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Details as performer
 Sofia Sousa Rocha was born in 1986, in Braga. She started studying piano at the age of seven, enrolling four years later at the Conservatório de Música Calouste Gulbenkian in Braga. She also studied violin with Manuel António Sá. In 2001 she started her first Composition studies with Paulo Bastos at the Conservatory of Braga, where she also studied Electroacoustic Music.

In 2004 she successfully applied to the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa (ESML) to complete a First Degree in Composition. She studied with some of the most well recognized Portuguese composers such as Christopher Bochmann, Luís Tinoco, Carlos Caires and Carlos Marecos, among others. In 2012, Sofia Sousa Rocha concluded her Master's Thesis in Composition at the ESML under the guidance of Professor António Pinho Vargas.

As a student at the ESML Sofia Sousa Rocha co-organized various events, including the concerts Peças Frescas (Student Composers' Concerts), promoting the youngest Portuguese musicians and composers. She also co-directed the IV and V Music Festivals of the ESML at the S. Luiz Theater.

Sofia Sousa Rocha was awarded with the first Prize at the ESML / National Archaeology Museum Composition Competition (2008) in the "Orchestra" Category, and she received commissions from the Young Musicians Award (2008), promoted by Antena 2 – Portuguese National Radio, the Alcobaça Music Festival (2009), Leiria Music Festival (2013), Sond’Ar-te Electric Ensemble (2014) and 6th Concert Band Competition Braga (2019).

Sofia Sousa Rocha has also participated in the II Reading Panel of the Orquestra do Algarve (2008) and in the 7th Gulbenkian Orchestra Workshop for Young Portuguese Composers (2009). Ricercare Choir and Sinfonietta Orchestra performed her works at the Young Portuguese Composers concerts (2009 and 2010). She was commissioned by the Portuguese Opera House, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, to compose Inês morre (2011-12), a chamber opera with libretto by Miguel Jesus, musical direction by João Paulo Santos and stage direction by Luís Miguel Cintra. More recently she participated in Atelier for Young Composers with the Orquestra Clássica do Sul, under direction of Cesário Costa and guidance of António Pinho Vargas (2014). Subsequently, the orchestral piece Flutuante was selected for the 2014/15 Concert Season. Sofia Sousa Rocha also participated in the 4th International Forum for Young Composers of Sond’Ar-te Electric Ensemble (2016). She was young associated composer São Carlos National Theatre / Víctor Córdon Studios, where she presented a new piece for narrator and orchestra entitled A verdadeira hidrostória do Elefonte (2018).

She has been teaching at the Calouste Gulbenkian Music Conservatoire in Braga since 2013.

Last update: March 10th 2020