Biography

Hugo Ribeiro was born in Lisbon in 1983 and began his musical studies at the Conservatório de Música D. Dinis in Odivelas, where he studied with Vera Belozorovitch (piano) and Carlos Marecos (Composition Techniques and Analysis).
He gained his composition degree in 2005 at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa studying under Luís Tinoco, António Pinho Vargas, Christopher Bochmann, among others.
In 2007 he obtained his MMus degree in composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London where he studied with Simon Bainbridge and Paul Patterson. Whilst attending this institution he won the ‘Lena Pritchard Green’ and ‘Ismena Holland’ awards. He also had the opportunity of working with the composers Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Martin Bresnick, David Sawer and Bent Sørensen and with COMA London, BBC Singers and Royal Academy Soloists.
During his time in London he received a bursary from Centro Nacional de Cultura (Lisbon, Portugal) - 'Young Creators Bursary'.
In January 2012 he completed his PhD at Canterbury Christ Church University, also in the United Kingdom.
Hugo Ribeiro has participated in piano Master Classes with Vladimir Viardo, Helena Sá e Costa and Vitali Dotesenko, as well as in composition courses with Emmanuel Nunes, Salvatore Sciarrino, Philippe Hurel, John Chownin. At the 2004 summer composition courses in Darmstadt, he had the privilege of working with Bryan Ferneyhough, Georg Friedrich Haas, Toshio Hosokawa and Tadeusz Wielecki. He has also participated in an orchestral conducting Master Class with Jean Sébastien Béreau.
He played as a pianist in the Orquestra do Estágio de Interpretação de Nova Música at the 4th and 5th editions of Jornadas Nova Música (Aveiro, Portugal) conducted by Edwin Roxburgh and Beat Furrer.
In 2004, 2006 and 2007 he was selected for the Gulbenkian Workshop for Portuguese Young Composers, where his pieces Message-Homage, Impromptu and In memoriam were premiered by the Gulbenkian Orchestra conducted by Guillaume Bourgogne.
From various public presentations of his work one can highlight the performance of Letter for Kundera for 14 players at the Listen to the World! Festival 2009 in Gothenburg, Sweden, performed by the Gageego! Ensemble, conducted by Pierre-André Valade; the premier of his orchestral piece Inventio at the Festival Música Viva 2009 (Lisbon, Portugal) performed by the Gulbenkian Orchestra conducted by Pedro Amaral; and his participation with the piece Nocturne: rituel in the 10th International Forum for Young Composers (Montreal, Canada) with Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne conducted by Lorraine Vaillancourt.
Among his works, stands the composition of the opera Os mortos viajam de metro [The dead travel by metro], with libretto by Armando Nascimento Rosa and stage direction by Paulo Matos, premiered at the S. Luiz Theatre in Lisbon in April 2010, performed by the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra and conducted by João Paulo Santos.
Hugo Ribeiro’s compositions have been distinguished with winning 1st Prize in the 2nd International Composition Competition Póvoa de Varzim Orchestra Category (2007), the national competition Opera in Creation 2008 at the S. Luiz Theatre in Lisbon and 1st Prize at the International Composer Pyramid competition (2010).
With the piece et sequentes for solo harpsichord he obtained the 1st Prize in the 2nd International Composition Prize Fernando Lopes-Graça, 2011. This prize is financed by the Government of Portugal.
Recently, he was the winner of the Prémio Musa with the work poemas sem nome for mixed choir a cappella, with poems by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen as part of the poet's centenary celebrations.
Hugo Ribeiro attended a master's degree in orchestral conducting at Montreal University, studying with Jean-François Rivest and Paolo Bellomia (2013/2014). He also had private lessons with the conductors Roberto Alejandro Pérez in Lisbon, Denise Ham and Peter Stark in London, and Alexis Hauser and Lorraine Vaillancourt in Montreal.
He gained his composition degree in 2005 at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa studying under Luís Tinoco, António Pinho Vargas, Christopher Bochmann, among others.
In 2007 he obtained his MMus degree in composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London where he studied with Simon Bainbridge and Paul Patterson. Whilst attending this institution he won the ‘Lena Pritchard Green’ and ‘Ismena Holland’ awards. He also had the opportunity of working with the composers Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Martin Bresnick, David Sawer and Bent Sørensen and with COMA London, BBC Singers and Royal Academy Soloists.
During his time in London he received a bursary from Centro Nacional de Cultura (Lisbon, Portugal) - 'Young Creators Bursary'.
In January 2012 he completed his PhD at Canterbury Christ Church University, also in the United Kingdom.
Hugo Ribeiro has participated in piano Master Classes with Vladimir Viardo, Helena Sá e Costa and Vitali Dotesenko, as well as in composition courses with Emmanuel Nunes, Salvatore Sciarrino, Philippe Hurel, John Chownin. At the 2004 summer composition courses in Darmstadt, he had the privilege of working with Bryan Ferneyhough, Georg Friedrich Haas, Toshio Hosokawa and Tadeusz Wielecki. He has also participated in an orchestral conducting Master Class with Jean Sébastien Béreau.
He played as a pianist in the Orquestra do Estágio de Interpretação de Nova Música at the 4th and 5th editions of Jornadas Nova Música (Aveiro, Portugal) conducted by Edwin Roxburgh and Beat Furrer.
In 2004, 2006 and 2007 he was selected for the Gulbenkian Workshop for Portuguese Young Composers, where his pieces Message-Homage, Impromptu and In memoriam were premiered by the Gulbenkian Orchestra conducted by Guillaume Bourgogne.
From various public presentations of his work one can highlight the performance of Letter for Kundera for 14 players at the Listen to the World! Festival 2009 in Gothenburg, Sweden, performed by the Gageego! Ensemble, conducted by Pierre-André Valade; the premier of his orchestral piece Inventio at the Festival Música Viva 2009 (Lisbon, Portugal) performed by the Gulbenkian Orchestra conducted by Pedro Amaral; and his participation with the piece Nocturne: rituel in the 10th International Forum for Young Composers (Montreal, Canada) with Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne conducted by Lorraine Vaillancourt.
Among his works, stands the composition of the opera Os mortos viajam de metro [The dead travel by metro], with libretto by Armando Nascimento Rosa and stage direction by Paulo Matos, premiered at the S. Luiz Theatre in Lisbon in April 2010, performed by the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra and conducted by João Paulo Santos.
Hugo Ribeiro’s compositions have been distinguished with winning 1st Prize in the 2nd International Composition Competition Póvoa de Varzim Orchestra Category (2007), the national competition Opera in Creation 2008 at the S. Luiz Theatre in Lisbon and 1st Prize at the International Composer Pyramid competition (2010).
With the piece et sequentes for solo harpsichord he obtained the 1st Prize in the 2nd International Composition Prize Fernando Lopes-Graça, 2011. This prize is financed by the Government of Portugal.
Recently, he was the winner of the Prémio Musa with the work poemas sem nome for mixed choir a cappella, with poems by Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen as part of the poet's centenary celebrations.
Hugo Ribeiro attended a master's degree in orchestral conducting at Montreal University, studying with Jean-François Rivest and Paolo Bellomia (2013/2014). He also had private lessons with the conductors Roberto Alejandro Pérez in Lisbon, Denise Ham and Peter Stark in London, and Alexis Hauser and Lorraine Vaillancourt in Montreal.