Daniel Moreira

Daniel Moreira, born in Porto in 1983, holds a PhD in Music/Composition from King’s College London (2017), a Master’s degree in Composition and Music Theory from the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo of the Polytechnic Institute of Porto (2010), and a degree in Economics from the University of Porto (2006). He studied composition with George Benjamin, Fernando Lapa, Dimitris Andrikopoulos, and João-Heitor Rigaud; electronic music with Carlos Guedes; and music theory and analysis with José Oliveira Martins and Miguel Ribeiro-Pereira.

As a composer, he is primarily dedicated to multidisciplinary approaches, with a focus on music for film, television, and other audiovisual formats (Os Faroleiros, 2022; A Noite, 2023; Os Monstros, 2024; Kino-Kinesis, 2026), opera (Ninguém & Todo-o-Mundo, 2018; K-aleidoscópio, 2025), and interactions between music and light (Isto não é um filme, 2020; Vórtice: para o fim de um tempo, 2022). A significant part of his recent work combines acoustic instruments and electronics. His music has been commissioned or supported by institutions such as Casa da Música (where he was Young Composer in Residence in 2009), Festival Musica Strasbourg, the European Concert Hall Organisation, Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa, Antena 2/RDP, MPMP, Kölner Philharmonie, Programa Criatório, Batalha Centro de Cinema, and Drumming GP.

As an academic researcher, his work lies in the fields of music theory and analysis, with a particular focus on film music and on aspects of harmony and timbre in 20th- and 21st-century music. His main work has been published in Music Theory Online (2025), Journal of Film Music (2022), and Music Analysis (2021). He is Assistant Professor of music analysis, composition, and film music at ESMAE–IPP and a research fellow at CEIS20 (University of Coimbra).