I am composer-performer (pianist). The dimensions of my work that aren’t encompassed by this definition are, however, increasing with time. Trying to pull together all these fragmentary levels, I could probably say: I am a transdisciplinary artist working as a pianist-composer, researcher, writer, activist, improviser, mediator, editor, curator, and whatever other improbable activities may come along.

I tend to create artistic outsized (un)formats, and try to open new resonant spaces within/without pre-existing ones. I am extremely fortunate to work with different co-creators with whom I also deeply resonate along and with whom my artistic processes and outputs are enriched and expanded.

My work could be described as having four main directions:

Firstly, my piano transdisciplinary solo work, in which the word ‘solo’ is questionable, since I work with co-creators and collaborators from different areas. In this collaborative process, the visual artist (cinematographer, film director & visual artist) Daniel Costa Neves plays a prominent role, ever since ‘through this looking glass’, my first solo (2010). This means: a solo work, that is, in fact, a duo, that, in reality, involves yet more collaborators. Because music and performance are thought of in multidimensional ways (and not as traditional concerts at all) that involve various practices, knowledges and sensibilities coming together, listening, thinking and creating together, these processes tend to propose performance experiences, that are often referred to for their intensity, overwhelmingness or singularity.
Performances are also a result of a thorough work of investigation, reflection and experimentation: the trilogy of solos Listening | the open - composed by ‘through this looking glass’ (201), ‘In Praise of Disorder’ (2013) and ‘listening : the open’ (2016) – was the subject of my PhD in Music Performance at Aveiro University (2020) and these pieces are themselves part of the reflection/experimentation process I carried out.

I approach music as a relationship between bodies: the immaterial character of music relies on the materiality and on the touch
of this relation.
In this sense, my work investigates the disruptive and poetic thresholds of
these bodies in touch,
exploring conflict points, (invisible) systems of power,
and thoroughly touching the open wound(s) from different ‘resonant points’, listening…

creating other resonant spaces and relationships
within/out the bodies,
in music but
beyond it

After the PhD, I came back to work on the third solo, the only one which had not yet been recorded and released. But, as it is somehow usual for me, everything changed in this process and a new solo, ‘a body as listening’, emerged, taking part of a broader, fragmentary project. Named 'a body as listening - resonant cartography of music (im)materialities’, this multidimensional project is composed of several autonomous but complementary outputs: 1) a multidimensional performance (again with Daniel CN and other collaborators); 2) the record ‘a body as listening’; 3) the expanded book 'a body as listening - resonant cartography of music (im)materialities', which deconstructs my thesis and introduces new contents and (more punk!) approaches and also constitutes a very singular proposal of experience: a book that is not just about music and performance, but which is an ex-tension of my music and performance; 4) a lecture-performance 'Are you there? - resonant cartography of music (im)materialities' with the visual artist Rita Sá, which also proposes a sensorial experience to the theoretical questions ; 5) and last, but not least, the virtual installation www.abodyaslistening.com. It has been an intense, powerful and transformative journey, that of being able to create and bring together all these artistic outputs.

Secondly, my transdisciplinary work with à escuta (listening), a collective founded in 2020 with Luís J Martins, my most important co-creator, and my most precious accomplice and advisor, as well as my life partner. À escuta collective – now with Luís JM, Corinna Lawrenz, Lucas Tavares and Ana Viana - arises with an activist dimension. Again, it explores relationships with otherness, the open wounds, systems of power and abuse but at other ecological and social dimensions and (mostly) relating to the territories of Serra da Estrela Natural Park (PT). À escuta assumes and claims that it is impossible to deal with the somehow abstract problems of forest fires, climate change, social inequalities, etc. at the comfortable and alienating distance of the sofa in the big cities: a certain tangibility and engagement with the reality of the local scale and the concrete territory is needed.
À escuta therefore acts (mostly) in the territories of the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, and its artistic work involves local communities, scientific partners, collaborators from all areas of knowledge, local civic movements, etc. The collective has been very active since 2020, having developed several major projects: Catálogo poético (2020-21); CasaFloresta (2022-23); Folha Volante (2023-24). Having collected an incommensurable amount of precious and interesting information about relationships with the forest in these territories - both with communities and collaborators - the collective is currently working on an expanded book. The book will be published in 2025 by Museu da Paisagem and will be a polyphonic reflection about what ‘guarding a forest’ could be or mean today.

Thirdly, the work within my different music ensembles: the duo with Luís J Martins (guitar), the ensemble Powertrio with Luís and Eduardo Raon (harp), the duo with the Greek singer Savina Yannatou or Turbamulta quintet with both Luís and Eduardo, Luís André Ferreira (cello) and Nuno Aroso (percussion). With these groups I have grown as a musician, released several records and played throughout Europe since 2008.

Fourthly, besides these ensembles, an important dimension of my work is that of cocreation/collaboration with other artists from different art forms (visual arts, performance, cinema, dance, music, etc.). From several collaborations, I would highlight: in visual arts, the life-long collaboration with my sister, the visual artist Rita Sá, in the creation of diverse installations and performances; in cinema, the collaboration with Miguel Gomes for the soundtrack of the film Tabu; in dance/performance, the collaboration with João dos Santos Martins in ‘Está Visto’, a piece that deconstructs/reconstructs Schumann’s songcycle ‘Dichterliebe op.48’; in music, I could highlight the most improbable collaborations, such as those with fado singers Aldina Duarte or Camané.
I am also collaborating with projects - such as ‘Partes extra partes - Forensic instrumental organology’ by Luís J Martins - as an artistic researcher/editor/writer.

I am happy and proud to have been playing both in important or renown venues internationally and in (sometimes improvised) venues in the farthest or improbable locations. My records have been released by Clean feed, blinker – Marke für Rezentes, Shhpuma, Creative Sources, CENTA and the book ‘a body as listening (….)’ was published by Teatro Praga/ Sistema Solar.

I have been the Keynote speaker/artist in different international conferences such as ENIM by SPIM – Portuguese Society for Research in Music; EIPC – International Meeting for Contemporary Piano by ESMAE (Porto) and UFMG (Minas Gerais,Brasil); Hands on Research Symposium by Aveiro University; Encuentros sonoros by Universidad Complutense de Madrid; and in Composition Seminaries by ESML Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. I don’t teach regularly, but I have great joy in giving music creation workshops and seminaries in very different contexts.

My work exists and is possible because of a long journey of musical studies and contradictory experiences: I have studied the piano at the Lisbon Conservatory with Noémia Brederode and Carla Seixas, followed by two and a half years of piano studies with Jean Fassina in Paris. My graduation studies then proceeded at ESART, Castelo Branco with the Brazilian pianists Paulo Álvares and Caio Pagano, to whom I later dedicated my first solo TTLG. With an INOVART Grant (Ministry of Culture, PT) I did a post graduation in ‘Contemporary instrumental techniques applied to performative improvisation’ at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, again under the supervision of Paulo Álvares. My PhD in Music Performance at Aveiro University was done under the supervision of composer and pianist António Chagas Rosa and was accomplished with an FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology Grant. In 2017, I have been guest researcher at Orpheus Institute, working in the MusicExperiment21 cluster.

On the other hand, a completely different musical experience was very important in my teens: from the age of 13 to 20 I was a founding member of the rock band Pinhead Society, where I played the bass. At the time, the band played in major festivals in Portugal and in important venues, such as Coliseu dos Recreios, opening for other bands, such as Sonic Youth, Morphine, Mogwai and releasing two records with Música Alternativa and a cassette by Bee Keeper, among other (collaborative) releases.

I was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1979, in the last days of the 1970s. For 22 years, which means more than half of my life, I have been living with Luís in many different (and often experimental) places. We’ve been living between Lisbon and Serra da Estrela for a few years with our loving dog Cuca. We are often joined by friends and collaborators.

*BioKill is the name of a ‘natural’ insecticide sold throughout Europe. In this context, it just means… oh dear, we killed the bio… 9731 characters’ bio in the 21st Century? In any case, no insects were killed during this process.