Sara Carvalho
Sara Carvalho (born 16 June 1970) is a Portuguese composer of contemporary classical music.
Born in Porto, Portugal she received her first musical training at the age of three and started composing in 1984. In 1995 she graduated with a First Class Degree in Composition, Music and Teaching from the University of Aveiro under João Pedro Oliveira. In 1996 she was awarded an MA in Music from York University in the United Kingdom. Between 1996 and 1999 she was awarded a scholarship from the Portuguese National scheme PRAXIS XXI / JNICT to do a DPhil in Composition, also at York, studying with Nicola LeFanu. She has also studied with Emmanuel Nunes, Betsy Jolas, Kurt Schwertsik, Brian Ferneyhough, Michael Finnissy and Jonathan Harvey. Sara has been played regularly in Portugal and abroad.
Sara is an Artistic Director and founding member of the Contemporary Music Group Momentum Ensemble, and she works in the Department of Art and Communication of Aveiro University where she teaches Composition, Analysis and Orchestration.
Works
Recent works include:
- É-se for instrumental quartet premièred in London by Lontano;
- Blows Hot and Cold for string quartet, recorded by the Remix Ensemble;
- Chimaera for chamber orchestra, commissioned by the University of York Chamber Orchestra and conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk;
- Solos III for solo flute, commissioned by Aveiro University and published by Numérica;
- Shards for 2 flutes and piano, premièred in Rome by Trio Dopler;
- sounding silences for 15 instruments, commissioned by the Cultural Center of Belém in Lisbon
- Escadas com Estórias for large ensemble, was jointly commissioned by Cultural Center of Belém and Porto 2001 (European Capital of Culture);
- nothing can both be and not be for large ensemble, one of the six finalists in the 2002 Alea III´s Composition Competition‚ (Boston, USA), premièred in the Boston Tsai Center and conducted by Theodore Antoniou;
- surya namaskara, for 7 players, premièred by Black Hair;
- a distant mirror for solo piano, dedicated and commissioned by the pianist Marcel Worms and premièred at forum neuer musik 2004, in Cologne, Germany;
- Squashed Fairies for harp, piano and string quartet, commissioned by Aveiro University with funding from Institute for the Arts (IA), and premièred by OrquestrUtópica;
- Ta Prohm commission by GMCL and premièred by Contemporary Music Group of Lisbon (GMCL).
References
Sara Carvalho on Classical Composers Database website