Luís Carvalho Komponist

Carvalho studied clarinet and composition in Porto (with Antonio Saiote and Fernando Lapa, respectively), where he was awarded the «Prize for the best student of the year» (1994), and orchestra conducting in Milan, S. Petersburg and Madrid, with Jorma Panula and Jesus López-Cóbos. He also studied contemporary music conducting with Arturo Tamayo, and attended workshops and lectures by renowned composers such as Luis de Pablo (Spain) and Magnus Lindberg (Finland). A prizewinner at the «4th International Póvoa de Varzim Composition Competition» (2009) for his orchestral work Metamorphoses… hommage à M. C. Escher, more recently (2012) Carvalho has also been nominated for the Authors Prize of the Portuguese Authors Society (SPA), for another of his orchestral works – Nise Lacrimosa. In 2013 «Audiência» regional newspaper awards him the Prestige Trophy for his career devoted to music. Carvalho also holds a Doctor of Music degree from the University of Aveiro (Portugal).

As a conductor, Carvalho appears with most of the Portuguese leading orchestras, namely the Portuguese Symphony, the Porto National, the Lisbon Metropolitan, the Algarve Orchestra, the Madeira Classical Orchestra, the Beiras Philharmonic, the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra, the Póvoa de Varzim Symphony, the Aveiro University Symphony, the ESART Symphony, the EPMVC Symphony, the Porto Conservatory of Music Symphony, the Espinho Classical, the Portuguese Symphonic Band, and abroad appears with groups of Russia, Hungary, Italy, Spain, and Finland. He is the founder and artistic/music director of Camerata Nov’Arte (Porto), an ensemble which proposes alternative programs, including a well-received tour to Brazil (2013).

Carvalho’s musical partnerships include such renowned soloists as Pedro Burmester and João Bettencourt da Câmara (piano), José Pereira and Tamila Kharambura (violin), Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot, Alexandre Delgado and Pedro Meireles (viola), Marco Pereira (cello), Radovan Vlatkovic and Paulo Guerreiro (horn), Alain Damiens, Justo Sanz, Josep Fuster and Arno Piters (clarinet), Pedro Carneiro (percussion), Henrique Portovedo (saxophone), Rui Lopes (bassoon), and Elsa Saque, Carlos Guilherme, Mário Alves, Raquel Camarinha, Dora Rodrigues, Sara Braga Simões, Maria Luís Freitas, Cristiana Oliveira and Ana Paula Russo (voice), having furthermore participated in the international festivals of Estoril, Alcobaça (Cistermúsica), Póvoa de Varzim, Espinho, Algarve, Paços de Brandão, Guimarães, Autumn Festival (Aveiro), CCB Music Days (Lisbon), RDP/Antena 2 Young Musicians Festival, and abroad at the Macao Festival, the Domingos Martins Winter Festival (Brazil), the ClarinetFest–Madrid (Espanha) and Musique en Guyenne (Monflanquin/França).

Carvalho’s repertoire is vast and eclectic, spanning from the baroque to modernity, and includes several premieres. On the scenic/operatic field his experience includes the premiere of Portuguese opera Tale of the Foundation of the City of Coimbra, by Manuel de Faria, La voix humaine by Poulenc, Il secreto de Susanna by Wolf-Ferrari, Pierrot Lunaire by Schoenberg and How to make orange color by Portuguese composer Pedro Faria Gomes.

Also a recognized composer, Carvalho’s works have been receiving performances in Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, Venezuela and Brazil. Mainly published by AvA-musical editions, his catalogue includes Metamorphoses… hommage to M. C. Escher and Nise Lacrimosa (commissioned by Alcobaça International Music Festival-2011), both for orchestra, Fantastic Variations and Chiaroscuro, both for symphonic band (commissioned by the Portuguese Symphony Band – on CD by label AFINAUDIO), Dodekathlon for solo tuba and low brass ensemble (commissioned by renowned tubist Sérgio Carolino and The Wild Bones Gang), Mozartiana for clarinet ensemble (commissioned by Clarinetíssimo Ensemble), Sax-suite for saxophone quartet (on CD by label NUMÉRICA), Hornphony for horn quartet (on CD by label AFINAUDIO) as well as Hornpipe (solo horn), Chirimia (solo oboe), Alboque (solo clarinet) and Conn-O-Sax (solo alto-saxophone). Within the scope of his doctoral research, Carvalho conceived a new «reinvention of the draft for large ensemble» for Gustav Mahler’s last and unfinished Symphony No.10 in F# major, which he himself premiered conducting the Camerata Nov’Arte in June/2014.

A faculty teacher at the Aveiro University (Portugal), Carvalho is featured in nearly two dozen CD’s, either as a clarinetist, conductor or composer and in labels such as NUMÉRICA, CASA DA MÚSICA, AFINAUDIO PUBLIC-ART, and MOLENAAR.