West Side Story
Gulbenkian Orchestra
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Date
- 19:00 / Cancelled 19:00 / Sold out Friday, 19:00
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation- Conductor
- Electronics, Synthesizers
- Mané Fernandes Guitar
- Zé Almeida Double bass
- Diogo Alexandre Drums, Electronics
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Gulbenkian Orchestra
In 1962, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation decided to establish a permanent orchestral ensemble. Originally with only twelve musicians (strings and continuo) it was named “Orquestra de Câmara Gulbenkian”. This collective was successively enlarged and today the “Orquestra Gulbenkian” (the name it has adopted since 1971) has a permanent body of sixty instrumentalists, a number that can be expanded depending on the repertoire.
This structure allows the Gulbenkian Orchestra to interpret works from the Baroque and Classical periods, a significant part of 19th century orchestral literature and much of the music of the 20th century, including works belonging to the current repertoire of the traditional symphonic orchestras. In each season, the orchestra performs on a regular series of concerts at the Gulbenkian Grand Auditorium in Lisbon, where it has had the opportunity of working together with some of leading names of the world of music (conductors and soloists). It has also performed on numerous locations all over Portugal, in an effort to decentralize music and culture.
The orchestra has been constantly expanding its activities in the international level, performing in Europe, Asia Africa, and the Americas. In the recording field, Orquestra Gulbenkian is associated to labels as Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Hyperion, Teldec, Erato, Adès, Nimbus, Lyrinx, Naïve and Pentatone, among others, and this activity was recognized with several international prizes.
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Mariano Chiacchiarini
Conductor
Recognized by critics worldwide with the ECHO Music Prize, the German Record Critics' Award, and the KONEX Prize in Music, Mariano began his international career by winning the 1st prize at the Teatro Colón Conducting Competition. This led to collaborations with the most prominent conductors, such as Sir S. Rattle, P. Boulez, P. Eötvös, R. Chailly, R. Muti, and B. Haitink; and to work with the most renowned orchestras and ensembles, including the Hong Kong Phil, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Russian State Orchestra, Philharmonique de Radio France, WDR Sinfonieorchester, German Radio Phil, Gulbenkian Orquestra and the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker. He has been invited to major festivals and concert venues, including the Lucerne Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Young Euro Classic, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Elbphilharmonie, Konzerthaus Vienna and Berlin, Tchaikovsky Hall Moscow, Teatro Colón, Deutsche Oper am Rhein and l’Opéra Bastille. Mariano has served as Music Director of Trier University, as Conductor of Ensemble Garage and since 2014 began his cooperation with the National Symphony in Argentina. Most recently he was selected by Barbara Hannigan’s Momentum Project, named as a member of the German Music Council, as “Outstanding Personality of the Culture” of his hometown and awarded with the Premio Nacional Clásica. In 2025, he received the Music Critics Association Award as “Conductor of the Year” at the Parliament of Buenos Aires.
Since 2022 Mariano Chiacchiarini was chosen Universitätsmusikdirektor of the city of Bremen.
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SlowMob
SlowMob questions traditional roles and reimagines what group improvisation can be, embraces fluid forms, spontaneous interplay, and the creation of compositional narratives through real-time, expressive connection.
Emerging from the experimental momentum of Igor C Silva’s earlier project Sōma, the quartet, featuring Igor Silva (live-electronic/synths), Mané Fernandes (guitar), Zé Almeida (double bass), and Diogo Alexandre (drums/live-electronics)—moves through the fertile ground where improvisation, technology, and composition collide. With a deep commitment to sonic exploration, SlowMob prioritizes the weaving of acoustic instruments and live electronics as the canvas for its expressive language.
While Sōma continues to tour, SlowMob performs regularly as a quartet and is currently preparing to record its debut album.
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Igor C Silva
Composer
Born in Porto and currently based in Amsterdam, Igor C Silva is a composer dedicated to electronics and new media music, creating projects where performers, computers, and noisy, psychedelic elements come together on stage to create a multi-sensory experience. Silva regularly works with ensembles and orchestras around the world, receiving commissions from leading international festivals and groups, and frequently releases recordings of his music.
Igor was the Young Composer in Residence at Casa da Música in 2012. He was also Composer in Residence at Miso Music Studios, Drumming GP in 2018–2019, and Arxis Ensemble in 2022. His works have received international recognition and prizes, including recommendations at the International Rostrum of Composers for You Should Be Blind to Watch TV (Estonia, 2015) and Plastic Air for flexible duo, electronics, and video/light (Hungary, 2018). He has also won several awards, including First Prize at the 1st International Electroacoustic and Intermedial Composition Competition ‘eviMus’ (Germany) with the piece Numb.
Among his most recent projects, the multimedia opera Follow stands out, written for Stephanie Pan and Ensemble Klang (Netherlands, 2021), with a libretto by Aaron Landsman (USA); the long-duration multimedia-immersive installation/performance All Limits, created for the ensemble United Instruments of Lucilin (Luxembourg, 2022) as part of the European Capital of Culture Esch2022; and the piece Wrong Index for big band and electronics, composed for the Orquestra de Jazz de Matosinhos (Portugal, 2023);
Igor's music is performed internationally by a wide range of ensembles and orchestras, in festivals, concert halls, and diverse artistic contexts, ranging from classical venues to jazz and underground festivals, and from digital media art installations to dance and musical theatre projects.
Among his upcoming projects, a new commission for SWR at Donaueschingen Musiktage 2026, featuring orchestra and live electronics, stands out. He is also embarking on a collaboration with Drumming GP and preparing for performances across Europe, Asia, and the USA. Looking ahead to 2026, a new album will be released, alongside performances and recordings from his latest project, Slow Mob, a quartet developed from his commission Sōma, featuring Mané Fernandes, Zé Almeida, and Diogo Alexandre.
Igor C Silva graduated in Composition from the Escola Superior de Música, Artes e Espetáculo (ESMAE) in 2011 and completed a Master's degree in Composition and Music Theory in 2013. In 2017, he earned a Master's degree in Live Electronics from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.
He is currently a PhD candidate at VUB (Brussels) and the Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel, where he also teaches composition, electronics, and multimedia in the Live Electronics program.
Igor C Silva
John Adams
Leonard Bernstein
*First audition in Portugal. Commissioned by the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO), funded by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. Premiered at the Kölner Philharmonie on 21.09.2025.
Portuguese premiere of a work commissioned by the ECHO network from composer Igor C Silva and first performed at the Philharmonie in Cologne. Based in Amsterdam, Igor C Silva has made a name for himself composing for electronic music and new media, often collaborating with ensembles, orchestras, and jazz groups. His new composition is a piece for orchestra and jazz trio, to be performed by the Gulbenkian Orchestra alongside emblematic creations by American composers John Adams and Leonard Bernstein.
Sponsor Gulbenkian Music
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