He studied guitar at the Academia de Música de Lisboa, where he finished his Degree in 1987 with distinction in the class of the Professor Paulo Valente Pereira. In 1991 he had private lessons with Christopher Lyall.
Between 1984-1986 Mr. Mesquita held a scholarship in the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation.
He attended several international courses, such as the Costa do Estoril with Alberto Ponce (1980 -1990), Alcoy (Spain) with José Luís Gonzalez (1986) and Santo Tirso with Leo Brouwer, Abel Carlevaro and Roland Dyens. He has also studied with Alírio Diaz and Piñero Nagy.
In 2000 he finished his Guitar specialization in Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa with the Dirk de Hertogh. Besides this, Mr. Mesquita began, in this same year, to cooperate as a trainees' teacher.
In 1998 he was given a prize in the Guitar Contest of JMP - superior level. He has performed several recordings to RDP2 and RFM, both as solo and in several chamber formations, and he has also recorded to RTP1, RTP2, SIC and TVI.
He has played a solo, with orchestra as well as in several chamber music formations in the most important festivals and halls. From these ones, it is important to emphasize the concerts which included the duo José Mesquita - Paulo Amorim, the Musicus Ensemble and the Trio de Guitarras de Lisboa.
Mr. Mesquita premiered works by foreign and Portuguese composers. He is a member of the Trio Música Viva (flute, viola and guitar), with whom he has recently performed in Portugal and Spain. In October 2004 Mr. Mesquita participated as a Concertine in the 1st Guitar Orchestra constituted in a national level and directed by Bochmann. Since 2004 he has taught together with Tomás Camacho, Margarida Escarpa and Ignácio Rodes Guitar Master Classes and Chamber music and also directed summits in the Estágio International de Orquestra da Região de Leiria/Fátima. Mr. Mesquita has been a jury member in some national guitar contests. In 2006 he was invited to direct the first Guitar Orchestras Training of Tomar (Escola Canto Firme).
At present he is working all over the country directing the Ensemble de Guitarras do Orfeão de Leiria (with which he obtained two first prizes in the contest "Os Melhores Alunos do Orfeão de Leiria”), Odivelas' CMDD and the Pro Guitar Ensemble.
He is the Artistic and Executive Director of the Festival Internacional de Guitarra de Leiria and he teaches guitar and chamber music in the Conservatório D. Dinis - Odivelas, where he is member of the Education Council, in the Conservatório de Artes do Orfeão de Leiria and guitar in the Academia de Música de Lisboa.
Since September 1st, 2023, he began teaching at UA (DeCA) as a Guest Assistant Professor the subjects of Guitar,
Literature and Technique (Analysis for Interpreters and Reading) I, II and III (Bachelor's Degree) and Specific Didactics (Master's Degree).
Instruments: Conductor, Guitar
Biography
José Mesquita Lopes was born on 25th December 1960 in Lisboa, Portugal. He studied guitar at the Academia de Amadores de Música de Lisboa where he finished his superior degree in 1987 with distinction in the class of the professor Paulo Valente Pereira. Later, in 1991, he had particular lessons with Christopher Lyall (1991). Between 1984 -1986, Mr. Mesquita held a scholarship in the Caloust Gulbenkian Foundation. He finished is professional degree with Dirk de Hertogh in ESML (Lisboa). José attended several courses with Alberto Ponce, José Luís Gonzalez, Leo Brouwer, Abel Carlevaro, Roland Dyens, Erik Stenstadvold, Stefan Löfvenius, Alírio Diaz and Piñero Nagy. Since late 2009 he started a series of concert/conferences about Portuguese and foreign contemporary music for guitar at several Universities, Conservatoires, Academies and Festivals. Among others he studied composition with C. Bochmann, C. Capdeville, E. Nunes, C. Lima J. P. Oliveira, J. Carlos Buonacorso, R. Perez, A. Sousa Dias, A. Vasques Dias, Sérgio Azevedo and Leo Brouwer. He attended and participated in courses/summits done by Leo Brouwer (94, 98 and 2001), Karlheinz Stockhausen, Elliott Carter (1992), Reginald Smith Brindle (1983) and Claude Henry Joubert (1995). In 2003 he finished his degree in Composition in Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, where he obtained the mark of 20 values in his Final Project Course Reflexões sobre a Importância da Análise na Interpretação Musical. Since 2015 he has a PhD by the Universidade de Aveiro (Portugal), have being approved by unanimity with distinction cum laude by the jury. The theme his A Música Contemporânea Portuguesa para Guitarra de 1983 a 2008. He was mastered by the professors Paulo Vaz de Carvalho and Christopher Bochmann with a scholarship by the FCT Foundation. Mr. Mesquita won several prizes in composition and guitar contests. Among them the 1st prize in the JMP Luso-Espanhol in 1986, the 1st prize in the first Hispano-Luso I Composition Contest for guitar ‘Ciudad de Badajoz’ (2006), ACAV – Aveiro (1987), Luís de Freitas Branco – Conselho Português da Música (1991), Joly Braga Santos – CML (1995) and JMP (1988). He wrote solo works, chamber music both vocal and instrumental, orchestral, concertant, for ballet and for and with electroacoustics. His works are being edited by Ava Musical Editions and by MIC.PT (on-line). He also has works edited by JMP and Ayuntamiento de Badajoz/Pro Musica Badajoz (Spain). He recorded CDs with the Trio de Guitarras de Lisboa, the Ensemble de Guitarras do CMDD, Odivelas and with the Orquestra Concertante de Guitarras de Leiria (with this ensemble he won for three times the 1st prize on the contest “Jovens Talentos da EMOL”), and DVDs and cassetes with is own music. Has a concertist he has premiéred portuguese guitar works by Carlos Gomes, Pedro Figueiredo, Hugo Ribeiro, Isabel Soveral, C. Bochmann and José Mesquita Lopes. In 1999 he was guest teacher for the I Curso de Guitarra do Conservatório Regional de Loures. In 2004, he participated as a Concertino on the 1st National Guitar Orchester, under the direction of C. Bochmann. In 2006 he was invited to direct the 1º Estágio Nacional de Orquestras de Guitarra de Tomar. In 2010 was a invited teacher for 2º Curso "Aranda" of idiomatic writting for guitar at the Universidade de Évora. In 2011 he was the invited teacher for the III Curso do III Festival "Elogio da Guitarra" in Guarda. In 2015 he was invited for orientate Master Class in the Conservatório de Música de Sintra. In 2016 he was invited for teach in a Master Class in the Conservatório de Música de Óbidos. Since 2003 he has been teacher, concertist, conferencist, maestro/director and jury in the Festival Internacional de Guitarra de Leiria, event of wich he is one of the Artistic Directors. Mr. Mesquita teaches guitar and chamber music at ISEIT – Almada’s Universitaire Institut, where he is the Coordinator of Teaching Music Master Degree, at Conservatório de Artes do Orfeão de Leiria and at Conservatório de Música D. Dinis de Odivelas. Since 2013 he is a member of the Unidade de Investigação de Música e Musicologia (UniMem) since 2015 and of the CESEM.Since September 1st, 2023, he began teaching at UA (DeCA) as a Guest Assistant Professor the subjects of Guitar,
Literature and Technique (Analysis for Interpreters and Reading) I, II and III (Bachelor's Degree) and Specific Didactics (Master's Degree).
Portuguese Repertoire of the 20th and 21st Century
