In July, the MIC.PT In Focus section features an interview with Pedro Pinto Figueiredo, com­poser, conductor, teacher and president of the Portuguese Association of Composers.
       Pedro Pinto Figueiredo completed his bachelor’s degree in Composition at the Lisbon School of Music, where he studied with Christopher Bochmann. He worked with the com­poser Emmanuel Nunes in Paris as a Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation scholarship holder. During his time there, he attended several courses at IRCAM.
       His musical output includes works such as Germinal, for wind octet and piano; Wake, for clarinet and electronics; Scindite, for bass clarinet, alto clarinet and string orchestra; Amini, for two flutes; and Ser, for string orchestra. In his research, Pedro Pinto Figueiredo has focused on the use of new technologies, particularly with regard to live sound pro­cessing and spatialisation.
        He began studying Conducting at the Dijon Conservatoire with Jean-Sébastien Béreau in 1997. He worked with Peter Rundel and Emílio Pomarico, and assisted with the con­ducting of works by Emmanuel Nunes, such as the opera Das Märchen and La Douce, premiered in 2009 at Casa da Música. In 2002, he founded the Lisbon Ensemble 20/21.

In July, the music of Fernando C. Lapa will be performed at various concerts taking place across Portugal. On the 12th, at the Church of São João Batista da Foz do Douro in Porto, soprano Carla Caramujo and pianist Pedro Lopes will perform the song cycle based on poems by Nuno Higino, ao encontro da alegria, composed by Fernando C. Lapa in 2019. This con­cert forms part of the Musica Animae series, an initiative of Égide – Portuguese Arts Association. In the second half of the month, on the 25th, baritone André Baleiro and pianist David Santos will perform the piece O céu, a terra, o vento sossegado (1998), with text by Luís Vaz de Camões, as part of the 2026 Marvão International Music Festival. In addition, between July 6 and 11, at the Rivoli Theatre in Porto, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Bando dos Gambozinos, a num­ber of performances will be given featuring various pieces written by Fernando C. Lapa for this association dedicated to education through the arts. Finally, the canções populares transmontanas by this composer (published by MIC.PT), will be performed, under the direction of Gonçalo Lourenço, on July 4 and 5, in Setúbal and Vendas Novas respectively.

Last June, the composer Gerson Batista (published by MIC.PT) was honoured with awards in three coun­tries — Canada, Germany and Romania. The first honour came from Toronto, where his piece Superimposable, for flute, guitar, piano, percussion and electronics, was one of the winners of the Phantomnesis competition — organised by Cambiata Arts and the North American label CambiataArt Records — from among hundreds of entries from around the world. As a result, the work will be produced, edited and published as early as August this year. Another work by Gerson Batista, Twilight of the Gods (Crepúsculo dos Deuses), was awarded second prize in the international competition edition49 – Musikwerk­statt Siegburg Music Award for Choral Music, in Germany, in which the jury as­sessed around three hundred works from nineteen coun­tries. The third award was granted to Gerson Batista in the framework the 6th edition of the George Ştephănescu International Composition Competition in Romania, where his work Cântecul Mamei (Song of the Mother), for piano and soprano and with lyrics by the composer himself, won the second prize.

During the months of July and August, the composer Hugo Vasco Reis (pub­lished by MIC.PT) has a number of activities lined up in Portugal. On August 1, the National Museum of Music in Mafra will host the pre­miere of his new sound installation entitled Silent Sonic Environment. This new work, based on field recordings, features a 24-channel installation designed to reveal sounds which, despite being part of our daily lives, normally escape our memory and perception. Furthermore, throughout July and August, Hugo Vasco Reis will also work on his three new albums — Sonic Figures Project: Ténue, for viola, percussion and electronics (with the participation of violist Trevor McTait, percussionist Miquel Bernat and the composer himself); Demora, for percussion quartet and electronics (featuring the Drumming – Percussion Group); and Silent Sonic Environ­ment, an electronic music album. Finally, the composer is also putting the finishing touches on his work Becoming, for percussion, violin, viola and cello. This new composition was commissioned by the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, and its premiere will take place shortly.

In July, two new works by Jaime Reis will be pre­miered in Portugal. The first premiere, of the work deformação.matéria., will take place on the 8th at the Collegium Musicum – Seia Conser­vatory of Music, as part of a concert by the Ensemble Orbis, conducted by Demian Rudel Rey. This concert, part of the O Canto das Sementes project (Projecto DME), will also trav­el to Lisbon, where it will be performed at the ESML on the 12th. On July 9, as part of the Aveiro International Guitar Festival, another new com­position by Jaime Reis will be premiered: luminosas incan­descências do sal for guitar and electronics. The programme for this concert, performed by Hugo Simões, will also include three other pieces by this composer (published by MIC.PT): Magistri Mei: Bach, Entretecimento and Sinais no Tempo. Furthermore, between August 3 and 8, Jaime Reis and Valerio Sannicandro will be tutors at the International Sum­mer School for Composers in Seia. There, six compo­sers will work on their own pieces with the DME En­semble. In Au­gust/September, Jaime Reis will tour Mexico — Mexico City, Yucatán (Uni­versidad de las Artes) and Morelia (CCMAS).

The work SIMULACRA – on discrete movements and dense textures (2013), by João Castro Pinto (a com­poser published by MIC.PT), is one of the 37 pieces se­lected for the 1st Electroacoustic Music Cycle Meridianos da Escuta, organised by the following academic departments in Brazil: the Department of Sound Art Research at the Fed­eral University of Pelotas, the Composition Department at the State University of Ceará, and the one of Sound, Mu­sic, Me­dia and Spatiality at the Federal University of Ceará. The se­lected works will be presented in concerts throughout July; the performance of SIMULACRA, composed at the Elec­tronic Music Studios of the University of Leeds and one of the final­ists in the DESTELLOS 2013 competition, will occur at the sec­ond concert of the cycle on July 15. Then, on July 18, World Listening Day, João Castro Pinto will take part in a conver­sation at the Extremo 2026 Festival (Braga/Guimarães), de­dicated to intersections between mu­sic, art and landscape. The meeting, which will take place in Falperra, will be mod­erated by Miguel Bica from the Dedo Invisível pod­cast and will be available to listen to after the event.

On July 25, the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon will host the premiere of the work Khatib’s Heart, for sax­ophone, accordion, two guitars and three percus­sionists, by the composer João Quinteiro (published by MIC.PT). This concert will mark the culmination of a joint artistic residency by the Concrète [Lab] Ensemble and the Ensemble Cigarra, which will occur at O’culto between July 20 and 25. As part of this performance, which will be con­ducted by João Quinteiro, the musicians will also pre­miere the works Lumora – gravidade da luz, by Miguel Azguime, and Litania, by Nuno Costa. With this project, Concrète [Lab] and Cigarra come together ‘in a space of artistic and affec­tive creation, where relationships built over time merge into the increasingly revolutionary act of being with, of being amongst’. The artists and the promoters of this initiative also state that ‘rather than being only about the pre­mieres, this concert takes place as a gesture of encounter: a celebration of bonds that extend beyond the stage, where creation emerges from affection and a shared desire to imagine the sound space as a form of resistance and amplitude’.

The work residual objects #2, by composer Mariana Vieira (published by MIC. PT), for flute, sax­ophone, accordion, percus­sion and electronics, will be pre­miered by the Ensemble Orbis, under the musical and artistic direction of Demian Rudel Rey, on July 8 at the Collegium Musicum – Seia Conservatory of Music. The programme for this concert, which forms part of the O Canto das Sementes project (an initiative of the DME Project), and which also in­cludes works by Jaime Reis, Jeremías Iturra, Panayiotis Kokoras, Rocío Cano Valiño and Simon Louche, will also be performed on July 12 at the Lisbon School of Music. The work by Mariana Vieira constitutes a commission by the Ensem­ble Orbis, which is currently realising an artistic res­idency in Seia, from June 29 to July 8. As part of this residen­cy, Mariana Vieira will have the opportunity to work with the En­semble-Orbis musicians on her new piece. Based in Lyon, France, the group specialises in musical creation. Orbis means ‘com­pass’ in Latin and ‘carries a particularly inspiring symbolism for the ensemble, which is searching for a utopian cardinal point and an imaginary journey towards a sound world built upon the composers’ desires’.

In July, several works by the composer Miguel Azguime (published by MIC.PT) will be performed in Portugal and Spain. The first work is A Laugh to Cry (2013), staged by Paula Azguime, and with libretto and music by Miguel Azguime. This New Op-Era will have two recitals at the São Luiz Theatre in Lisbon on the 10th and 11th, under the baton of Pedro Neves. Featuring Camila Mandillo (sop­rano), Andrea Conangla (soprano), André Hen­riques (bari­tone), Jade Mandillo and Miguel Azguime (speak­ers) and the Sond’Ar-te Electric Ensemble, A Laugh to Cry ‘explores some of humanity’s concerns within the context of a global­ised world, being a reflection on the heg­emonic power destroying memory, on the devastation of the earth, and on war’. Then, on the 25th, the work Lumora – gravidade da luz, composed by Miguel Azguime for saxophone, French horn, accordion, two electric guitars, viola, double bass and per­cussion, will have its premiere. The concert, held at O’culto da Ajuda (Lisbon), results from a joint residency by ensem­bles: Concrète [Lab] and Cigarra. On the 29th, at the 11th Synergein Festival in Onda, Spain, Miquel Bernat will play Miguel Azguime’s 2025 Mineralizando! for vibraphone.

At the end of July, the com­poser Pedro Rebelo (pub­lished by MIC. PT) will be in artistic residency at Es­ta­ção das Artes (Santa Cla­ra/Sabóia), in the munici­pality of Odemira, to complete the audiovisual installation MIRA. The installation will be open to the public from August 1 to 15 and forms part of the Águas Gémeas project, which addresses issues of water, sustainability and territorial re­silience in Odemira, focusing on the Mira river basin, the Santa Clara dam and the Mira Irrigation Perimeter. The work incorporates audio, visual and ethnographic elements, which aim to ‘belong to’ and ‘be for’ the region. The aim is for the artist's listening, observation and presence to contribute to relationships within and with the territory in some way. This reflects the profound changes that have affected populations, communities, the environment, territorial policies and our re­lationship with water over the last 60 years.

Sara Carvalho will be in artistic residency in Seia from August 3 to 7, during which she will develop a new musical work for the Re:Flexus Trio, comprising Ana Sofia Matos (clarinet), Mariana Morais (viola) and Maria Isabel Mendonça (piano). The residency, an initiative of the DME Project, will culminate in a concert on August 7 at the Casa Municipal da Cultura de Seia, where Sara Carvalho’s new composition entitled memento will have its premiere. ‘The idea and conception behind my works always have a very concrete starting point’, said Sara Carvalho in an inter­view with MIC.PT in 2014. According to the composer (pub­lished by MIC.PT), ‘the initial inspiration can come from many sources: literature, cinema, the visual arts, a land­scape, a detail or an experience; it is characterised by the search for a narrative which, in a way, treats musical composition as a pro­cess similar to writing a book’.

Ecos do Temp(L)o is the title of the new work by composer Sofia Sousa Rocha (published by MIC.PT), which will premiere on July 31 at the Cine-Teatro Paraíso in Tomar. At this concert, which forms part of the 22nd Workshop of the Templários National Wind Orches­tra — an initiative of the Gualdim Pais Philharmonic Society — maestro Alberto Roque will also conduct works by Ron Nelson, Percy Grainger and Luís Carvalho. The piece Ecos do Temp(L)o establishes a link with the rest of the work­shop’s repertoire, which focuses on the passacaglia form, by proposing the use of the chaconne. ‘Just as in certain tech­niques used since the Middle Ages’ says Sofia Sousa Rocha, ‘the intention is not for this structure to be immediately appar­ent to the listener, but rather to evoke a mysterious and sym­bolic atmosphere’. Here, ‘the idea of an echo is explored from a rhythmic perspective, creating a resonance between different sections that results in an interplay of timbres and metres’. The composer emphasises that ‘the title reflects various ambivalences: the association with techniques of the past — the bygone era; the change in musical tempo — shifts in metre; and the temple — an association with the mysti­cism of the Convent of Christ in Tomar’.

Situated somewhere be­tween contemporary opera, musical theatre, sound­scapes, performance art and the ritual of lis­tening, the work O Canto dos Outros Seres, with music by Vítor Rua (a composer pub­lished by MIC.PT) and with concept and libretto by Ilda Teresa Castro, will be performed on July 4 at O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. The creators and artists involved in this project reveal that ‘O Canto dos Outros Seres stems from a simple yet difficult question: in an age marked by ecological devas­tation, war and the growing subordination of life to economic and geopolitical interests, at what point did we cease to feel that we belonged to the living world?’ On stage — the voice of Bárbara do Canto Lagido, the guitars of Vítor Rua and Tó Trips, the choreographic presence of Vera Man­tero, the set design by Edgar Massul and the theremin played by Ilda Teresa Castro create a unique space ‘where the concert, the performance, the sound installation and ecological thought intersect’. At the end of the programme notes, the artists reflect: ‘Perhaps there is still something in reality that resists being reduced to a resource, an object or a lifeless thing. Perhaps there are still other beings communi­cating through the night.’

To promote and encourage the creation of contem­porary music and to dis­seminate the work of young composers, the Portuguese Authors Society and RTP Antena 2 are holding another SPA/Antena 2 Composition Prize. The competition is open to composers of Portuguese nationality, or to foreigners who have been resident in Portugal for more than four years, who were born on or after January 1, 1991. Submitted works must be unpublished, purely orchestral pieces, with no use of soloists or electronic media. The premiere of the winning piece, performed by the Gulbenkian Orchestra, will take place at the 16th Young Musicians Festival at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon on September 17, 2026. Appli­cations must be sent by registered post by July 3, 2026 (date of receipt).

Applications are open for the 2026 Accordion Com­position Award (9th Edition · Folefest Association). This award is open to compo­sers of Portuguese nationality or non-Portu­guese residents in Portugal, of any age. The work to be submitted must be un­published. The promoter of the Award reserves the right to the organisation of the world premieres of the winning works. The works submitted for the competition must be written for a chamber music ensemble (two to six instruments), with the mandatory inclusion of a single accordion. The jury will be composed of: Daniel Moreira (composer), Ana Seara (com­poser), Paulo Jorge Ferreira (accordionist/compo­ser/jury president) and Nélson Ruivo (secretary — Folefest Associ­ation). Applications must be sent by registered post by July 17, 2026 (date of dispatch).

With the aim to encourage the creation and diffusion of new acousmatic/electro­acoustic works, Miso Music Portugal promotes and organises the 27th edition of the International Electroacoustic Composition Competition – Música Viva 2026. The compe­tition is open to composers of any nation­ality and age, each of whom may submit only one work, which has not been commercially published or awarded at any other national or international competition. The jury of the 27th International Electroacoustic Composition Competition – Música Viva 2026, whose members will be announced shortly, will award one work with a prize of 1000 €. The winning work will be performed in concert by the Miso Music Loudspeakers Orchestra, in 2026, in Lisbon. The deadline for the works’ submission is July 31, 2026 (11h59 p.m., Lisbon time).

The Portuguese Sym­phonic Band promotes the International Composition Competition with the aim of stimulating the cre­ation of original repertoire for bands. Open to composers of all na­tionalities aged up to 40 (as of December 31, 2026), the competition sees musical composition as a space for artistic dialogue often inspired by other areas. In the 2026 edition, the BSP proposes as its theme Portugal’s acces­sion to the European Union. Partic­ipants are challenged to create an original work that estab­lishes an artistic and conceptual relationship with the pro­posed theme. The jury’s decision on the competition results will be made after the public premiere of the finalists’ works, which will occur at a concert by the Portuguese Symphonic Band in November, in Porto. Com­petition entries must be submitted by September 20, 2026.

The Call for Papers is now open for the 4th MMTR, an initiative of MIC.PT curated by composer Isabel Soveral, which will occur on December 11 at O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. This event creates a space for critical reflection and the sharing of research in the fields of contemporary music creation, performance, music theory and technology, inviting researchers, composers, per­formers, sound artists and students to present papers that explore the multiple relationships be­tween music, technology and critical thinking. The 4th MMTR will focus on practices of spatialisation, electroacoustics and sound diffusion via loudspeaker systems, and will be held in conjunction with the Listening Spaces series, dedicated to electroacoustic music and the work of the Miso Music Portugal Loud­speaker Orchestra. The Call is open until September 11, 2026.

In March, the MIC.PT published on its YouTube Channel one new In the 1st Person Interview (in Portuguese) with the composer João Pedro Oliveira. The musicologist and journalist Pedro Boléo conducted this interview recorded in 2024, in Lisbon, at O’culto da Ajuda.
Presently the MIC.PT YouTube Channel contains 38 new interviews to composers residing in Portugal, realised since 2019; as well as eight interviews from the MIC.PT Archive, realised between 2003 and 2005.
The new interviews, conducted by Pedro Boléo, were filmed at the O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon and realised in the context of the In the 1st Person cycle of the Music Today and Music of Invention and Research radio broadcasts, produced by the MIC.PT and Miso Music Portugal for the RTP Antena 2. They constitute a (re)visit to the creative universe of various composers published by the MIC.PT, following the Historical Interviews recorded by the MIC.PT over 20 years ago. Today they are unique registers of the artistic evolution of each interviewed composer.
In order to access the interviews (in Portuguese) follow the links below or visit the MIC.PT YouTube Channel.