Research at the intersection of composition, technology, pedagogy and contemporary musical practices, with particular attention to the changing role of the composer in digital environments, artistic research, co-authorship and technological mediation, the dynamics of repertoires, and the relationships between creative practice and the teaching of analysis and composition.
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Current Research
The Composer in the Digital Age: from practice to pedagogy
The practices and competences of the 21st-century composer go far beyond composition itself, largely due to the growing influence of technology in contemporary society. Musical creation today is characterized by multiplicity, in a continuous process of coauthorship (Lopes, 2020, p. 16), which may involve the composer, performer, producer, and other agents. Musical creation thus results from the sum of different contributions, enhanced by digital tools that are intrinsic to creative processes. In this context, it is important to reflect on how technology is used, ensuring that the creative process remains centered on people. Just as notation, pencil, and paper were once indispensable, today music notation software and other digital platforms are structuring tools. These transformations demand constant reinvention from the composer, in response to an ever-changing artistic environment. The research is guided by five central questions: the indispensable competences of the composer; the boundaries between composer, producer, and performer; the pertinence of traditional pedagogical practices; the role of the composer-pedagogue; and the inclusion of repertoires beyond the Western canon. The thesis discusses the concept of the composer-pedagogue, analyzes the integration of technology, and proposes the diversification of repertoires, culminating in a set of Novas Aprendizagens Essenciais (NAE) for the disciplines of Análise e Técnicas de Composição (ATC) and Teoria e Análise Musical (TAM). Based on the practices and reflections developed, it is concluded that curricular renewal is necessary. This renewal must be grounded on five pillars: Composition, Repertoires, Technology, Coauthorship, and Mediation, capable of sustaining contemporary, critical, and creative musical practices. Beyond the artistic and pedagogical dimension, these proposals also have social and cultural implications, reinforcing the relevance of music both in schools and within communities.
Publications
Music education from a transversal and personal perspective – formal education combined with extracurricular music
Regardless of the specific area of music teaching, music education, i.e., the way in which an individual is educated, can be decisive for him to follow a more objective path towards acquiring the skills proposed in a given music curriculum. The cross-curricular nature of the different areas in a curriculum becomes almost mandatory. No less important is the need to build bridges between the curricula themselves and current music. Due to the technological tools available nowadays when it comes to music consumption, both the canonical repertoire and countless other repertoires are available to the vast majority of young music students, and this diversity should be enhanced, not ignored. In this article I present a set of methodologies and/or pedagogical strategies that I have developed and implemented over the last few years, which, on the one hand, bring the canonical repertoire closer to the most diverse repertoires in the vast universe that is music, consequently bringing the curricula closer to current music, and on the other hand, provide part of the transversality that I consider necessary, thus contributing to student success. I understand and start from the premise that music education encompasses a series of assumptions that often go much further than merely technical issues.
Repertoire for teaching analysis and composition at secondary level – contributions of technology
In general music education and, more specifically, in the teaching of analysis and composition at secondary level, repertoire is frequently based on works from the history of Western art music, predominantly from the common-practice period and associated with the so-called “great” canon. The dominant presence of this repertoire in educational contexts tends to exclude other repertoires which, in the teaching of analysis and composition, may prove equally or more relevant depending on the competences being developed. At the same time, current technological tools for accessing and consuming music provide young students with both canonical repertoire and an extensive diversity of other musical repertoires. The paper presents pedagogical methodologies and strategies aimed at bringing canonical repertoire into dialogue with this wider musical diversity and, consequently, at bringing curricula closer to contemporary musical reality.
Principles of the Composer-Producer: technology in composition teaching in the 21st century
Advances in information and computing technologies over recent decades have brought about changes in contemporary society comparable in significance to those of the Industrial Revolution. Today, digital media and computing are present in every sphere of our lives, and virtually every moment of our existence can be related to some form of digital interaction. Consequently, despite the natural institutional restraint that often characterises educational contexts, education increasingly incorporates digital tools into its processes. Just as the “technology” of musical notation, pencil and paper was once indispensable to the development of the activity and profession of the composer, the same is true today of digital tools and different software applications. This article discusses how current changes in the practice and profession of the composer require proficiency in certain digital tools, and argues that their mastery and use should form part of the formal teaching of composition.
Books
O Saxofone Pedagógico | The Educational Saxophone | Le Saxophone pédagogique
Pedagogical method for learning the saxophone, designed for preparatory-level students. Organised into thematic chapters and fourteen lessons, it proposes a progressive approach to individual practice, combining technical and artistic development, effective management of practice time and increasing learner autonomy. The methodology uses the same materials for different learning purposes, preparing students for subsequent stages of their instrumental training.
Discography
DAS CANÇÕES DA TERRA
Is a collection of ten small traditional Portuguese songs, for choir (SATB). They seek to transmit their intrinsic modernity, through new musical approaches, being placed here in a contemporary, with the aim of promoting Portuguese cultural identity.
DE UM CANCIONEIRO POPULAR
The album de um Cancioneiro Popular brings together nine pieces based on melodies collected by Michel Giacometti and Fernando Lopes-Graça in the Cancioneiro Popular Português. The recording explores the relationship between tradition and contemporary musical creation, preserving the original melodies while developing new configurations through performance, production and post-production. Technology plays a central role in the creative process and is combined with different forms of co-authorship between the composer-producer and performers. Released in 2023, the album seeks to contribute to a renewed relationship between contemporary musical expression and Portuguese intangible cultural heritage, while promoting Portuguese cultural identity.
METAMORPHOSIS
METAMORPHOSIS originates from a short waltz inspired by the movement of the sea near an Algarve tuna fishing ground and proposes its continuous reinterpretation while preserving the identity of the original melody. Starting from a primordial version, the album brings together eleven new interpretations developed with different musicians, exploring distinct instrumental, performative and creative perspectives. The recording materialises a conception of musical creation based on multiplicity and interaction between composer, performers and production, with technology playing a significant role in expanding the possible contributions to the transformation of the work.
PROJETO MICHEL GIACOMETTI
Projeto Michel Giacometti draws on the Cancioneiro Popular Português by Michel Giacometti and Fernando Lopes-Graça, bringing together seventeen pieces originating from different regions of mainland Portugal and the islands. Developed as a partnership between the ARTEMSAX Quartet and Lino Guerreiro, the project seeks to combine the promotion of Portuguese cultural identity with the exploration of new perspectives of modernity, preserving the traditional melodies while subjecting them to different compositional and orchestration processes and techniques. The approaches include reharmonisation, canon, rhythmic transformation, theme and variations, contrapuntal procedures, twelve-tone techniques and jazz-related languages, among others. Released in 2016, the album materialises a dialogue between traditional musical heritage, contemporary creation and performance, and was awarded the Carlos Paredes Prize.
Research Notes & Papers
Musical creation from a perspective of multiplicity: METAMORPHOSIS – a possible case study
Music creation or composition, has evolved over the last few years, pointing more and more to a perspective of multiplicity, which in itself is in constant development, making this area largely the result of numerous relationships and interactions between the different agents involved in a process of this nature. These agents may include the composer of the work, the interpreter for that performance, the producer of that record, among many others that may appear in other perspectives. On the other hand, new practices and tools have also emerged, mainly linked to technological development, which are becoming more and more rooted in the different processes of musical creation, diversifying even more the contributions of the possible agents involved. Therefore, in the XXI century, we can say that musical creation results from the sum of a series of contributions, and it is in this context and inherent to this plurality that this project will be developed.
Composer or producer? – an ambiguity in the context of technology
Musical creation has evolved over recent years towards an increasingly multiple perspective, itself in constant development, making it largely the result of the numerous relationships and interactions between the different agents involved in a process of this nature. These agents may include the composer of the work, the performer of a given performance, the producer of a recording, among many others that may emerge from different perspectives. Therefore, in the twenty-first century, we can state that musical creation results from the sum of a series of contributions. Within this context, and inherent to this plurality, new practices and tools have also emerged, mainly associated with technological development, becoming increasingly embedded in the different processes of musical creation and further diversifying the contributions of the agents involved. Today, it may be important, or even necessary, to reflect on how the available technology is used and on the extent to which those who use these tools exercise critical judgement. Such reflection may be necessary to ensure that the process of musical creation continues to depend on the individual or individuals involved, rather than solely on the technology itself.
“Real-time composition” and (a) concept of the “open work” – a brief reflection on Nicholas Cook’s Prompting Performance: Text, Script, and Analysis in Bryn Harrison’s être-temps
In his article Prompting Performance: Text, Script, and Analysis in Bryn Harrison's être-temps (Cook, 2005), the author focuses, among other aspects, on how the complex rhythmic notation used by composer Bryn Harrison can influence performance, while also emphasising that this interaction between notation and performer needs to be renewed in each new presentation. Cook develops his argument through a range of documentation concerning Bryn Harrison's être-temps and draws on several of his own writings to contextualise different perspectives. At the end of the article, he establishes a relationship between Harrison's work and music more broadly.