Virgílio Melo, composer, professor and writer on music, who in April celebrated his 60th anniversary, is In Focus on the MIC.PT in July.
His musical path has been influenced by four figures: Macário Santiago Kastner’s humanistic dimension, Constança Capdeville’s “sympathetic anarchy”, the intellectual rigour of Emmanuel Nunes, and by Rémy Stricker’s analytical approach. What distinguished the music of Virgílio Melo, is a “polysemic discourse”, where the composer includes harmonic dimensions supported by conceptual universes distinct from the European tonal tradition, at the same time experimenting with the open form and electronic means and giving emphasis to religious inspiration. Regarding the technique, his music possesses three dimensions – modal, serial and spectral.
As writer on music Virgílio Melo has worked with various publishers on specialist publications as well as on other ones, of more general character. This side of his activity has been acknowledged by the critics who emphasise his analytical finesse, as well as solidity and theoretical relevance. Virgílio Melo has been a teacher at various secondary and higher-education institutions (ESMAE, University of Aveiro), and he also regularly conducts commented-concert sessions.
In July visit our In Focus section, with a new MIC.PT Interview with the composer Virgílio Melo.

Canto de Quadrazais (2021) is the title of the new piece by Cândido Lima (composer published by the MIC.PT), for soprano saxophone and voices of the quatrains and the poem (& other ad libitum sound sources, piano, electronics, etc,), which will be premiered by the saxophonist Luís Salomé, on July 23 at the Eduardo Lourenço Municipal Library in Guarda. During this concert the Guarda poetry is rediscovered through three new music works by Cândido Lima, Solange Azevedo and Pedro Lima, performed by Luís Salomé, with the live recitation by Ângela Lopes (composer published by the MIC.PT) and four other recorded voices. The poems by Nuno de Montemor (accompanied with the medieval and popular quatrains, both from the Beira), Daniel Rocha and Maria Afonso, serve as a motto for the compositions for saxophone and electronics , which symbiotically paint the environment of Guarda, its folk and habits.

The work by Fernando C. Lapa (composer published by the MIC.PT), Oito poemas breves de Valter Hugo Mãe (2002) for mezzo-soprano and ensemble, is included in the programme of the concerts by the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group conducted by João Paulo Santos, Rio do Tempo – os poemas também compõem?, which will take place on July 2 & 3 in Castelo Branco & Zamora. Also in July, the Toy Ensemble [Ricardo Alves (clarinet), David Loyd (violin & viola), Jed Barahal (cello), Christina Margotto (piano), Magna Ferreira (soprano & percussion)], with Mário João Alves & Ângela Marques (actors), will present various performances based on the pieces by Gil Vicente and with the music by Fernando C. Lapa — Auto da Barca do Inferno (July 19 – Ponte de Lima), Auto da Barca do Purgatório (July 6 & 20 – Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo & Ponte de Lima) and Auto da Barca da Glória (July 29 & 30 – Ponte de Lima & Celorico da Beira).

A new online interview with the participation of José Mesquita Lopes, composer published by the MIC.PT, guitarist and professor, was transmitted on June 19, on the Violão e Violão page dedicated to the history of the guitar and promoting events, concerts, recordings, books, texts, scores, ..., connected with this instrument. The interview was conducted by the guitarist Sérgio Fernandes from Angra do Heroísmo on the Azores.

Ricardo Matosinhos, composer published by the MIC.PT, has been invited to integrate the debate between various composers and horn players, at the International Horn Society symposium, which will take place online on August 13. This debate, moderated by the composer Kerry Turner (USA), will include the participation of Emma Gregan (Australia), Jukka Harju (Finland), James Naigus (USA) and Jeff Scott (USA).

The work Lysozyme Synthesis (2003) for piano by Jaime Reis, will be presented at the opening concert of the International Summer School for composers (initiative: DME – Electroacoustic Music Days), which will take place between July 5 and 10 at the Lisboa Incomum. This concert, performed by Ana Telles (piano), Beatriz Costa (violin) and Bernardo Cruz (vibraphone), will also include the music by Mario Mary, Valerio Sannicandro and Bruno Maderna. At the School's second day, Jaime Reis will give a conference dedicated to the theme: 2000-2021: experiences around synthesis, space and polyphony. Also this month, on July 14, the students of the Regional Arts Conservatoire in Montijo will perform Jaime Reis's music theatre for children, Bartolomeu, o Voador (2016-18). Additionally, this composer published by the MIC.PT makes part of the jury of the three competitions: Jeu de temps/ Times Play (Canadian Electroacoustic Community); 5th GMCL/ Jorge Peixinho International Composition Competition; and the Folefest Composition Competition.

The work by Paulo Bastos, Cinco canções de Miguel Torga (2016) for voice and plucked-string orchestra (commission by the Minho Plucked String Orchestra), will be preformed on July 4 at the Tibães Monastery by the Minho Plucked String Orchestra, with Carlos Guilherme (tenor) and under the baton of Rui Gama. “Generally speaking, poetry and literature are the extra-musical sources, which influence my work in a significant manner. This influence particularly stands out in the more recent music” – said Paulo Bastos, composer published by the MIC.PT, in the Interview given to the Portuguese Music Research & Information Centre in July 2019. The programme of this concert, which makes part of the aCorda cycle, organised by the Minho Plucked String Orchestra, will also include the world premiere of the work Toda a terra é caminho, todo o chão é pasto (2021) by João Diogo Leitão, for viola braguesa (Braga guitar) and plucked-string ensemble. This premiere will include the composer's participation as a soloist on viola braguesa .

The work Singularity (2019) for cello and electronics by João Pedro Oliveira, will be performed by the cellist Vid Veljak on July 17 (online concert), in the context of the 31st Music Bienal in Zagreb (Croatia). Another work by this composer published by the MIC.PT, City Walk (2021) for percussion, has been distinguished with the 2nd Prize at the 2021 Media Press Solo Percussion Composition Competition (USA); the prize includes the edition and publication of the piece's score as well as its recording and edition on CD. Additionally, his work Lâminas Liquidas (2002), for marimba and electronics, will be performed by Jorge Miguel Pereira on July 9, at the Helena Sá e Costa Theatre in Porto.

The work Drive_! (2013) for vibraphone, multi-percussion and electronics by Igor C. Silva, composer published by the MIC.PT, makes part of the concert by Jorge Miguel Pereira (percussion), on July 9 at the Helena Sá e Costa Theatre in Porto. “The freedom emerges as the most important factor, so that the composer can look at his/ her own music from the inside, and not through the prism of the canons imposed by the current music practice” – says Igor C. Silva in the Interview given to the Portuguese Music Research & Information Centre in 2015. The concert by Jorge Miguel Pereira also includes two other pieces, by João Pedro Oliveira and Rúben Borges.

Pedro Rebelo, composer published by the MIC.PT, was one of the collaborators in the context of the project Across and In-Between (2018) by the artist Suzanne Lacy (commission: 14-18 NOW and Belfast International Arts Festival). The project's exhibition/ installation is open to the public until August 14, at the Golden Thread Gallery in Belfast. Across and In-Between was created in collaboration with artists and communities in Ireland from both sides of the border, almost 100 years since the partition of Ireland. The project amplified the voices and explored the experiences of border residents during Brexit negotiations, through words, imagery, sound and performance. The installation consists of: Border People’s Parliament, a series of portraits, a soundscape, The Yellow Manifesto, The Yellow Line, a video projection and the documentary Across and In-Between: Voices from the Border in Ireland. Pedro Rebelo led the sound design for The Yellow Line with Michael McKnight and composed an immersive soundscape for Border People’s Parliament.

Between July 16 and 23, the Almada Theatre Festival will host, at the António Assunção Studio Theatre, the performances of the theatre piece Discurso sobre o Filho-da-Puta, a production by the Rainha Theatre/ Miso Music Portugal, with the text by Alberto Pimenta, direction by Fernando Mora Ramos (staging) and Miguel Azguime (composition) & performance by the Vocal Chords Quartet (Cibele Maçãs, Fábio Costa, Marta Taveira & Nuno Machado). “Since very long I've been aiming at fomenting in my work a state of «integration» between the semantics and the phonetics – music as text and text as music –, perhaps due to the multiplicity, characterising my artistic activity as musician, performer, composer and poet. From a musical point of view, Discurso sobre o Filho-da-Puta (Speech on the Son of a Bitch) is almost a score. Alberto Pimenta's poetic writing has sonic qualities and thus it contains the elements favouring its distribution among various voices of a character who's simultaneously one and multiple” – says this composer published by the MIC.PT.

The premieres of the pieces by the two composers published by the MIC.PT, Música para uma outra galeria by Miguel Resende Bastos and Sete pecados populares by Lino Guerreiro, are integrated in the concert performed by Miguel Costa (solo clarinet), which will take place on July 3 at the Galeria Porto Oriental. This recital makes part of the Proximidades Cycle (an initiative by the MPMP Património Musical Vivo) and its programme also includes the piece Música para uma galeria by Inés Badalo.

On July 23 the Cinema-Theatre in Fafe will host the concert by the guitarists Luís Miguel Leite and José Teixeira, with the special participation of Leonor Figueiredo (soprano). The concert's programme will be entirely composed of the works (some of them premieres) by the composers published by the MIC.PT: António Pinho Vargas, Cândido Lima, Clotilde Rosa, Daniel Schvetz, Fernando C. Lapa, Hugo Vasco Reis, Jaime Reis Jorge Peixinho and Vítor Rua. This initiative is another concert by Luís Miguel Leite and José Teixeira integrated in their strategy to valorise and disseminate Portuguese contemporary music for guitar.

The two concerts entitled, Rio do Tempo – os poemas também compõem?, by the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, with João Paulo Santos (direction) and João Pereira Coutinho (declamation), will take place on July 2 & 3 (Castelo Branco, Zamora). Their programme includes the music by Clotilde Rosa, Fernando C. Lapa, João Madureira & Jorge Peixinho – composers published by the MIC.PT; and Eurico Carrapatoso. Additionally, on July 16 the Group will give the concert, Rio do Tempo – Momento, at the Quadrum Galleries (Lisbon), with the music by the the composers published by the MIC.PT: Clotilde Rosa, Constança Capdeville, Isabel Soveral & Jorge Peixinho.

The Portuguese Music Research & Information Centre – MIC.PT, together with more 28 entities from the Portuguese-classical-contemporary-music sector, promotes the release of the riZoma – Portuguese Platform for Intervention and Research in New Music, taking place on July 1. In the framework of this release the Platform's founding entities share on their websites the riZoma Presentation and Online Calendar. The Mission and Values of this collective initiative are exposed in the Presentation – the riZoma aims at giving a new and adequate visibility and audibility to classical contemporary music created in Portugal. The riZoma Calendar constitutes an indispensable source of diffusion and information on the Portuguese-classical-contemporary-music sector, joining and revealing all the activities organised and promoted by each of the riZoma entities and thus affirming and evidencing the sector's richness in Portugal.
All the entities from the Portuguese-classical-contemporary-music sector, which would like to make part of the riZoma, can communicate their interest via the e-mail: rizoma.plataforma@gmail.com.

In the end of June the New Music Review Lounge published a new text by Tiago Schwäbl, Manual do Adufe: tocar singelo, tocar dobrado, dedicated to the performance project by Rui Silva and Bruno Gabirro, presented at the O'culto da Ajuda in Lisbon on June 14 and 15. “From the audience at the O'culto da Ajuda, on the stage we witness a bicephalous pole: half with stands and adufes, another half with computer and electronic paraphernalia...” – writes Tiago Schwäbl in his text (in Portuguese).

In order to encourage the creation and diffusion of new electroacoustic works, the Miso Music Portugal promotes the 22nd International Competition of Electroacoustic Composition – Música Viva 2021. This initiative is directed to composers of all ages and nationalities. Each participant can submit only one work, which hasn't been comercially released and which hasn't been awarded at any other national or international competition. The deadline for the works’ submission is August 31, 2021. The winning work will be announced during the Música Viva 2021 Festival, which will be taking place at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon between November 4 and 20. The International Jury of the Música Viva 2021 Competition is comprised of the composers: Flo Menezes (Brazil) · Todor Todoroff (Belgium) · Miguel Azguime (Portugal).