Jorge Matta holds a PhD in Historical Musicology from the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, where he taught in the Department of Musical Sciences.

An investigator, publisher and performer, he has been responsible for three hundred modern premieres of vocal and instrumental works by Portuguese composers and has given world premieres of works by Constance Capdeville, Jorge Peixinho, Fernando Lopes-Graça, Filipe Pires and Miguel Azguime. As an author and performer, he has also recorded series of TV programs such as “Música de Corte no Palácio da Ajuda” (1986), “Tempos da Música” (1988) and “Percursos da Música Portuguesa” (2008).

Jorge Matta participated in major music festivals in Portugal and abroad, and has conducted the Orquestra Gulbenkian, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, Orquestra Sinfónica da RDP (Portuguese radio), Orquestra de Câmara de Macau, Orquestra de Câmara de Lisboa, Orquestra do Norte, Filarmonica das Beiras, Collegium Instrumentale de Bruges, Bavarian Radio Choir and the Boston Arts Academy Choirs.

Recent International engagements include the preparation of Coro Gulbenkian for five performances of Richard Strauss’ Elektra, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen and staged by the late Patrice Chéreau at the Festival de Aix-en-Provence, as well for concerts in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, with Real Orquesta Filarmónica de Galicia, and in Paris with Orquestra Gulbenkian.

His discography includes recordings with Coro Gulbenkian (“Canções Corais”, Filipe Pires; Libera me, Constança Capdeville; Opera Omnia, Diogo Dias Melgas; “Música Sacra”, Joaquim Casimiro Júnior; “Vilancicos negros, de Santa Cruz de Coimbra”; “Música Sacra, Pero de Gamboa e Lourenço Ribeiro”; “Fernando Lopes-Graça – Música Coral”; “Canções de Natal Portuguesas”), as well as with the ensemble Cantus Firmus and Orquestra de Câmara de Lisboa.

In 2000-2001 he was director of the Portuguese national opera theatre, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos. Since 2001, he is the president of the Comission for Evaluation of Regional Orchestras.