Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue
Gulbenkian Orchestra / José Eduardo Gomes / Mário Laginha
Performers
- Conductor
- Mário Laginha Piano
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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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José Eduardo Gomes
Conductor
José Eduardo Gomes recently won the 1st Prize in the European Union Conducting Competition, and the Beethoven Prize in the same competition. He’s Principal Conductor of FEUP Orchestra (Porto – Portugal) and also Professor in the Lisbon Music University and Porto Music University, as a Principal Conductor of the School Orchestra.
He was Principal Conductor of Center Classical Orchestra (Coimbra – Portugal), Associate Conductor of the Orquestra Clássica do Sul (Faro – Portugal), Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Chambre de Carouge, in Switzerland and principal conductor of the Circulo Portuense de Opera Choir (Porto-Portugal).
He began his musical studies with the clarinet in his born town V. N. Famalicão. Later he continued his studies in ARTAVE and ESMAE - Porto, where he graduated in Antonio Saiote’s class. He followed his studies in Orchestral Conducting at the Haute École de Musique de Genève (Switzerland), with Laurent Gay, and choral conducting with Celso Antunes.
He was distinguished in several competitions: “RTP Antena 2 Young Musicians Award”, Portugal; ”Competition Marcos Romão” Portugal and "International Competition Villa de Montroy", Valencia (Spain), in clarinet and chamber music, and in the Portuguese competition “Prémio Jovens Músicos” in orchestral conducting, with the 2nd prize and the special Orchestra Prize, and also Semi Finalist in the “1º Concorso Citta di Brescia Giancarlo Facchinetti” (Italy).
José Eduardo is founder of the clarinet ensemble Quarteto Vintage and Serenade Ensemble.
In the past few years he has been invited to work with the main Portuguese Orchestras, such as Gulbenkian Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Cdm, Orquestra SInfónica Portuguesa, with soloist such as Maria João Pires, Diemut Poppen, Maria Elisabeth Lott, Sebastian Klinger, Adriana Ferreira, among others and performing in important festivals, such as Dias da Música, Festival de Sintra, Festival PJM, Festival Cantabile, Festival das Artes, Festival de Música de Leiria, FIMA, Música no Colégio, Festival Internacional de Música Religiosa de Guimarães, among others.
In Opera, he conducted some productions, such as Mozart “Don Giovanni” and “Cosi Fan Tutte”, Marcos de Portugal “La Donna di Genio Volubile”, Haydn “Lo Speziale”.
Another important part of his work is dedicated to youth orchestras, all over the country.
In 2018, he was awarded with the “Medalha de Mérito Cultural”, by his hometown, V.N. Famalicão.
Since 2019, José Eduardo is the Artistic Director of JOF (Jovem Orquestra Famalicão), a young symphonic orchestra, with some of the most prominent young Portuguese musicians.
Programme
George Gershwin
Rhapsody in Blue