On November 15, pianist João Casimiro Almeida will give a solo recital at O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon. The programme will feature the Três Miniaturas – per piano, mar, sobre a brevidade, composed by Bruno Gabirro between 2004 and 2008. In a 2023 interview with MIC.PT, this composer (published by MIC.PT) stated that, as an artist, he is interested in ‘every sound at every instant and how they connect to everything that precedes and follows them in a given musical discourse of a given piece, as well as how a given sound potential is realised musically’. During the O’culto recital, João Casimiro Almeida, who specialises in contemporary music, will also perform works by Solange Azevedo, Inés Badalo, Bernardo Lima, as well as Hugo Vasco Reis and Luís Antunes Pena (composers published by MIC.PT), whose works are featured on this young pianist’s album entitled espectros, released last year by neper music.

Carlos Caires’ choral composition, Cantata para Dona Leonor (2025), will premiere on November 13 within the 37th Music Season in São Roque, Lisbon. It will be performed by the ECCE Choir and maestro Paulo Lourenço. Another work by this composer (published by MIC. PT), Crossfade (2009), is part of the programme of the Bochmann ‘75 concerts that the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, conducted by Vasco Pearce Azevedo, will give at O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon and at the Convento dos Remédios in Évora on November 8 and 9. Finally, on the 22nd, the new version of Carlos Caires’ installation Lugares Visíveis will be presented at the inauguration of the National Music Museum’s new facilities in Mafra. This new version of the installation, previously presented in Lisbon and Barcelona, features the collaboration of visual artist Roger Hyperbole Madureira in generating real-time images.

The work O Carro de Jorge Peixinho (2021), by composer Carlos Marecos (published by MIC.PT), will be performed by Duo Ferrão & Cabrita (cello and piano) on November 16 at O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon, as part of the 2025 Young Chamber Music Season. As Carlos Marecos recalls: ‘On Rua do Loreto, in Lisbon, there is a car front embedded at the top of a shop window. In the 1990s, I used to travel between Rua do Ataíde and Rua dos Caetanos, where ESML had its premises. Passing through Rua do Loreto was a must. Eurico Carrapatoso also passed by there with his son, who asked him: “Oh, dad, whose yellow car is that?” Eurico replied: “It’s Jorge Peixinho’s.” From then on, that car was always known as Jorge Peixinho’s car, and I wanted to write a piece with that title.’ The Young Chamber Music Season, an initiative of Miso Music Portugal and the Portuguese Association of Friends of Music, aims to be an agent of change in the scenario that young musicians face when planning their future in Portugal.

The two Bochmann ‘75 concerts, performed by the Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, conducted by Vasco Pearce Azevedo, will take place on November 8 and 9, respectively, at O’culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, and at Convento dos Remédios, in Évora, as part of the EboraeMvsica cycle. The programme for these concerts will feature three works by Christopher Bochmann, a composer published by MIC.PT, who is celebrating his 75th birthday this year. The works to be performed are Musette (1995), and Repudiation (2025), with the latter being a world premiere. Having lived in Portugal since 1980, Christopher Bochmann’s prolific output covers almost all musical genres, from music for solo instruments to orchestral music, chamber music and opera, all marked by the rigour of his compositional approach and technique. In a 2014 interview with MIC.PT, Christopher Bochmann stated: ‘I feel a great closeness to Bach’s music. I identify completely with the idea that music is an extension or an expression of life’.

A new work by the composer Daniel Moreira (published by the MIC.PT) will premiere in November. The piece Primeiros ecos was created as part of the Quarteto Contratempus project, Laboratório Contrapartituras – Para onde vamos?. Launched in 2021, the Laboratório is an experimentation and creation space, focusing on staged chamber music and promoting collaboration between composers, performers, and other artistic disciplines. This year’s project is based on the question ‘Where are we going?’, proposing reflections on possible futures. Primeiros ecos forms part of the K_aleidoscópio production (with libretto and staging by Nuno Preto), consisting of three mini-operas, by Daniel Moreira (Portugal), Santiago Gutiérrez (Uruguay), and Estêvão Chissano (Mozambique). The piece will be performed by Quarteto Contratempus, comprising Teresa Nunes (soprano), Tiago Matos (baritone), Clara Saleiro (flute), Carolina Leite Freitas (cello), and Sérgio de A (piano), with guest musicians Santiago Gutiérrez (bandoneon, Uruguay) and Alfredo Inácio (timbila, Mozambique). The premiere will occur at the Espaço QC in Porto on the 21st, followed by performances on the 22nd and 23rd, and a Portuguese tour in Esposende, Braga, Tomar, Vila Franca de Xira, and Lagos.

In November, composer Fernando C. Lapa (published by MIC.PT) will be honoured with a series of events showcasing his work. On November 21, the Centro Cultural de Belém, in Lisbon, will host the Paisagens marítimas concert, performed by the baritone André Baleiro and the pianist David Santos. As part of the programme, the musicians will present Fernando C. Lapa’s work O céu, a terra, o vento sossegado (1998). The concert will be preceded by a lecture entitled Músicas do Mar, presented by the musicologist Paulo Ferreira de Castro at the Lopes-Graça Hall. Then, on the afternoon of November 22, which marks Fernando C. Lapa’s 75th birthday, the Conservatório de Música do Porto will host the release of a CD together with an accompanying score and book. The release will be followed by a concert featuring Eliseu Silva (violin), Monika Streitová (flute), and the AMASING String Orchestra, conducted by Luciano Pereira. Later that evening, the Sé Cathedral of Santarém will present the premiere of Te Deum, a work combining traditional Latin text with a poem by José Augusto Mourão. It is written for a chamber choir and ensemble (violin, cello, accordion, electric bass, and positive organ). The work’s performers will be the Ensemble Moços do Coro, conducted by Nuno Almeida.

Composer Igor C. Silva (published by the MIC.PT) has a busy November ahead of him, with several performances of his works. On November 8, the United Instruments of Lucilin ensemble will perform his piece Polyester Drops (2017) for prepared piano and electronics at the Wien Modern festival in Austria, as part of the Salon Souterrain: Echos of Numbers performance. Then, on November 15, Igor C. Silva’s recent work Sōma (2025), for a quartet of improvisers, orchestra, and live electronics, will have a performance at Casa da Música in Porto. This piece will feature the Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, conducted by Andrew Gourlay. The musicians performing will be Mané Fernandes (guitar), Zé Almeida (double bass), Diogo Alexandre (drums and electronics), and the composer himself (electronics and synthesisers). Finally, on November 28, soprano Andrea Conangla and pianist Jana Luksts will perform his piece Vou (2023) for voice, keyboards and electronics at the Open Music Graz festival in Austria. Additionally, Igor C. Silva has recently released a new recording of his piece Deviation Point (2017), for voice, electronics and video, which was commissioned by Miso Music Portugal. The recording is now available on the composer’s YouTube channel.

Composer Jaime Reis (published by MIC.PT) has a busy November ahead, with concerts, conferences, and contemporary creation projects on the schedule. The month begins on the 1st with the 5th International Iannis Xenakis Competition at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece, where the composer has served on the jury and where his work Fluxus, pas trop haut dans le ciel will be performed. On the 5th, his piece monolito.ébano will be performed at the Olomouc Contemporary Music Festival (Czech Republic), by the pianist Hayk Melikyan. From November 11 to 14, the composer will be a keynote speaker at the Conflict Between Theory and Practice? conference, organised by the HAMU – Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. The event will feature a concert dedicated to his music, featuring Fluxus, pas trop haut dans le ciel and Fluxus, dimensionless sound (b), performed by flautist Monika Streitová. Jaime Reis was also named as a winner of a competition organised by the Gilgamesh Foundation, where his piece Corpos Sonoros I: Reencarnação will be performed in the first half of the month (Texas, USA). Finally, the Cultura e Sustentabilidade 2025 symposium, one of Projecto DME’s major events, directed by Jaime Reis, will occur from November 21 to 23, at the Lisboa Incomum.

The new CD dos Bichos by the composer (published by MIC.PT) and saxophonist Lino Guerreiro has been recently released, and since September 27 it is available on all major digital platforms. This work, a suite in ten movements for wind orchestra, is inspired by Miguel Torga’s celebrated collection Bichos and offers a descriptive and expressive musical interpretation of the literary work. The composition includes a prologue, an epilogue, and several movements dedicated to some of the animals featured in Miguel Torga’s collection. In this edition, the Metropolitana Wind Orchestra, conducted by Carlos Reinaldo Guerreiro, performs the revised and complete version of the suite composed almost tern years ago, in 2016, now officially registered under the new title dos Bichos. The album reflects Lino Guerreiro’s distinctive musical language, characterised by timbral exploration and the creation of relationships between the wind-ensemble instrumental gestures and the sonic narrative.

During the month of November, the composer Luís Neto da Costa (published the by MIC.PT) will take part in two academic events dedicated to research and reflection on contemporary musical creation. On November 14 and 15, he will participate in the Colloquium on Digital and Technological Performativity, which will take place at the University of Aveiro. There, he will make a presentation entitled Why Electronics? Perspectives on Meaning and Performance in Contemporary Composition. In the second half of the month, between November 27 and 29, Luís Neto da Costa will take part in the ENIM – National Meeting for Music Research, which this year will be organised at the University of Évora. On this occasion, he will present two papers: Internal Clouds: Techniques and Continuity in Two Related Works and Microcrivo: Visibility for Microtonal Music in Portugal. The co-author of the latter one is the composer Ângela da Ponte (also published by the MIC.PT).

On November 22, the work Coro dos Pequenos Cidadãos (2021) by composer Mariana Vieira (published by the MIC.PT) will be performed at the Lisboa Incomum. Written for children’s choir and electronics, this piece’s performers will be the students from the Conservatório de Música de Seia. This presentation is part of the programme of the Cultura e Sustentabilidade 2025 symposium, a Projecto DME’s initiative, ocurring from the 21st to 23rd at the Lisboa Incomum. The symposium offers reflections on the relationships between art, science, and ecology. In its ninth edition, this year’s event has the theme Migration and Climate in the Decade of the Ocean, and will bring together presentations, concerts, and workshops exploring the intersection between artistic practices and environmental sustainability. In this context, performing Mariana Vieira’s work at the Cultura e Sustentabilidade symposium is a celebration of contemporary Portuguese composition by young performers using music and art to raise awareness and encourage collective action.

Descriptions de la Matière, a piece for piano and electronics by Miguel Azguime (a composer published by MIC.PT), will be performed by André Teixeira at O’culto da Ajuda in Lisbon on November 22. For this concert, the young pianist has put together a varied programme featuring pieces from the contemporary Portuguese scene that are rarely performed on stage. Alongside Miguel Azguime’s piece, André Teixeira will perform works by two other young Portuguese composers, Eva Aguilar and Eduardo Serra, as well as two 20th-century pieces, one by American composer William Bolcom and the other by Canadian composer Claude Vivier. Taking an exploratory approach, this recital expands the piano’s sound potential with surprising timbres through the use of extended techniques, amplification, electronics, and preparing the instrument with unusual objects. Composed between 2015 and 2016, Descriptions de la Matière was premiered by pianist Elsa Silva almost ten years ago as part of the Piano Extraordinário cycle at O’culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon.

The composer Sara Carvalho (published by MIC.PT) returns to the Autumn Festivals at the University of Aveiro with the presentation of her Concerto for Saxophone Solo and Orchestra “After a Naked Lunch”, featured in the festival’s closing concert on November 28. Inspired by the novel Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs, the concerto unfolds through a fragmented narrative, in which the music follows a dreamlike, non-linear logic: ‘As in the novel, I used a disconnected narrative. In my work, the musical events do not follow a direct pattern of causality but function as if in a dream; that is, they tell different stories within a main plot. Thus, something that was initially heard may reappear later, creating echoes and a series of inside-music relationships’, explains Sara Carvalho. This 2025-Autumn-Festivals closing concert brings together Portuguese contemporary music creation and one of the landmarks of the twentieth-century symphonic repertoire – the Symphony No. 5 by Dmitri Shostakovich. The concert’s performers will be the Beiras Philharmonic Orchestra, the DeCA–UA Symphony Orchestra, Henrique Portovedo (saxophone) and Luís Carvalho (conductor).

At the end of November, there will be performances of the project produced by Sinfonietta de Braga, Re[LAB]: Construção, with music by Sofia Sousa Rocha (composer published by MIC.PT), text by Edward Ayres Abreu and staging by Manoel Candeias. The performances will occur on the 25th, 27th, and 29th, respectively, in Esposende, Braga, and Tomar, with Luanda Cozetti (voice), Joaquim Pereira (violin), Tiago Mendes (cello), João Gonçalves (double bass) and Vítor Castro (percussion) performing. As the project synopsis reveals: ‘“He ate beans and rice as if he were a prince/ He drank and sobbed as if he were a castaway/ He danced and laughed as if he were listening to music” — wrote Chico Buarque in Construção. We revisit this song as a starting point for an opera about the relationship between Brazil and Portugal today. In the process of developing musical and dramatic ideas, the first approach is an essentially musical exploratory field.” In addition, on the 16th, the work Jogos by Sofia Sofia Sousa Rocha and six2one by Paulo Bastos (also a composer published by MIC.PT) will be presented as part of the Saint Cecilia Concert at the Theatro Circo in Braga.

In October, Carlos Lopes joined the group of composers published by MIC.PT, and currently has one score, Epóxi (2021), for orchestra, available in the Catalogue of Scores Published by MIC.PT. In the coming months, several other scores by this young composer, who is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Contemporary Music Conducting at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, will be published and made available in the same catalogue. Currently, the Catalogue of Scores Published by MIC.PT includes 1193 works by 80 composers residing and working in Portugal.

Presently the MIC.PT YouTube Channel contains 36 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 Research & Invention radio broadcasts, produced by the MIC.PT and Miso Music Portugal for the 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 almost 15 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.