Finally was published an arrangement I did for Horn Quartet (optional drums).
Autumn Leaves by J. Kosma, a great quartet for an encore!
This was possible thanks to the SMP Press, that recently facilitated all the process of legalising music arrangements. It is available as a digital download.

 

 

Some videos from concerts in Praha (August 2015)...


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Now also kids can sing Matosinhos!
I would like to announce that the song "A aranha e os alfaiates" that I worte based on a poem by António Torrado, has received an honourable mention in the 2nd Song Children Composition Contest based on Portuguese Poems, organised by the APEM (Associação Portuguesa de Educação Musical).
It is the first piece I sorte form singers, a very interesting experiente Soon there will be 2 Children Songs ciclos...
This particular song, will be available for free at the  "Projeto Cantar Mais" cantar mais.

Two new pieces were published by AvA Musical Editions. One is Krísis for flute solo, dedicated to the flute player Marco Pereira, approaching crisis with a message of hope. The other piece is the Low Horn Suite no.2 dedicated to the horn player Mickael Faustino, in three versions for Horn / Trombone Euphonium and piano, following the  Low Horn Suite (no.1).

I've been compositing a lot lately, so a few more music works are promised soon...

It is well known that musicians need to practice the same passagens over and over until they get it stable and finally perfectly. However, repetition can be also perverse, since by repeating we tend to lose our focus. It is important to work in detail, but it is also important to review basic technic aspects.

I recommend my students to review those basic aspects right after the warmup, by dedicating 2-3 minutes to each one of the basic technical aspects (legato, staccato, flexibility, low range, high range, lip trills, stopped notes, etc...). This way they are reviewed every single day, without forgetting to practice any of them. There are hourglasses with approximately 3 minutes that are used to teach kids to brush their teeth during the recommended amount of time. By using this accessory during the music practice, big practice sessions can be easily split into smaller 2-3 minutes tasks.

This is one more strategy to include in the music practice techniques arsenal.