource that is the ‘key to understanding the cultural forms of the relationship we build with the world and with others’, but that is also ‘socially alienated’, says Pedro Prista in the text Uma nota sobre a gemelidade da água. Regarding the musical form of the competition works, one should consider two categories: children's choir (SSA), or youth choir (SATB) allowing longer pieces. The competition’s jury includes the participation of Basilio Astúlez Duque (Spain), Erica Mandillo (Portugal), Miguel Azguime (Portugal), and Sanna Valvanne (Finland). The Children and Youth Choir of the University of Lisbon will premiere the winning works, and the Portuguese Music Research & Information Centre – MIC.PT will publish their scores.

Since September a new In the 1st Person Interview (in Portuguese), with the composer Sofia Sousa Rocha, is available on the MIC.PT YouTube Channel.
Presently the MIC.PT YouTube Channel contains 27 New Interviews to composers residing in Portugal, realised since 2019; as well as eight Interviews from the MIC.PT Archive, realised between 2003 and 2005.
The New Interviews, conducted by Pedro Boléo, were filmed at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon and realised in the context of the In the 1st Person cycle of the Music Today and Research & Invention Music radio broadcasts, produced by the MIC.PT and Miso Music Portugal for the Antena 2. They constitute a (re)visit to the creative universe of various composers published by the MIC.PT, following the Historical Interviews recorded by the MIC.PT almost 15 years ago. Today they are unique registers of the artistic evolution of each interviewed composer.
In order to access the Interviews (in Portuguese) follow the links below or visit the MIC.PT YouTube Channel.