Compositor

António Pinho Vargas was born in Vila Nova de Gaia in 1951. Composer, musician and essayist. Graduated in History from the Faculty of Letters of the University of Porto. Piano degree from the Porto Conservatory (1987) and Masters in Composition from the Rotterdam Conservatory (1990). Professor of composition at Lisbon Superior School of Music since 1991 and Researcher at the Centre for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra since 2006, where he finished his PhD in Sociology of Culture (2010) with the dissertation "Music and Power".

Commander of the Infante D. Henrique Order awarded by the President of the Portuguese Republic (1995). Municipal Medal of Cultural Merit of Vila Nova de Gaia (1998) and the Medal of Honour by SPA (2015). Winner of the José Afonso Prize for the album Solo II (2012), 11th University of Coimbra Award (2012) and the SPA Autores Prize for his work Magnificat for Choir and Orchestra (2014).

António Pinho Vargas recorded 10 jazz albums as composer, pianist and band leader including Solo (2008), Solo II (2009), and Improvisações (2011). The Naxos label released Requiem & Judas (2014) and re-released Os Dias Levantados and Verses and Nocturnes (2015). Warner Music has also re-released Monodia (1995-2015) and the CD Magnificat - De Profundis in 2017.

He has composed four operas, five oratorios, 14 orchestral pieces, 8 ensemble pieces, 26 chamber works, eleven pieces for soloists and five film scores. His most recent works include Requiem (2012), Magnificat (2013), De Profundis (2014), Violin Concert (2015) Viola Concert (2016) Sinfonia (subjetiva) (2019) and Oscuro (2022).

Author of the books Sobre Música: ensaios, textos e entrevistas (Afrontamento, 2002) and Cinco Conferências sobre a História da Música do Século XX (Culturgest, 2008) and Música e Poder: para uma sociologia da ausência da música portuguesa no contexto europeu (Almedina, 2011).