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The Portuguese choral conductor, nusic teacher and counter-tenor, António Lourenço Menezes, graduated in Choral Conducting and Music Education from the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa (2013-2016). He began his studies on the saxophone at the Conservatório de Música Jaime Chavinha (Class of 2013) and completed the Secondary Singing Course at the Escola de Música do Conservatório Nacional with distinction. He collaborated with artists such as Sigiswald Kuijken and Lawrence Cummings, winning the International Music Competition "Cidade de Almada" (2020) and performing together in several countries.
In the 2019-2020 academic year, António Lourenço Menezes taught Musical Training at the Conservatório d’Artes de Loures. With a comprehensive approach, he developed teaching activities for 5 years at the Sociedade Filarmônica Alcanedense, applying Kodály, Dalcroze and Gordon methodologies. He actively participated in distance learning and contributed to the Bendada Music Festival in several editions, teaching choir and singing.
António Lourenço Menezes is principal conductor of the Coro Gaudia Vitae (since September 2017), Artistic Director of the Ninad Ensemble and Atistic Director of Cantus Novus Ensemble (since January 2018). He was assistant conductor of the Coro Sacro de Lisboa, preparing the national premiere of György Orbán's Missa Quinta. Also noteworthy is the modern premiere of Missa Domine in virtute tua laetabitur rex, musical direction of Gabriel Fauré's Requiem and direction of the opera O Rapaz de Bronze by Nuno Corte Real. In 2022-2023, he served as musical director of the musical Música no Coração.
As a soloist of oratorios and cantatas, António Lourenço Menezes participated in works by J.S. Bach, Giovanni Battista Pergolesi, George Frideric Handel and Antonio Vivaldi, and as a soloist of stage music, he performed Jorge Salgueiro's O Pequeno Príncipe (premiere) and G.F. Handel's Giulio Cesare, among others. An active member of early music interpretation, he regularly collaborates with national ensembles such as Avres Serva, Polyphonos Ensemble and Orquestra Barroca D'Aquém Mar. He was also chorister in Coro Ricercare in Lisbon (November 2013-July 2017). At the same time, he works as a musical assistant (CD), produces decentralized classical music projects and develops activities in the field of teaching, production and composition. He currently lives in Lisbon, Portugal. |
