Filipe Pires

Born in Lisbon, but based in Porto since 1960, Filipe Pires is the author of vast vocal, instrumental and electroacoustic works, in the modalities of chamber, symphonic, musical theater and ballet. He began his musical career as a pianist, shortly after obtaining, in 1950, the 1st Portuguese Musical Youth Prize. A few years later, he completed the Higher Courses in Piano and Composition at the National Conservatory in Lisbon, where he was a disciple of Artur Santos, Lúcio Mendes and Croner de Vasconcellos. As a scholarship holder at the Institute of High Culture, he studied for three years in Germany and Austria, then performed in several European countries as a pianist and composer. Returning to Portugal, in 1960, he was appointed Professor of Composition at the Porto Conservatory of Music, occupying, for ten years, the place left vacant by the composer Cláudio Carneyro. During this period, he also taught at the Braga Regional Conservatory and at the Vila da Feira Music Academy, at the same time as a music critic at "Jornal de Notícias". Meanwhile, at the expense of the Gulbenkian Foundation, he followed some of the courses led by Boulez and Stockhausen in Darmstadt and completed a two-year internship in Paris, dedicated to electroacoustic music, under the guidance of Pierre Schaeffer. Once again in Portugal, he performed teaching and management duties at the National Conservatory in Lisbon, actively participating in the development of the "Pedagogical Experience" in the early years of the 1970s. From 1975 to 1979, Filipe Pires was again in Paris, as a Specialist of Music at the UNESCO International Secretariat. As a representative of this organization, he was sent on official missions to several countries in Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America. Also representing various national organizations or to present his works, he has made trips to the United States of America and Russia. Winner of international composition competitions in Naples, Cologne and Liège, he also holds the Calouste Gulbenkian National Prize, which he awarded in 1968 for his choral-symphonic work Portugaliae Genesis. Many of his works are published in Portugal, Italy and Germany and recorded on discs by the State Secretariat for Culture, Numérica and Educo (USA). In Portugal, Filipe Pires has held different positions, such as President of the Portuguese Musical Youth, member of the UNESCO National Commission, Director of the Paços de Brandão Music Academy, Vice-President of the Portuguese Society of Authors, member of the Artistic Council of the Sinfonia Cooperative and Member of the Installation Committee of the Porto Superior School of Music. At this School he is currently Professor of Composition. In 1997, he was appointed Artistic Director of the Orquestra Nacional do Porto, a position he held for two years.