Composers

Foto
Works
Interview
Bibliography
Scores
Discography
Audio
Images
Videos
Multimedia
Radio programmes
Television programmes
Others
Details as performer
 Born in Porto in 1983, Daniel Moreira is a Lecturer (Professor Adjunto) at ESMAE (Polytechnic Institute of Porto), where he teaches modules in analysis, composition, and film music. He is also an integrated researcher at CEIS20 (University of Coimbra), where he is part of the research group “Artistic Practices: Imagination, Materialities, and Transitions.” He studied at King's College London (PhD in Musical Composition, 2017) and at ESMAE (Master’s in Composition and Music Theory, 2010), and also holds a degree in Economics from the University of Porto (2006).

Throughout his training, his main teachers included Sir George Benjamin,Fernando C. Lapa, Dimitris Andrikopoulos, and João-Heitor Rigaud (Composition); Carlos Guedes (Electronic Music); and Miguel Ribeiro-Pereira, José Oliveira Martins, Eugénio Amorim, and Silvina Milstein (Music Theory and Analysis). He also took part in seminars and/or occasional lessons with Helmut Lachenmann, Klaas de Vries, Magnus Lindberg, Jonathan Harvey, and Kaija Saariaho; and attended workshops with Remix Ensemble Casa da Música, Quatuor Diotima, Lontano Ensemble, Gulbenkian Orchestra, and the London Symphony Orchestra (in 2015, as part of the LSO Panufnik Composers Scheme).

In 2009, he was Young Composer in Residence at Casa da Música. Since then, he has received regular commissions for new works and arrangements from institutions such as Casa da Música, Festival Musica Strasbourg, European Concert Hall Organisation – ECHO, Chester & Novello, Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa, Antena 2/RDP, MPMP Património Musical Vivo, Programa “Criatório,” Kölner Philharmonie, Batalha Centro de Cinema, Ópera do Castelo, and Quarteto Contratempus, among others. He has received three composition awards: 3rd Prize at the Gian Battista Viotti International Composition Competition in Italy (2007); Honourable Mention at the 3rd International Composition Competition of Póvoa de Varzim (2008); and 2nd Prize at the 1st GMCL / Jorge Peixinho International Composition Competition (2014).

His music spans multiple genres, with a particular focus in recent years on the interaction between acoustic instruments and electronics, as well as multidisciplinary approaches within the realms of film and television music, opera, and various forms of vocal music. Among his most representative works are the opera Ninguém & Todo-o-Mundo (2018); Isto não é um filme (2020); for orchestra, electronics, and lighting design; Vórtice: para o fim de um tempo (2022), for small ensemble, electronics, and lighting design; music for the silent film Os Faroleiros (2022), premiered by the Arditti Quartet; A Madrugada (2024), for two choirs, orchestra, and electronics; and music for the television series Cortina Vermelha (2023–25). A significant part of his music is inspired by cinematic techniques and makes various references to the world of film, including the series of solo pieces titled Curtas-metragens, begun in 2025, and the work Kino-Katalog, for soprano, Pierrot ensemble, and electronics (2025).

His academic research focuses on the relationship between music and film, from two main perspectives: the connection between harmony, timbre, and narrative (particularly in the soundtracks of Bernard Herrmann and Ennio Morricone); and the application of the concept of musicality to film and television (with particular attention to David Lynch’s screen works). He has published articles in the Revista Portuguesa de Musicologia (2016), Music Analysis (2021), Journal of Film Music (2022), Rivista di Analisi e Teoria Musicale (2022), and Music Theory Online (2025). Finally, he collaborates regularly with Casa da Música and other institutions, writing programme notes and presenting public courses and pre-concert talks.

Last update: September 12th, 2025