On the first day of October, celebrating World Music Day, Amilcar Vasques-Dias will give a concert at the Casa da Música in Porto, presenting his double side as a composer and performer (piano and voice). During this recital, the soprano Cláudia Pereira Pinto will join this composer (published by the MIC.PT) at two moments. Entitled Do Porto a Évora...devagar!, the concert will explore the composer’s influences from the Alentejo manifested in works such as Lume de Chão (2004), in adaptations of poems and songs such as Entre o vento e a seara (using verses from different poems by Manuel Alegre, from the book Alentejo e Ninguém), or A mulher da erva and Vejam bem by José Afonso. This concert, navigating through the Alentejo universe and also including poems by Maria Gabriela Llansol and Sophia de Mello Breyner, combines the art of ‘reciting’ with the art of performance. Additionally, Amilcar Vasques-Dias’ work Corais do Monte (2024) for string quintet is part of the concerts that the Contemporary String Quintet (an initiative by the Ritornello – Cultural Association) will give on October 5, 6, and 11 in Oliveira do Hospital, Penela, and Coimbra, respectively.

The premiere of the work Metamorfoses necessárias para a reconquista do mundo by Ângela da Ponte (a composer published by the MIC.PT) will happen on October 12. The performance of this piece for soprano and ensemble, commissioned by the Síntese – Contemporary Music Group, will occur at the Centre for Contemporary Culture in Castelo Branco. It will feature the participation of the Síntese with the soprano Helena Neves. Another Ângela da Ponte’s piece, Da keine Worte nur töne, for soprano, flute and live electronics, has been selected as one of the finalist’s works at the 1st Alvaro García de Zúñiga International LIED Composition Competition, an initiative by the Sond'Ar-te Electric Ensemble, Casa de Mateus Foundation and blablaLab Cultural Association Apart from Ângela da Ponte’s work, the jury constituted by the composers – Iris ter Schiphorst, Philippe Leroux and Miguel Azguime – has selected for the finalist’s concert on November 16 at the Casa de Mateus Foundation in Vila Real, the piece (S)onora (h)ola, for soprano and clarinet, by the Mexican composer Alejandro Mata. The performers of the works will be the soprano Camila Mandillo and the Sond'Ar-te soloists,

The saxophonist Philippe Trovão will perform the work Va(le)riation 3 for tenor saxophone and electronics by António de Sousa Dias (a composer published by the MIC.PT) on October 15 at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. Created in 2023 and commissioned by the DME Project, the saxophonist and the composer worked on this composition in the context of an artistic residency at the Lisboa Incomum in September last year. Philippe Trovão’s concert at the O’culto marks the release of his new CD, Sur la Couleur, with seven works for saxophone and electronics by the French composer Jean-Claude Risset. Four of them, Philippe Trovão will perform at the O’culto concert: Voilements, Saxtractor, Distyle and Diptère. ‘Jean-Claude Risset was one of the great 20th and 21st-century composers. He became known worldwide through his work in electronics and computer music. This new CD aims to pay tribute to his legacy’ – says Philippe Trovão. Additionally, on October 23 António de Sousa Dias will give a workshop at the Nossa Senhora do Cabo Music School (Linda-a-Velha) at the CROMA – Contemporary Music Cycle in Oeiras.

The work De Profundis (2014) by António Pinho Vargas (a composer published by the MIC.PT) is part of the Sons Ibéricos concert, performed by the Casa da Música Choir conducted by Nacho Rodriguez, on October 13 at the Casa da Música in Porto. At this concert, whose intention is to create a dialogue between the music of the two Iberian countries, the choir will also present works by Alejandro Yagüe, Vasco Negreiros, and Sérgio Azevedo. De Profundis is the first António Pinho Vargas work commissioned by and dedicated to Paulo Lourenço, the conductor of the Gulbenkian Choir. In the MIC.PT 2021 interview, António Pinho Vargas talked about the works he considered turning points in his path: ‘Here I need to make a memory and self-analysis effort. Perhaps the group of works from 1993-1995 – Monodia – quasi un requiem, Nocturno/ Diurno and Nove Canções de António Ramos Rosa –, marks the first turning point; then, certainly, Judas (2002), without which there would be no Requiem (2012), Magnificat (2013) and even De Profundis (2014); and finally Six Portraits of Pain (2005), up to the recent orchestral works.’

The presentation of Maurice Mariaud’s film Os faroleiros, a Portuguese silent cinema classic with original new music by Daniel Moreira (a composer published by the MIC.PT), will happen on October 11 at the Atlantic Festival (Philharmonie Luxembourg). The commissioner of the music for this film, restored and digitalised within the FILMar project (Cinemateca Portuguesa · EEAGrants 2020-2024), is the Batalha Cinema Centre in Porto. At the cine-concert, the group responsible for the live performance of Daniel Moreira’s music will be the Arditti Quartet. In the MIC.PT interview from October 2020, the composer said: ‘For me, the most important extra-musical reference is the cinema, which fascinates me as much as music. I have a lot of pieces influenced by different aspects – from general techniques to narrative structure, sounds and ambiences of particular films. Various listeners emphasise that my music is visual, perhaps due to this cinematic fascination. However, things don’t have to be coincidental between the composer’s conscious process and the aesthetic result. It’s up to each listener to judge.’

Within the most recent activity of Diogo Alvim (a composer published by the MIC.PT), one should emphasise the musical and sound creation for Sofia Dinger’s performance Um Ano A Flor. It will be on the main hall stage of the Bairro Alto Theatre in Lisbon on October 5, 6, 12 and 13. Um Ano A Flor has four parts associated with the seasons: Winter, Autumn, Spring, and Summer. ‘There are four different evenings, as it is appropriate, based on four short stories I’ve written’, said Sofia Dinger. In addition to the musical composition by Diogo Alvim, the performance also features the artistic accompaniment by Leonardo Mouramateus, scenic composition by Pedro Paiva, an ‘exterior look’ by Biljana Radinoska, and Marta Moreira directs this production supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and Alkantara. Back in 2020, in an interview with the MIC.PT Diogo Alvim revealed his great interest in dance, theatre, performance and installation. ‘I’m particularly interested in collaborative and interdisciplinary works, mainly the ones where the music composition integrates the creative process as a whole,’ said the composer.

In October, two works by Fernando C. Lapa (a composer published by the MIC.PT) will have their performances in Sabugal and Santo Tirso (Portugal). On the 13th, the Ensemble São Tomás de Aquino, with the pianist Ricardo Martins and conducted by the maestro João Andrade Nunes, will perform the work Seis Bagatelas sobre poemas de Alexandre O’Neil (2003) in the context of the 3rd Sons do Côa Festival (Casa da Cultura da Bendada, Sabugal). The concert’s organisers highlight that ‘To celebrate the memory of the Carnation Revolution within its 50th anniversary, this programme unites two distinct continents from the world of song, rarely presented at one concert – the choral song and the solo-voice song in an expressive dialogue with the piano sonorities.’ Additionally, on October 16, the Portuguese Guitar and Mandolin Orchestra, under the baton of maestro Hélder Magalhães, will give a concert at the Nave Cultural in Santo Tirso, whose programme includes the work Brisas e neblinas composed by Fernando C. Lapa in 2017.

This month, Hugo Vasco Reis (a composer published by the MIC.PT) (a composer published by the MIC.PT) will make a research presentation in Austria and have his new work premiered in Portugal. On October 2, in the framework of ARTikulationen 2024 (Graz, Austria), the composer will present his research project Listening and Mediation: Composing with the Silent Sonic Environment, which analyses a series of processes which Hugo Vasco Reis has been approaching in recent years. Within the mediation of the silent sonic environment and through new compositions, within this project, the composer aims to incite a new awareness of listening and the absent, imagined or ignored sonic reality we all live in. Apart from this, on October 12, 19, 20, 21, 27 and 30, respectively, in Águeda, Almada, Évora, Aveiro, Vila Real and Riba d’Ave, the Borealis Ensemble – constituted by António Carrilho (recorders), Helena Marinho (pianoforte) and with Hugo Vasco Reis as invited Portuguese guitar player – will perform his new work Elementos de Ritualização (2024).

The piece Zone#1 (2019) for one percussion player, electronics and video by Igor C. Silva (a composer published by the MIC.PT) is part of the concerts which Víctor Barceló will give at the IV Festival Contemporáneo 2024 del Festival Internacional de Música de Canarias on October 6 and 7, respectively, at the Espacio La Granja and Teatro Guiniguada (Gran Canaria). At these recitals Víctor Barceló will present the programme, Lux Machina, with works composed mainly in recent years, including a premiere of the Canarian composer Paula Piñero, as well as a version of Terry Riley’s piece A Rainbow in a Curved Air released in 1969. With a strong visual component, these recitals challenge the common affirmation that we live in a world of images to give it new meanings. ‘What can images represent and what do we want to see?’ – ask the authors of these concerts, which include the audiovisual support of Fernando Manassero. In this sense, Igor C. Silva’s work is a black-and-white abstract proposal exploring the relation between sound and image, where the performer sets the rhythm of the synchronisation.

João Castro Pinto (a composer published by the MIC.PT) will present a virtual music improvisation at the event dedicated to the life and work of Phill Niblock (Roulette, New York, October 5). Organised by Katherine Liberovskaya, this initiative will join more than 200 artistic interventions – live performances intertwined with ‘virtual’ ones. On October 11, João Castro Pinto (field recordings/ electronics) and Michael Fischer (saxophone) will give a concert organised by the Nariz Entupido at the DARC – Desterro in Lisbon, continuing the project which since 2012 has had its presentations in Vienna (Wien Modern), Graz (Interpenetration Festival) and České Budějovice (Ostinato Festival). This performance will comprise two solos and a duo, consisting of an electroacoustic narrative around free improvisation, hypnotic minimalism, noise and silence. Finally, on the 16th, João Castro Pinto’s work Circumsphere: To Bounce & Rebounce (2024) will integrate the set of eight competing pieces presented at the final of the 13th Biennial Acousmatic Composition Competition – Métamorphoses 2024, at the 31st L’Espace du Son Festival in Brussels.

The premiere of the new work by João Quinteiro (a composer published by the MIC.PT), Dynamis (2024), a commission by the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group (GMCL), will occur on October 4 at the Casa de Música Jorge Peixinho in Montijo. The performers will be the GMCL and Rui Pinheiro (conductor). In the second half of the month, on October 23 at the Ruy de Carvalho Auditorium in Carnaxide, the GMCL will perform Dynamis again at the CROMA – Contemporary Music Cycle, an initiative by the APC – Portuguese Association of Composers. In the MIC.PT interview from February 2024, João Quinteiro said: ‘Dynamis concludes the set of pieces initiated in 2010 – Energeia (2010-2014), Thanatos (2015) e Eros (2017) – on particular aspects of instinctual life. They form a cycle because they share genetic elements, which make them close and familiar. However, they became what they must be gradually, at the moments when the circumstances made them inevitable.’

Três quadros à superfície (2024) – it is the title of the new Mariana Vieira’s work, commissioned within the Tangentes project by the Borealis Ensemble – constituted by António Carrilho (recorders), Helena Marinho (pianoforte) and with Hugo Vasco Reis as invited Portuguese guitar player. Its first performances will occur on October 12, 19, 20, 21, 27 and 30, respectively, in Águeda, Almada, Évora, Aveiro, Vila Real and Riba d’Ave. Additionally, this composer (published by the MIC.PT) integrates the artistic sound team in the context of the new Susana Sousa Dias’s sound installation, which will premiere at the Novos Imaginários exhibition at the Galician Contemporary Art Centre in Santiago de Compostela. Finally, Mariana Vieira’s electroacoustic work, Estudo sobre Corpos Sonoros, will have a performance at one of the concerts of the 42nd CIME/ICEM General Assembly on October 11 and 12 at the Maison des arts sonores – KLANG! (Montpellier, France).

The multimedia opera Salt Itinerary (2003-2006) by the Miso Ensemble (Miguel Azguime [a composer published by the MIC.PT] and Paula Azguime), winner of the Music Theatre NOW 2008 Award (Berlin), will have its performance on October 4 at the Camacho Costa Cine-Theatre in Odemira. Reflecting on Art and Madness, Salt Itinerary revolves around languages, words as meaning and words as sound, used as an extension of the body and melted in the construction of the staging as a tangible projection of the resonance of the words through sound and image. Here, Miguel Azguime is responsible for the conception, music/ text composition and performance, Paula Azguime for the staging, video composition, live electronic and sound diffusion, and Andre Bartetzki for the technological development. ‘It’s an admirable and seducing performance – shamanist, insane, between the salt, the Sun, and the South... placed in the spotlight. The privileged recipients are grateful’ (Jorge Listopad, Jornal de Letras).

Two movements from the piece created by Paulo Bastos (a composer published by the MIC.PT) in 2016, Cinco Canções de Miguel Torga – III. Reflexão e IV Inscrição – are part of the Voice and Guitar Concert programme performed by Maria Ermida and Eurico Pereira. this recital will occur on October 31 at the Teatro Romano in Lisbon, in the Hora de Baco series framework. ‘Although the Iberian music roots are firm on this southwestern European peninsula, one can also feel it beyond seas’, reveal the concert’s organisers. They also add: ‘This recital aims to explore this captivating fusion of emotions and stories. It enables to dive into the rich musical tapestry of the Iberian musical tradition, dialoguing with other cultures over centuries. From the simple Portuguese songs to the passionate Buenos Aires tango sounds, this concert takes the audience to another space and time to explore the exciting melodies and evocative harmonies of different Latin composers from the 18th until the 21st centuries.’

Hornscapes is a new CD based on doctoral research of the musician and composer (published by the MIC.PT), Ricardo Matosinhos. This research at the University of Évora focuses on idiomatic writing for the horn, intending to identify specific elements capable of making a piece idiomatically suitable for the instrument. The CD essentially features pieces for horn (solo or with piano, a part played by Isolda Crespi). All the pieces were written by horn players, who Ricardo Matosinhos sees as the ‘native speakers of the instrument’s idiom’. Among the composers are the Australian Emma Gregan, with the piece Rose-Coloured Glasses; the Brazilian Fernando Morais, with Mosaico n.º 3; and the Americans Jeffrey Agrell and Kerry Turner, with the pieces Gallimaufry Suite and Abide With Me, respectively. The CD also features compositions by Ricardo Matosinhos – Pastoral, Mirage, Improviso, Siegfried & Fafnir, Song without words, and Song for Emma – among which there are also works for Wagnerian tuba.

The first presentations of Sara Carvalho’s work The two strangers’ tale (2024) by the Borealis Ensemble (António Carrilho [recorders], Helena Marinho [pianoforte]) and with Hugo Vasco Reis (Portuguese guitar) will occur on October 12, 19, 20, 21, 27 & 30, in Águeda, Almada, Évora, Aveiro, Vila Real & Riba d’Ave. The Borealis commissioned this work for the Tangentes project, which explores the recorder, pianoforte, and Portuguese guitar, which belong to different geographical and historical contexts and are thus without a common repertoire. Apart from the work by this composer (published by the MIC.PT), the programme includes arrangements of António Silva Leite’s and Carlos Seixas’s pieces, as well as the premieres of new works by António Sá-Dantas, Camila Salomé Menino, Hugo Vasco Reis and Mariana Vieira. Additionally, Sara Carvalho’s work Komorebi (2024) is part of the Contemporary String Quintet concerts on October 5, 6 and 11 in Oliveira do Hospital, Penela and Coimbra.

In October, the MIC.PT activated Andrea Conangla’s New Performer’s Page. The young soprano, oscillating between traditional opera singing and contemporary music, has created engagements with renowned institutions such as the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, the Stuttgart State Opera, the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie, ilGustoBarocco, the Sond’Arte Electric Ensemble and the Aleph Guitar Quartet, among many others. She has performed in various countries. Also, in contemporary music, Andrea Conangla is the founder of KollektivTRIGGER, a female vocal ensemble dedicated to the performance of this repertoire. In April 2024, she released her first solo album, Autopsychografia, a title that alludes to the famous poem by Fernando Pessoa, since various works on the CD by Helmut Lachenmann, Sara Glojnarić, Igor C. Silva and Sofia Borges, draw from the poet’s texts. The CD also includes a piece by Andrea Conangla, Coitadinho do Tiraninho – an improvisation to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of April 25, 1974 (Portuguese Freedom Revolution).

The CROMA – Contemporary Music Cycle, an initiative by the APC – Portuguese Association of Composers, aims to promote and divulge Portuguese contemporary music. Within its third edition, from October 22 to 26 in Oeiras, in the framework of concerts, round tables, workshops (com António de Sousa Dias and Carlos Caires) and composition seminars (with Mark Andre), the Croma presents a programme dedicated to some of the leading musical avant-garde formations, aiming to broaden the horizons and limits of the relationship between contemporary composers and audience. Among the Croma musicians and ensembles, one should highlight Duo Nada Contra, Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, the saxophonist Henrique Portovedo, Lisbon Ensemble 20/21, Ensemble DME, Electroville Jukebox and Drumming – Percussion Group.

Since the end of May, two new In the 1st Person Interviews (in Portuguese) with the composers Cândido Lima and António Pinho Vargas, conducted by Pedro Boléo and recorded in november 2023 at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon, are available on the MIC.PT YouTube Channel.
Presently the MIC.PT YouTube Channel contains 33 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.