


Lisbon's Nuova Camerata brings together a mix of improvisers and contemporary classical players--Carlos Zingaro, Joao Camoes, Ulrich Mitzlaff, Miguel Leiria on string with Pedro Carneiro on marimba--for a set of improvisations bridging both disciplines in passionate and unexpected ways.
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Sample The Album:



Pedro Carneiro-marimba
Carlos Zingaro-violin
Joao Camoes-viola
Ulrich Mitzlaff-cello
Miguel Leiria Pereira-doublebass
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UPC: 641243280523
Label: Improvising Beings
Catalog ID: ib50
Squidco Product Code: 23509
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2016
Country: France
Packaging: Jewel Case
Recorded at Auditorio Vianna da Motta, ESML, Portugal, in November, 2015, by Pedro Carneiro and Miguel Leiria Pereira.
"Nuova Camerata: Chant Free improvisation and contemporary music share many aspects, and the goal is the same-to avoid the beaten path of established musical idioms. Of course, sometimes they can both become actual styles, somewhat conforming to predictable strategies, but the most successful instances are those that keep the ambiguity intact, presenting the ideal of "new music" in its purest form.
Nuova Camerata is a new group based in Lisbon that brilliantly merges these two worlds, as this recent release on the excellent Improvising Beings label demonstrates, and is formed by a veteran like Carlos Zingaro alongside other experienced exponents of the Portuguese free improvisation scene like Ulrich Mitzlaff, Joao Camoes, Pedro Carneiro and Miguel Leiria Pereira. The instrumentation-violin, viola, cello, double bass and marimba- resembles more a chamber ensemble than a typical improvising unit, and the musicians show a strong classical sensibility indeed, with impeccable technical command of their instruments and an unusual ear for the most minute details.
The record is comprised of seven collective improvisations that cover different moods and atmospheres over the course of the performance. The tonal palette is rich and varied, and the marimba blends beautifully with the strings, creating an evocative musical world that hints at different traditions without conforming to any one. The narrative dimension is often willingly ignored and pure sound is explored in detail, with space and silence as integral aspects of the musical fact, and the main character is of a definitely abstract nature, made of wide dynamic variations and tight contrapuntal exchanges.
The ensemble is often divided in small groupings showcasing the individual voices, that sometimes come to the fore as in a typical soloist role, the others musicians always ready to integrate the musical discourse with carefully calibrated moves that give the performance a constantly surprising quality. Even in the most crowded moments every voice is distinctly audible, and the continuous tension between powerful collective dialogues and subtly placed accents across the sound field make for a challenging and rewarding listen that shows us a rigorous, passionate and unexpected approach to free improvisation. This is, indeed, new music at its best."-Nicola Nergi, All About Jazz

Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Pedro Carneiro "Pedro Carneiro is a Portuguese solo classical percussionist, marimba player, composer, and conductor. Pedro Carneiro is one of the very few percussion players to have made an international career as a soloist, and has established himself as one of the world's foremost solo percussionists, performing regularly throughout Europe, the Asia and the United States. Carneiro has won several international competitions and awards, while performing regularly in festivals and venues such as the BBC Proms, Rhythm Sticks Festival, Queen Elisabeth Hall and Purcell Room in London, Sonorities Festival in Belfast, Macau International Music Festival, Grant Park Music Festival in Chicago, New Zealand International Festival of the Arts, Capital Theatre in Beijing, La Biennale di Venezia, Folles Journées (Lisbon), Schumannfest in Düsseldorf, Festival Classique au Vert in Paris, amongst others. Mr. Carneiro has also performed recitals in cities such as London, Paris, Los Angeles, Hanover, Seville, Lisbon, Seoul and Hong Kong. Carneiro is a frequent guest soloist with numerous orchestras: BBC National Orchestra of Wales, London Mozart Players, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, Helsingborgs Symfoniorkester, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Régional de Basse-Normandie, Gävle Symfoniorkester and Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, to name but a few, working with conductors such as Petri Sakari, John Neschling, Ronald Zollman, Kaspar de Roo, Jurjen Hempel, Olari Elts, Andrew Parrott, Juanjo Mena, António Saiote, José Ramón Encinar, John Storgårds, Hamish McKeich, Max Rabinovitsj, Sarah Ioannides and Joseph Swensen, amongst others. Pedro Carneiro has been heard and seen on radio and television stations throughout the world as well as releasing several solo recordings. As a guest teacher, Pedro has given masterclasses in many prestigious conservatoires and universities, such as the Royal College of Music, Guildhall School of Music & Drama and Trinity College of Music in London, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, São Paulo State University in Brazil and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, to name but a few. He is the visiting professor of solo percussion studies at the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra in Lisbon. Pedro Carneiro is the principal conductor and artistic director of the Portuguese Chamber Orchestra." ^ Hide Bio for Pedro Carneiro • Show Bio for Carlos Zingaro "Carlos Zíngaro (or Carlos "Zíngaro" Alves, born 1948 in Lisbon, Portugal) is a Portuguese violinist and electronic musician active in free improvisation. He studied classical music in Lisbon and began working with a number of leading improvisers in the mid-1970s, becoming one of the European top improvisers presently. He has worked with such musicians as Richard Teitelbaum, Joëlle Léandre, Peter Kowald, Barre Phillips, Daunik Lazro, Derek Bailey, Jon Rose, Ken Vandermark, Ken Filiano, Rodrigo Amado, Ned Rothenberg, Rüdiger Carl, Dominique Regef, Evan Parker, Annick Nozati, Theo Jörgensmann and Paul Lovens. Zíngaro has performed at new and improvised music festivals in Europe, Asia, and North America, produced several film scores, and collaborated with dance companies. He is also a prolific illustrator and comics author." ^ Hide Bio for Carlos Zingaro • Show Bio for Joao Camoes "João Camões was born in Coimbra, Portugal, in 1983. Classically trained, he studied viola in Conservatory of Music of Coimbra, under the guidance of João Ventura. After completing his studies in Civil Engineering, he moved to Lisbon where he discovered the creative and improvised music bustling local scene. There, he started to develop a set of extensive techniques that he mixes with classical ones, in a very physical approach to his instrument. Active in miscellaneous ensembles, his personal projects include: "Open Field string trio", with Marcelo dos Reis (guitar) and José Miguel Pereira (double-bass), "earnear", with Rodrigo Pinheiro (piano) and Miguel Mira (cello), João Camões & Kátia Sá, a duo with visual artist Kátia Sá and Nuova Camerata, with Carlos "Zíngaro" (violin), Ulrich Mitzlaff (cello), Miguel Leiria Pereira (double-bass) and Pedro Carneiro (marimba). Lately, together with his beloved wife, Joana Gomes, he started to compose and interpret music for theatre plays. In addition to his regular projects he has also worked, in concert or workshop context, alongside some generous artists that helped him to continuously wonder, such as Bertrand Denzler, Bruno Parrinha, Burton Greene, Elliott Sharp, Ernesto Rodrigues, Evan Parker, Frédéric Blondy, Jean-Marc Foussat, João Apolinário, João Lucas, João Parrinha, João Paulo Esteves da Silva, João Viegas, Manuel Ara, Miguel Martins and Samuel Barsegian." ^ Hide Bio for Joao Camoes • Show Bio for Ulrich Mitzlaff "Ulrich Mitzlaff completed his cello studies in the seventies at Tübingen (Germany) with Professor Stefan Zarnescú. Since 1996 he lives at Lisbon, Portugal, where he works as cellist and composer of contemporary and experimental music, improvisation, free-jazz, conceptual composition and sound-art. He collaborates with various artists in multidisciplinary and electro-acoustic projects and he is member of the art-association "granular". At the moment, he participates in music-projects like: the Duo Ulrich Mitzlaff / Miguel Mira, with a new and very surprising CD "Cellos" that was presented early springtime this year; Separados Frutos, an experimental music and spoken word formation with Nuno Rebelo, Vera Mantero and Manuel Guimarães; the Open Speech TRIO with Carlos Bechegas and Miguel Feraso Cabral; the Duo Carlos "Zingaro" / Ulrich Mitzlaff and the Fruit Music Quartet with Franziska Schroeder, Pedro Carneiro and Pedro Rebelo. With Carlos "Zingaro" he was performing in many different constellations and formations that had a significant impact on his playing. The same is to say about his collaborations with Nuno Rebelo, Carlos Bechegas, Miguel Mira and Carlos Santos. He was interpreting the original music composed by Nuno Rebelo in 2001 for "como rebolar alegremente sobre um vazio interior", choreography by Vera Mantero for the Ballet Gulbenkian, and in 2003 for "Silicone Não", choreography by Paulo Ribeiro for the Companhia Paulo Ribeiro. He was collaborating in 2000 and 2001 with Américo Rodrigues in his multi-dimensional piece "...como um relâmpago...". He composed and presented live in 2008 the music for the choreography created by Romulus Neagu "The Invisibility of the Small Perceptions". With Romulus Neagu he works also in the duo "ImproFormance", an instant dance-performance. In 2008 he created and interpreted the music for the documentary film by Miguel Clara Vasconcelos over the choreographic project of Romulus Neagu "The Invisibility of the Small Perceptions", and in 2009 he composed and interpreted the music for the dramatic short film by Miguel Clara Vasconcelos "Pedrinez". He interpreted the original music written by Paulo Curado for the animation film "Cândido" by "Zepe" - José Pedro Cavalheiro in 2007. He participated in many international festivals like "Festival LEM Primavera" (Barcelona 2009), "Festival Portugal and the World" (Brussels 2007), "Metasonic LX" (Lisbon 2006), "Metasonic III" (Lisbon 2010), "Festival Músicas do Mundo" (Sines 2006), "Festival Alkantara" (Lisbon 2006), "Sonorities" festival of contemporary music (Belfast, Northern Ireland 2005), "CAMP 03 - international festival for electronic music, sound art and visual arts" (Tübingen, Germany 2003) and "CAMP 05" (Montemor-o-Novo 2005), "Encontros de Música Experimental- EME" (Setúbal 2000 and 2001), "Ó da Guarda" (Guarda 1999, 2005 and 2008) among many others. He was playing in various concerts with Fried Dähn, Rodrigo Amado, Emídio Buchinho, Reinhold Friedl, Vitor Joaquim, Thomas Maos, Stefano de Bonis, Josep-Maria Balanyà, Bart Maris, Miguel Cardoso, Pedro Lopes, Hernâni Faustino, Stefano Zorzanello, Gregg Moore, Liba Villavecchia, Paulo Curado, Bertrand Gauguet, Miguel Leiria Pereira, Ernesto Rodrigues, Mark Whitecage, Phill Niblock and many others. He worked in the duo I/O with Carlos Santos (MAX/MSP) in the field of electro-acoustic improvisation and he was collaborating with the Lisbon Improvisation Players of Rodrigo Amado." ^ Hide Bio for Ulrich Mitzlaff • Show Bio for Miguel Leiria Pereira "Miguel Leiria Pereira was born in Lisbon in 1971, and started his double bass studies at the Lisbon Conservatory with professors António Ferreira and João Panta Nunes. He did undergraduate double bass studies at Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra (ANSO) with Professor Bernard Madrennes and finished his bachelor degree at the Lisbon Superior School of Music (ESML) under orientation of Professor Yuri Axenov. With a scholarship from the company Grupo Alcântara he took double bass lessons with Professor Gary Karr at his Karrkamp at the University of Victoria (Canada), and with a scholarship from the Portuguese Culture Ministry studied during two years and a half at West Texas A & M University (USA-Texas), and Butler University (USA-Indiana) with Professor David Murray. In 1991 He was awarded first prize at the "Carpe Diem" national music festival (Portugal), in 1994 he was warded first prize in the Portuguese national radio's Young Musicians Prize Competition (Portugal), and in 1998 he was awarded the second prize at the Butler University Concerto Contest (Indiana-USA). As orchestra musician he collaborated with the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, Lisbon Sinfonieta, Cascais and Oeiras Chamber Orchestra, Amarillo Symphony (Texas), and Butler Symphony (Indiana). As he keeps the double bass teaching position of the Lisbon National Conservatory, Miguel Leiria Pereira's performance areas are the double bass solo repertoire, chamber music, orchestra, improvised and other forms of creative music." ^ Hide Bio for Miguel Leiria Pereira
4/28/2025
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4/28/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
4/28/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
4/28/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
4/28/2025
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

Track Listing:
1. Chant I 2:53
2. Chant II 10:18
3. Chant III 5:49
4. Chant IV 9:57
5. Chant V 3:44
6. Chant VI 4:43
7. Chant VII 11:33

Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Quintet Recordings
Stringed Instruments
Search for other titles on the label:
Improvising Beings.

