Orpheus Institute welcomes Joana Gama as Visiting Researcher
News December 5, 2023The Orpheus Institute gladly welcomes Joana Gama as visiting researcher. Gama (Braga, 1983) is a Portuguese pianist who is involved in multiple projects, both solo and in collaborations in the areas of cinema, dance, theatre, photography and music.
Joana Gama (Braga, 1983) is a Portuguese pianist who is involved in multiple projects, both solo and in collaborations in the areas of cinema, dance, theatre, photography and music. In 2010, in the class of António Rosado, she completed her Master in Performance, at the University of Évora, where she completed her PHD, in 2017, as a grant holder of the FCT. Today she continues her research as a member of CESEM / NOVA FCSH. Since 2010 she is dedicated to disseminating the work of the French composer Erik Satie: in 2016, with the support of Antena 2, she marked the 150th anniversary of the composer's birth with the tour "SATIE.150 - A celebration in the shape of an umbrella" and the launch of the book "Embryons desséchés". In recent years she has presented recitals for adults and children around the music of Erik Satie and also released the albums SATIE.150, HARMONIES and ARCUEIL. He has played Erik Satie's piece "Vexations" on four occasions: Serralves em Festa, 2016; Jardins Efémeros Festival, 2016; Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, 2018; Atelier Real with João Fiadeiro, 2019, in performances lasting forty minutes, fifteen hours, fourteen hours and seven hours, respectively.
In October 2020, in a concert at Culturgest, she premiered, in Portugal, the piano cycle "The Book of Sounds" by Hans Otte. This was the first action to promote Hans Otte's work in our country, part of the Festival Hans Otte : Sound of Sounds - whose curatorship he shared with Ingo Ahmels, researcher and Hans Otte’s former assistant - which, with the support of the Goethe Institut and several Portuguese and German institutions, took the multiform work of Hans Otte to Lisbon, Évora, Guimarães and Viseu.
During her residency at Orpheus Instituut, Joana will prepare a new performance, in form of a ritual, with the piece “Le fils des étoiles” by Erik Satie and will also take part in the General Assembly to share her work on “The Book of Sounds” by Hans Otte. Her time here will be spent as part of the cluster MetamusicX.
Also in 2020 she premiered the show “Trees have no legs to walk" that has already surpassed one hundred and fifty performances and that, in 2022, was presented at Palacete de São Bento, part of the April 25th Commemorations. For younger audiences she has also created "Nocturne" (2017), with Victor Hugo Pontes, “I like Monsieur Satie very much" (2018) and "Birds & Mushrooms” (2022).
January 2022 marked the release of the fifth album of the piano and electronics duo she has been keeping with Luís Fernandes since 2014. "There's no knowing" is the result of an invitation by Nuno M. Cardoso to create the soundtrack for the television series “Cassandra”.
Joana Gama's eclectic discography is available on the Portuguese labels Shhpuma, mpmp, Pianola, Boca/Douda Correria and Holuzam, on the Australian Room40 and on Grand Piano (Naxos group).