Isabel Soveral will be the protagonist at the next meeting within the cycle, Conversas com Compositores Portugueses Contemporâneos, organized by the Atelier de Composição, which will be held on March 14 at 5h00 p.m. at the Gato Vadio (Porto). Jaime Reis the main participant at the previous session in February, will be now the intermediary during the conversation concerning the music of this composer published by the MIC.PT. Conversas com Compositores Portugueses Contemporâneos is a cycle of monthly encounters with the aim to present "who are, how do they approach music, and what are the inspirations" of Portuguese contemporary composers. Within an informal conversation, during these events one can listen to significant works of every invited author, in order to approach his/her compositional, technical, aesthetic or philosophical thought.

The first series of concerts in the framework of the New Music Encounters in Vila do Conde, whose artistic director is Eduardo Luís Patriarca, will begin on March 29 at 4h30 p.m. at the Salão Nobre of the Vila do Conde Municipal Theatre, where the violist João Pedro Delgado will present some pieces from his new CD, Portuguese Contemporary Music for Viola and Electronics, and a work by Emmanuel Nunes. In the context of this work João Pedro Delgado intends to increase the Portuguese repertoire for viola solo, and combined with electronics, a fundamental element in new music. Thus he commissioned to João Pedro Oliveira, Eduardo Luís Patriarca and José Carlos Sousa, composers published by the MIC.PT, as well as to Sérgio Azevedo and Jaime Reis, works that he has premiered and recorded. The other concerts within the New Music Encounters in Vila do Conde, are scheduled for April, May and June.

During a concert cycle in March the Borealis Ensemble, constituted by António Carrilho (recorders) and Helena Marinho (pianoforte), will present works by Portuguese composers: Pop-up (premiere) and Prelude in Fugue by Sara Carvalho, Paysages (premiere) by António Chagas Rosa, both composers published by the MIC.PT, as well as pieces by Vasco Negreiros and Pedro Junqueira Maia. The concerts will be taking place on March 9 at 7h00 p.m. at Palácio Foz in Lisbon; on March 12 at 9h30 p.m. at the Contemporary Culture Centre in Castelo Branco; and on March 16 at 6h00 p.m. at the Auditorium of the Communication and Arts Department at the Aveiro University. This project, New Music for Old Instruments, includes concerts commented by the musicians, presenting how one reinvents and deconstructs common notions on the historical and organological limitations of some instruments.

Two new papers by Pedro Rebelo are now available on the personal website of this composer published by the MIC.PT, as well as professor and researcher at the Sonic Arts Research Centre in Belfast, and at the Federal University in Rio de Janeiro. The first one entitled The Local and the Distributed in Sonic Arts, was presented publicly during the Invisible Places conference (July 2014 in Viseu, Portugal). It makes reference to two recent participatory sound art projects in Belfast and Rio de Janeiro, in which the composer has participated. The second paper entitled Instrumental Parasites: Interfacing the Fragile and the Robust, was presented during the INTER-FACE conference, which took place in November 2014 in Lisbon.

On March 21 at 8h30 p.m. the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, conducted by Alessandro Calcagnile, will give a concert at the Museo del Novecento in Milan, in the framework of the Festival 5 Giornate. The programme of the event will be constituted of works by Portuguese and Italian creators, including three composers published by the MIC.PT: Carlos Caires with the work Crossfade (2009), Jorge Peixinho with Deux Pièces Meublées (1988) and Llanto por Mariana (1986), as well as Clotilde Rosa with the work No mais fundo de ti (2014). Additionally, on the same day at 11h30 a.m., the GMCL will give a workshop at the Associazione Amici del Loggione del Teatro alla Scala di Milano.

Filipe Lopes and Rui Dias, composers published by the MIC.PT, make part of the Phonambient team, a project launched in February at Casa da Música and produced by the Sonoscopia. Its aim is the documentation and artistic transformation of the contemporary sound patrimony, by means of registering sounds from a given city or region, which are made available through a digital database. The presentation in Porto assembled the work carried out in the cities of Braga, Porto, Tondela, Guarda, Castelo Branco, Fundão and Abu Dhabi, synthesising the ideas developed by a vast team of participants. Apart from the release of the site phonambient.com, the activities at Casa da Música also included the performance of works by Carlos Guedes, Rui Dias, João Mascarenhas, Gustavo Costa, José Alberto Gomes, Filipe Lopes, João Bento and Colectivo Ausland, among others.

On January 19 at the Portuguese Catholic University, Jonas Runa, composer published by the MIC.PT, defended his doctoral thesis, Aesthetics of Computer Music: Unrealised Musical Energy, thus obtaining his degree in Science and Technology of Arts, with specialisation in Computer Music. He received the final classification Magna cum Laude. Two composers published by the MIC.PT, Paulo Ferreira-Lopes and António de Sousa Dias (supervisor), as well as José Bragança de Miranda and Luís Cláudio Ribeiro composed the jury of this doctoral defence. In his thesis Jonas Runa proposes a study on the aesthetics of computer music, encompassing historical, analytical and critical points of view, from Varése to Raudlescu, and presenting the philosophical framework of unrealised musical energy, concept developed with Jorge Lima Barrerto.

Ângela da Ponte, composer published by the MIC.PT, makes part of the jury of the Île de Créations composition competition, organised by the Orchestre Nationale d’Île-de-France in partnership with the Musique nouvelle en liberté association, Durand Publishing, and Sacem (Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Editeurs de musique). This annual event directed to young composers allows them to confront their inspirations and knowledge with the symphonic universe of the Orchestre Nationale d’Île-de-France, at the same time giving the audience a unique opportunity to follow the creation of new music works. In this sense, the final open rehearsal with the competition pieces will be taking place on March 3. The final concert entitled Héroïque is scheduled for April 16 at the Philharmonie de Paris.

From March onwards, in the context of the new series, Dossiers . Portuguese Composers of the 20^th and 21^st Centuries, we publish and provide on-line for download two publications - the English version of the Dossier no. 1 dedicated to Paulo Ferreira-Lopes, as well as the new publication, Portuguese version of the Dossier no. 2 dedicated to Sara Carvalho.
The series, Dossiers . Portuguese Composers of the 20^th and 21^st Centuries, intends to promote the work of Portuguese contemporary composers, constituting an “introspection” in the work of every composer, being simultaneously an encouragement to explore and (re)discover their music, as well as their aesthetic and philosophic reflection. Each Dossier is built of a short biography, questionnaire/interview or musicological article, catalogue of works with two ordinations (by instrumentation or following the chronological order) and discography.

In the framework of the MINSTREL European project, between March 27 and 28, Miso Music Portugal and the Portuguese Music Research & Information Centre, MIC.PT, are organising at O'culto da Ajuda performances by the Loudspeaker Orchestra, Electronic Geographies, as well as an international meeting dedicated to musical diversity.
This meeting will unite, during two days, representatives of various Music Centres in Europe, participating in the MINSTREL, whose mission is to promote the musical diversity in the framework of the UNESCO convention, and joining 12 entities from 11 European countries: Greece (leader), Poland, Austria, Cyprus, Belgium, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Portugal, Croatia and Latvia.
The meeting will be accompanied by performances of the Loudspeaker Orchestra, Electronic Geographies at 9h30 p.m. at O'culto da Ajuda, whose programme will include electroacoustic pieces, historical and contemporary, originating from eight Music Centres in Europe, localised in Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Greece, Latvia, Poland, Slovenia, and Portugal, which will be represented by two works composed by Ângela da Ponte and João Castro Pinto.

Filipe Pires, composer, teacher, musicologist and pianist died on February 8 in Porto. His career includes a catalogue of more than 60 works, where he asserts the freedom of use of a variety of styles, from his first impressionist, neoclassical and atonal passions, to electroacoustic music and open forms. He was one of the Portuguese pioneers of the two latter approaches.
As if he were genetically destined for music, Filipe Pires revealed himself very early as pianist and composer. He studied piano with Lúcio Mendes and composition with Artur Santos and Jorge Croner de Vasconcelos, having also participated various times in the International Summer Courses for New Music in Darmstadt; some of his visits to Darmstadt were made in the company of Jorge Peixinho. Filipe Pires also studied with Pierre Schaeffer in Paris where he worked at the studios of Groupe de Recherches Musicales (1970-72). After that he took up the position as director of the National Conservatoire where he introduced the disciplines of electroacoustic music and reintriduced the discipline of music analysis. Filipe Pires has always had strong connections with Europe. Between 1975 and 79 he worked as specialist in music at the UNESCO International Secretariat in Paris. Afterwards he also accepted the posts of president of Jeunesses Musicales Portugal and as vice-president of the Portuguese Author’s Society. He made also part of the installation committee of the Superior School of Music, Arts and Performance in Porto, and worked as artistic director of the Porto National Orchestra, during three years, between 1997 and 99. Apart from numerous music reviews, he wrote various didactic, biographic and analytic works on Porutugese music and musicians.
Filipe Pires is an iconic figure in the history of Portuguese music of the 20^th and 21^st centuries. He didn’t restrain himself to closed nuclei, having always affirmed that “the specific aspects of every work determine their own morphological and syntactic choices”. The identity of his music feeds on the originality of his individual discourse, which present both traces of liberation from influences and symptoms of the need for constant renovation. Filipe Pires' music results from an amalgam of various techniques and tendencies, yet without direct compromise or affiliation, as in the works Akronos (1964), Portugaliae genesis (1968), Sintra - música para uma curta-metragem imaginária (1969), Homo Sapiens and Litania (1972), Monólogos (1983), Zoocratas (1984-87), Estudos de sonoridades (1993) or Octólogos (2001), among many others.

This year's edition of the Peças Frescas (Fresh Pieces) Festival will be taking place on March 10 and 11 at the São Luiz Municipal Theatre in Lisbon and its objective is the public presentation of premiere performances of works by composition students at the Superior School of Music in Lisbon (ESML). Created in 2002, the Peças Frescas project is a "laboratory" that allows the ESML composition students to try out the result of their music creations. The cycle Peças Frescas provides the experience to perform and have music performed in concert at important venues in Lisbon. Involving the students of composition, instrument, voice and conducting at the ESML, this initiative also allows to establish dialogues between the ones who invent music, the composers, and the ones who present it to the audiences, the performers.