Musical groups dedicated to contemporary repertoire in Portugal at the beginning of the 21st century: Drumming, Síntese, Sond’Ar-te Electric Ensemble, Performa Ensemble and Ensemble DME

In Portugal, a country distinguished by its receptivity to diverse musical traditions, we have witnessed the establishment of musical ensembles dedicated to contemporary classical repertoire by composers, associations, performers, and others. These endeavours have received support from DGARTES among other instituitions.

In order to conduct a representative investigation of the national panorama, the case of five groups based in different regions of the country will be studied: Drumming (Porto), Síntese (Guarda), Sond’Ar-te Electric Ensemble (Lisbon), Performa Ensemble (Aveiro) and Ensemble DME (Seia).

By combining a documentary analysis of concert programmes, activity reports, reviews, news, and other existing documentation with the results obtained from semi-structured interviews with members of the ensembles, we will gain insight into the history of these groups, the history of musical composition and its players from the beginning of the 21st century to the present day. Furthermore, our study will contribute to a deeper understanding of the recent contemporary music scene and its documentation.