Who am I

Music composer and jazz pianist. You can also find me doing some music engraving, sound production or programming some kind of interactive music.

What I do

I’ve always liked to compose. In my music, I’m always looking for balance between the expected and the unexpected. I have had the opportunity to compose and showcase some contemporary music at several venues, like the Festival Musica Viva in Lisbon, the Music-cinema festival in Marseille and the Music Festival of Póvoa de Varzim; the latter being a composition contest, where the Drumming GP performed As estruturas de Solaris, a piece that merited the 1st prize.

I have never left behind my passion for jazz, which led me to have my Big Band Grumpy Levy composition to be premiered at Casa da Música, where I was honoured to play, and to participate in some other projects, like the band Pi Graos and the jazz choir Coro da Rá, for which I still arrange routinely.

I also have some interest in any form of interactive music, that is, music which is not written from the beginning to the end. Maybe jazz has been my source of inspiration for this, but I look for interactive by other means, like digital media, interactive music or videogames. With this in mind, I’ve created the interactive installation Xadrez 1 and done my Masters Degree research in interactive harmony. I’ve also had the chance to compose interactive music for videogames.

Last but not least, I’ve been involved in music preparation, specially in music for choirs and for film. I love the visual aspect of a score, which I find pleasing to look at every time. Thus, I like to spend some time to make them look great.

Where I come from

My mother knew I should study music when, before knowing how to tie my shoes, I could guess the name of composers of films or radio by ear. As soon as I could, I started to study music. I have been studying jazz piano and when I was on legal age I decided to study music and sound for audiovisuals. That led me to work at the sound facility Cinemar Films, and later, to introduce audio editing techniques in my music, but also the know-how to work in music for film.

On the other hand, I began to work in music as a social transforming tool, which led me to develop a very personal project: the amateur choir Vía Sete.

From here on I decided to take music a step further, and I started to study Composition Bachelors and Masters degrees at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo, (ESMAE, Porto).

People I studied with

At ESMAE, I’ve had the opportunity to have lessons with Carlos Azevedo, Dimitris Andrikopoulos, Eugénio Amorim, Ângela da Ponte, Daniel Moreira, Rui Penha, José Alberto Gomes, Rui Dias, Gilberto Bernardes, Abe Rábade, Telmo Marques, Pedro Santos and Filipe Vieira.

I have attended seminars with Helmut Lachenmann, Christopher Dobrian, Vic Hoyland, Ivo Medek, Vít Zouhar, Nicolas Bacri and Jeffrey Treviño. I’ve also participated in courses where I’ve been tutored by Fernando Buide, Fernando Lapa, Wim Henderickx, Diederick Glorieux, Jorrit Tamminga and Javier Elipe Gimeno.

Some things I can do…

  • Music preparation and engraving.
  • Sound editing and mixing.
  • Program some useful things for my artistic work, using tools like Python or Max.
  • Play and compose some jazz on the piano.

…and titles I possess

Aside from my Music Composition degrees at ESMAE,

  • I have a Bachelors Degree in Music History and Sciences
  • And also a Bachelors Degree in Audiovisual Communication.

Anti-hermit

I think music is made to go outside. I like to be into music activities, and I love to have people around when I’m composing.

On the other hand, I like to see music as a transforming tool. Music is not only on paper nor in concerts and recordings. Music is transforming, you can play (with) it, it can be a medium and not a goal. You can enjoy creating it without caring about the outcome.

I love to share my craft with others, while composing or while playing. Sometimes I have to be confined in my studio, where I still enjoy to be alone while in the creative zone. But, for the most part, I think gatherings are a great form of composing.