In November, the MIC.PT presents in the In Focus section a new interview with Bruno Gabirro, marking the 50th anniversary of this composer of instrumental and mixed music, who valorises the idea of discourse as the ‘all-animating active reason and energy’.
Bruno Gabirro studied Violin at the Music Amateurs Academy in Lisbon and then Composition at the Music School of Lisbon. From 2003, he participated in the Composition Seminars at the Gulbenkian Foundation, oriented by Emmanuel Nunes. In 2008, he concluded his Master’s in Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he worked with Peter Maxwell Davis. He has also been an FCT scholarship holder at the CESEM (NOVA University) to work on the PhD thesis about Luigi Nono’s and Emmanuel Nunes’ string quartets. In 2014, he made a residency at the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid, having worked on the project For a Real Integration of Space as Sound and Music Parameter. Together with the percussionist Rui Silva, he’s coauthor of the Aduf&lectrónica project, recently released on CD by Miso Records. Presently, Bruno Gabirro’s working on a new cycle of pieces for the Sond’Ar-te Electric Ensemble, informally denominated as ‘opera’ and entitled La commedia è finita!.

The premiere of Ângela da Ponte’s three new electroacoustic compositions will occur on November 18 at the Music Conservatory of Viseu, in the context of the Prelude to the 17th edition of the International Spring Music Festival in Viseu. The works are Paisagem sonora improvisada #1 (2023) for modular synthesiser and computer, Analogue Sessions 1.1 (2023) and Vertigem (2023). Additionally, the guitarist Maria Beatriz de Oliveira will perform the piece Havana Club (2014) for guitar by this composer published by the MIC.PT, at the Guitarra no Feminino concert on November 24 at the Casa das Artes in Porto. And, lastly, Ângela da Ponte’s work for flute and electronics, We Can’t Breathe (2021), will have its performance at the ISCM World New Music Days 2023 festival, which will occur between November 24 and December 3 in South Africa (Johannesburg and Cape Town). This work has been chosen for the WNMD 2023 in the context of the Miso Music Portugal/ MIC.PT official application as the ISCM Portuguese Section.

This month, António de Sousa Dias (a composer published by the MIC.PT) will participate in one more session of 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 session will occur on November 3 at the Culture and Congress Centre in Caldas da Rainha. Its programme will include a conversation with the mentioned creators, conducted by Pedro Boléo, about the possible sound-image interactions and the exhibition of the films Natureza Morta (2005) and 48 (2009). Additionally, the performance of the opera Manifesto Nada with António de Sousa Dias’ music and Alexandre Lyra Leite’s staging and libretto, based on Tristan Tzara’s DADA Manifestos, will occur on November 18 at the Camacho Costa Cine-Theatre in Odemira, as part of the Miso Music Portugal’s programming in this Portuguese county.

The work Deep Water Music (2002) by António Chagas Rosa (a composer published by the MIC.PT) is part of the programme of the concert by the Drumming – Percussion Group (Vitor Castro, Jorge Pereira, João Miguel Braga Simões and Miquel Bernat), occurring on November 9 at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. This ‘piece I wrote in response to a commission by the Drumming, having as as inspiration the Beatles’s theme – Yellow Submarine’ – says António Chagas Rosa in the programme note. And he continues: ‘It’s a musical picture intended for four percussionists who, having a quite restricted instrumental set, obsessively and oneirically take advantage of the evoked song. Here, the use of a small musical toy evoking the celebrated theme as a memory compensates the sonority of the timpani, recalling deep waters.’ At the referred concert, the Drumming, accompanied by Anthony Pateras on piano, will also perform the premiere of the work Chronotope (2023) by this Australian composer and pianist and the piece Dirdira (2023) by Guillermo Lauzurika.

The premiere of the work 3 Paráfrases (2023) for four instruments by António Pinho Vargas (a composer published by the MIC.PT) will occur on November 10 in the context of the concert Obras Portuenses da Década de 20 at the São Pedro de Miragaia Church in Porto. For this project, organised in the framework of the Cultura em Expansão programme, the Sonoscopia ‘has invited four more Portuguese composers – António Pinho Vargas, Carlos Guedes, Olívia Silva and Pedro Junqueira Maia – for a music reflection on what life in Porto is nowadays.’ The performers of the four works selected for the project are the musicians from the Supernova Ensemble: Clara Saleiro (flute), Frederic Cardoso (clarinet), João Dias (percussion) and Carina Albuquerque (cello). Additionally, the release of the CD Lamentos (Artway Records) with three of António Pinho Vargas’ works – Sinfonia (subjetiva) (2019), Concerto for Viola and Concerto for Violin (both from 2016) – will occur on November 22 at the headquarters of the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra.

On November 28, at a monographic concert (in collaboration with the RTP – Antena 2), Christopher Bochmann will have four works premiered: My monstrous mountain’d walke (1999), Three Motets (1968), Ecce lignum, Salvator mundi (1983) and O vos omnes (1980). The concert will also include the performance of two other works by this composer published by the MIC.PT: Morning (2000) and Maria Matos Medley (1997). Notably, both latter works draw from 20th-century American poetry: the first piece is based on the poem, only this, by E. E. Cummings, ‘speaking of the magical moments of dawn’, as the composer says in the programme note. The second piece, in turn, uses an excerpt from the lyrics of the song Peace Frog by Jim Morrison (The Doors): ‘blood is the rose of my mysterious union’. The performers of all these compositions, intended for an a cappella choir, will be the singers from the Olisipio Vocal Group (conducted by Armando Possante) at the National Ancient Art Museum in Lisbon (with live broadcast on the Antena 2), being part of the second of the three-concert series dedicated to the work of Christopher Bochmann.

Nocturno para Constança is the title of the performance by the Capdeville Ensemble, conducted by José Eduardo Gomes, which will occur on November 4 at the João D’Oliva Monteiro Cine-Theatre in Alcobaça (Cistermúsica Festival). Nocturne for Constança ‘isn’t a concert or a theatre piece; it’s a single performance where the works intertwine and follow without interruptions’, as the organisers emphasise. In this sense, the programme of this ‘theatre-music piece’ will include two works by Constança Capdeville (a composer published by the MIC.PT and creator of the ‘theatre-music‘ concept) – Di lontan fa specchio il mare (1989) for ad libitum instrumental ensemble and Momento I (1971-1974) for instrumental ensemble; the work Ao Desconcerto do Mundo (2014) for instrumental ensemble, speaker and electronics by Ângela da Ponte (also a composer published by the MIC.PT), based on the homonymous poem by Luís de Camões; and also two works by Ana Seara (Capdeville Ensemble’s artistic director): Passa uma borboleta (homenagem a Olga Prats) (2018) for piano and Nocturno (2019) for guitar and electronics.

The release of the new CD, Cantares do Minho – Quatro suites para trio de guitarras by Fernando C. Lapa (a composer published by the MIC.PT), occurred on October 20 at the Tibães Monastery in Braga. On this CD, the Bracara Augusta Guitar Trio (Artur Caldeira, Daniel Paredes & Artur Gil Godinho) performs the four suites – Cantigas de trabalho, Cantigas de São João, Melodias religiosas & Danças e cantares de romaria – based on ‘21 traditional melodies sung in the lands of Minho, with an epicentre in the region of Braga and the surrounding municipalities’, says the composer. Additionally, on November 25, the performance of the piece Raiz Pivotante with Fernando C. Lapa’s music will occur at the Lethes Theatre in Faro. This work, directed by Cláudio Fuentes, produced by the Quarteto Contratempus, and performed by Teresa Nunes (soprano), Miguel Leitão (tenor), Crispim Luz (clarinet), Ana Conceição (cello) and Dalila Teixeira (piano), is ‘a staged concert about the earth and life’, taking the audience for ‘a swim against the current, to reflect on nature, the natural, growth, transplantation, revolution and tradition’.

Various presentations of works by Hugo Vasco Reis (a composer published by the MIC.PT) will occur in November. On the 3rd, 4th and 5th, in Covilhã, Castelo Branco and Coimbra, the Lovemusic Collective will perform Caligrafia do Vento (2023; premiere) for flute, bass clarinet, guitar and cello during the 17th Síntese Festival. Four days later, on November 8, at the same festival, the Fragmentos Ensemble will present his work Diálogos da Árvore (2023; premiere) at the Municipal Theatre in Guarda. Then, on the 10th, at the Eborae Música – 19th Music in Winter Concert Cycle, the Contemporary String Quartet’s performance at the Remédios Convent in Évora will include the String Quartet no. 1 – Imago (2023). On November 17, during the Bilgi New Music Festival in Istanbul (Turkey), the cellist Katharina Gross will perform Hugo Vasco Reis’ composition from 2022 for cello and electronics, Dimensions IV. Additionally, his audiovisual installation Silent Events (2023) will have its first presentation on November 27 in the framework of the Sonic Matter cycle – Push Play, at the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste – Toni-Areal (Zurich, Switzerland).

In November, Igor C. Silva (a composer published by the MIC.PT) will have his music performed at four concerts. His work My Empty Hands (2018), for flexible percussion ensemble, electronics and video, will be presented in America and Europe. The first concert, by the SIU Percussion Ensemble, will occur on November 7 at Southern Illinois University. The second concert will occur on November 22, with the Freiburg Percussion Group performing at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg in Germany. On November 18, the clarinettist Maija Anttila will perform Igor C. Silva’s work No Blueberry (2018) at the Tornado Theater in Rantasalmi, Finland. Lastly, his piece Drive_! (2013) is part of the recital by the percussionist Jonathan Silva, on November 11 at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. Additionally, a new EP (New Amsterdam) with his work Hypernormalization (2018), performed by Bec Plexus (voice) and João Miguel Braga Simões (percussion), is now available on various digital platforms.

Jaime Reis’ work Sangue Inverso: Rosa do Deserto (2022) for violin, cello, flute, clarinet and piano is part of the programme of the Fadenspiele concert that will occur on November 3 at the Colégio Mateus d’Aranda during the Contemporary Music Festival in Évora. This performance will include the participation of the DME Ensemble, Gerhard Stäbler and Kunsu Shim, and the students of the University of Évora Arts School. Another work by this composer published by the MIC.PT, Voces Excipere (2017) for 12 a cappella voices, will have its performance by the AuditivVokal Dresden ensemble on November 21 at the Liebfrauenkirche in Duisburg (Germany) at the Denk ich an Deutschland in der Nacht... concert. Among other pieces, its programme will also include a work by Emmanuel Nunes. Additionally, a new version of Jaime Reis’ acousmatic work Magistri Mei: Bruckner (2020-2023) is part of the Annette Vande Gorne Foundation inaugural concert on November 29 at the Espace Senghor in Brussels (Belgium).

Hypo-Stasis is the title of the collaborative album by João Castro Pinto (a composer published by MIC.PT) and Anastasis Grivas – Greek composer, performer and curator –, whose release by Grimaces éditions will occur on November 24. It is a book-CD edition of improvised electroacoustic music with design and visual work by João Castro Pinto, made in risograph printing technique, and limited to 50 copies. Hypo-Stasis is the musical result of the duo’s work, which started in 2003, between Anastasis Grivas (customised guitar, objects and contact microphones) and João Castro Pinto (laptop, electroacoustic processing). It presents different musical approaches, from the initial drone scapes, with a minimal, silent and dark profile, to the more dynamic final pieces. To mark the release of Hypo-Stasis, on the 24th at the SMOP in Lisbon, João Castro Pinto will give a concert organised by the Nariz Entupido, using samples from the new CD and reinterpreting it via laptop (field recordings), MIDI controllers and synthesisers.

Three pieces by João Madureira (a composer published by the MIC.PT) are part of Ana Telles’ piano recital, Sound and Image Dialogues, which will occur during the Contemporary Music Festival in Évora, on November 3 at the Garcia de Resende Theatre. The works are two movements from the cycle Estudos Literários – Retratos (2011-2013), Cristiana (version with video by Maria Jacobetty Bacelar) and A. H. (version with video by Bettencourt Bacelar), and Coroa (2011; version with video by João de Bettencourt Bacelar). Estudos Literários – Retratos results from a challenge posed to the composer by Ana Telles in 2011 for the 100th anniversary of Rachmaninoff’s Études-Tableaux. For its side, Coroa for piano and speaking voice has a fragment of Maria Gabriela Llansol’s text ‘around which the piece revolves’, explains João Madureira. At this recital, Ana Telles will also perform the music of three other composers published by the MIC.PT: Carlos Caires, Carlos Marecos and João Pedro Oliveira.

Between November 7 and 12, João Quinteiro will make an artistic residency at the Lisboa Incomum venue (DME Residencies Cycle). During this residency dedicated to Spatialisation, this composer published by the MIC.PT will work with the harpist Salomé Pais Matos, who, at the final presentation, on November 12, will premiere João Quinteiro’s work Penélope, meio-dia (2023). Composed for a spatialised harp and actress, it is one of the satellite pieces of the opera Regresso, whose premiere will occur in May 2024 at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. For the presentation of Penélope, meio-dia at the Lisboa Incomum, Camila Mandillo will join Salomé Pais Matos to perform the actress’ part. In the MIC.PT interview from January 2020, João Quinteiro said: ‘I compose because it’s inevitable. There’s this sudden presence of objects that are sounds, creating tremendous pressure and occupying an enormous space of my mental availability.’

The next concert of the ARTEAM (Alto Minho Professional Artistic School) Wind Orchestra, conducted by Diogo Costa, occurring on November 27 at the Sá de Miranda Theatre in Viana do Castelo, will include in its programme the work al-Uqṣur for wind orchestra by Lino Guerreiro (a composer published by the MIC.PT). Composed in 2016, al-Uqṣur reflects Lino Guerreiro’s interest in the ancient world civilisations, being the Egyptian perhaps the one that fascinates him the most. ‘This work portrays an “imaginary folklore”, mainly coming from the literature I have consumed throughout the years’ – says Lino Guerreiro in the programme note. He adds: ‘I dedicate this composition to Francisco Ferreira and BSP – Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa. Its premiere occurred at the BSP 3rd National Composition Competition, and it has six movements: al-Uqṣur, Torrents from Nile, The Pyramid of Giza, Cairo City, The Nile Delta and Luxor.’

Miguel Azguime’s poetic action/ electroacoustic theatre, A vida é sempre preferível, ou o monólogo do sal para lhe completar a medida (2021-2023), will have its performance on November 25 at the Camacho Costa Cine-Theatre in Odemira. It is a new sound poetry project where the composer, the poet and the performer join again in a solo performance ‘for a new incursion through word as music and music as word’. It is also a work in progress ‘searching for a new becoming, returning to the word and its electronic transformations, and reflecting on the human and the world, where life is always the preferable path and place’ – as the programme notes indicate. Additionally, between November 27 and December 3, Miguel Azguime will continue the artistic residency, O Presente do Futuro, at the Casa de Mateus Foundation in Vila Real, initiated in October. In this context, this composer published by the MIC.PT is developing a forthcoming new op-era project.

On November 10, the Contemporary String Quartet (António Ramos & Clara Dias, violins; Diana Antunes, viola; Rogério Peixinho, cello) will perform the work ... is a wasted emotion (2023) by Sara Carvalho (a composer published by the MIC.PT), during the Eborae Música – 19th Music in Winter Concert Cycle. The programme of this concert, occurring at the Remédios Convent in Évora, will also include compositions by Ana Magalhães, João Pedro Oliveira, Amílcar Vasques-Dias and Hugo Vasco Reis (the three latter are composers published by the MIC.PT). ‘The idea that motivated the writing of ... is a wasted emotion was imagining what each listener would feel during the work’s audition’ – says Sara Carvalho in the programme notes. She adds: ‘It is for this reason that I left the title open (...) so that each listener can complete the ellipsis with the word(s) corresponding with the emotion(s) regarding what they are hearing.’

The work Tempus fugit un terris nihil aeternus est (2010) by Patrícia Sucena de Almeida (a composer published by the MIC.PT) is part of the concert Música no Feminino by the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group under the baton of Rui Pinheiro, which will occur on November 18 at the João d’Oliva Monteiro Cine-Theatre in Alcobaça, in the context of the Cistermúsica Festival cycle, Fronteiras. The programme of this concert, offering a journey through feminine composition in Portugal and presenting various generations of composers, will also include two pieces by Clotilde Rosa (a composer published by the MIC.PT), No mais fundo de ti (2013) and Breve será dia (1994), the work Momento I (1974) by Constança Capdeville (also a composer published by the MIC.PT); and also the Fantasia para Clarinete Baixo e Ensemble (2021) by Anne Victorino d’Almeida and the piece Do Tempo (2009) by Ana Seara. In this context, Patrícia Sucena de Almeida’s work Tempus fugit incorporates rhythmic virtuosity within a multidisciplinary thought, where the image integrates the music construction.

This November, it will be possible to hear the music of Paulo Bastos (a composer published by the MIC.PT) in Portugal and abroad. It will all start on November 5 when the L’Effetto Ensemble, a group composed of the soprano Dora Rodrigues and the guitarist Rui Gama, will perform Cinco canções de Miguel Torga (2016) and La courbe de tes yeux (2022), two pieces from the CD Caprichos released by the Artway Records, recently distinguished in the context of the Global Music Awards. This concert is part of the Utopia Festival and will occur at the Espaço Vita – Capela Imaculada in Braga. In the second half of the month, on November 16, the NoMad Duo, constituted by Ricardo Antão on euphonium and Jonathan Silva on percussion, will premiere Paulo Bastos’ three 4 two (2022) during the Autumn Festivals at the Vista Alegre Theatre in Aveiro. On the same day, the pianists Patrícia Ventura and Sónia Amaral, as the Kla-Vier Duo, will perform Sou já do que fui (2019), composed for a four-hand piano. The concert will occur at the Thomas Prior Hall in Dublin.

The release of the CD by Sonoscopia, Obras Portuenses da Década de 20 (Portuguese Works from the 20s), will occur at the homonymous concert with the participation of the Supernova Ensemble (Clara Saleiro, flute; Frederic Cardoso, clarinet; João Dias, percussion; Carina Albuquerque, cello), on November 10 at the São Pedro de Miragaia Church in Porto. The concert’s programme includes works by António Pinho Vargas (a composer published by the MIC.PT), Carlos Guedes, Olívia Silva and Pedro Junqueira Maia. For its side, the new CD has works by these six composers published by the MIC.PT: Ângela da Ponte, Ângela Lopes, Cândido Lima, Igor C. Silva, Isabel Soveral and Sara Carvalho, as well as pieces by Álvaro Salazar and José Alberto Gomes. Obras Portuenses da Década de 20 is a project developed by Sonoscopia for the Cultura em Expansão, a programme of the Porto Municipality, aiming to decentralize and diversify the city’s cultural offer. In this sense, since 2021,one has commissioned works to Portuguese composers or those with a strong connection with the city, portraying uniquely their vision and listening of the city. The composers create their works in close relation with the Supernova Ensemble.

In the context of the Call for Scores for the ISCM World New Music Days 2024, as the ISCM Portuguese Section, the Miso Music Portugal/ MIC.PT has invited six Portuguese composers to include their works in the Official Application for the WNMD 2024 festival dedicated to the music of our time. The composers are: Carlos Brito Dias (Category 4 – String Chamber Ensemble), with the work was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht? (2019) for string orchestra; David Miguel (Category 8 – Duos), with the work Alma Penada (hommage a Liszt) (2023) for flute and piano; Filipe Lopes (Category 5 – String Quartet), with the work Clusia Rosea (2018) for string quartet; Hugo Vasco Reis (Category 10 – Choir), with the work Sleeping Landscapes (2020) for mixed choir; Joana Sá (Category 13 – Composer-Performer), with the work a body as listening I (2023) for piano and electronics; and Sofia Sousa Rocha (Category 7 – Trios or Quartets), with the work Jogos (2023) for piano, violin and cello. The pieces submitted by the Sections and Members of the ISCM – International Society for Contemporary Music, will be subject to selection by an international jury to integrate the programme of the ISCM World New Music Days 2024 festival, organised by the Association of Faroese Composers (ISCM section), occurring between June 22 and 30 in the Faroe Islands.

With the aim to encourage the creation and diffusion of new acousmatic/ electroacoustic works, Miso Music Portugal promotes and organises the 25th edition of the International Electroacoustic Composition Competition – Música Viva 2024. The deadline for the works’ submission is March 31, 2024. The winning work will be announced during the Música Viva 2024 Festival, occurring between May 3 and 11. The jury of the 25th International Electroacoustic Composition Competition – Música Viva 2024 will be announced shortly.

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.

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.