Songs My mother taught me Artist Bios — Cat's Cradle Collective

Songs my mother taught me

artist bios

António Sá-Dantas, artistic dir, countertenor, violin

António is a composer, conductor and countertenor.

The different aspects of his work tend to blend into each other, creating unique experiences. Antonio’s most recent works include his sound theatres for radio “Invisible Cities” (text by Italo Calvino), “Eine Schwalbe falten” (Text by Margret Kreidl) broadcast by Portuguese, Austrian and German radios Antena 2, Ö1 and Deutschlandfunk. He has composed orchestral, chamber music, electronic and choral works, including his piece “Cantos”, that was awarded the 2nd prize in Styria Cantat and workshopped by the BBC Singers in 2018.

António is co-founder and artistic director of the chamber orchestra Cat’s Cradle Collective that aims to create cross-artistic performances and has performed at the Portuguese Embassy in London, Royal Academy of Arts, Britten Theatre, London Craft Week and with whom he has created the projects “Das Tripas Coração” (new music inspired by Portuguese traditional music) that was broadcast filmed and will have it’s first live performance this year, as well as “Jacob’s Ladder” and “Maze of dripping Sirens”, works that bridge music from ancient to contemporary times with a theatrical performance.

As a countertenor Antonio focuses on ensemble music, or premiering solo contemporary music. He has recorded “100 Frankensteines” by Darren Sng, as well as multiple of his own works, sings as part of the chamber choir Londinium and has recently been appointed as alto choral scholar at St John’s the Evangelist in London.

António holds a Bachelor of Arts (hons) in Composition and in Orchestra Conducting from the Kunstuniversität Graz, as well as a Master degree in Composition (hons) from the Royal College of Music.

Marta Carvalho, actor

Marta is a Portuguese actor and a qualified speech and language therapist. She has worked internationally in theatre and directed community productions as well as working extensively as a drama, voice and movement tutor.

Her work as an actor includes Sonoko in the Play “Yukio Mishima” directed by Adam Darius and Kazimir Kolesnik, and Hoopoe in Conference of the Birds directed by Iwan Brioc (Portugal, Romania). She toured Brazil three times with “The Desired”, “Enluarandas” and “Labirinto de Amor e Morte” by Moncho Rodriguez, collaborating with Mark C. Hewitt on the English translation version “Labyrinth”, which was premiered in London 2019. She also worked with Mark C. Hewitt on the R&D of Songs of the Chambermaids”, and the artistic residency for it September last year in Portugal and UK.

Recently Marta was in the show “Ready, Steady, Go” in Polka Theatre (London and theatre festivals in Belgium and Holland). Her film projects, include the female lead in the Portuguese feature film “The Night’s Advices”, and “Sweet Survival” in Vienna, Austria.

Marta is very thrilled in participating “Songs My Mother Taught M”, which is the first collaboration with Cat’s Cradle Collective.

Lucinda Dunne, clarinet and piano

Lucinda is a multi-instrumentalist from Staffordshire, performing on woodwinds and piano/keyboards in a variety of chamber groups and in musical theatre across the UK and abroad. She is a graduate of the Royal College of Music and holds the position of Musician in Residence at NHEHS.

Lucinda’s most recent projects include performing in a live album recording of the big band ‘The Sages of Future Soul’ in Virginia, USA, where she holds the bass clarinet chair, and playing keyboard in the pit band for ‘The Addams Family’ at Richmond Theatre, London.

Will Roberts, trombone

Will was a scholar at the Royal College of music where he studied with Byron Fulcher and Lindsay Shilling. During his time at the College, he performed as Principal Trombone of both the RCM Symphony and Philharmonic orchestra, as well as the RCM Jazz Orchestra. Some of his previous highlights include performing the Horovitz Euphonium Concerto with the Brighton Youth Orchestra, the Grondahl Trombone Concerto with the Junior Trinity Symphony orchestra, and the Larsson Trombone Concertino with the European Youth Music Week Chamber Orchestra. During his time at Junior trinity he was also the recipient of the Philip Jones Memorial Brass prize.

Since leaving university, Will has worked with ensembles and bands such as Huggy and the Bears, Omid Soltani, and Mike Berry and continues to explore jazz trombone with his Trio the ‘Wayward Heaths’ and the Lewes Big Band. He also has been recording and arranging music for his YouTube Channel ‘Will Roberts Music’ where he posts trombone and singing videos. From September 2022 Will has been working as a peripatetic music teacher for Create Music, where he works with individual students as well as ensembles in East Sussex.

Inês Delgado, violin

Inês’ greatest purpose is to explore how music can help, empower and inspire others. Community music is therefore a big part of her work, where she is particularly passionate about working with vulnerable or marginalised groups. Inês trained as the 2021/22 trainee music leader at Evolve Music and at Wigmore Hall, where she supported and co-lead various music workshops. She also works regularly with Turtle Key Arts, both with people living with dementia and with children with severe disabilities. Her love for meditation recently started playing a crucial part in her music workshops, uniting music and meditation as powerful tools for wellbeing.

As a performer, Inês’ passions are orchestra and chamber music. Currently, she is on trial with the Ulster Orchestra for the position of second violin Section Leader. She was a 2020-2022 Foyle Future First violinist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and she regularly performs with other major UK orchestras, such as the Philharmonia and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Her Duo Eunoia, with pianist Laura Casas Cambra, unites these two passions - community music and performance - in one, creating interactive experiences where the boundaries between audience and performer are blurred, and creativity, improvisation and connection are at the centre of it all.

Francisco Negreiros, percussion

Francisco’s career began in 2003, aged 8, at the SFUA - Sociedade Filarmonica Uniao Agricola of Pinhal Novo Concert Band. Through his formative years, he has had the opportunity to play extensively from the north to the south of Portugal, both with the SFUA and as an invited Percussionist with Orchestras and Concert Bands of similar standing as the SFUA in the Lisbon, Setubal and Beja areas.

A Guildhall School of Music in Drama graduate, Francisco has increasingly focused on his future as a Timpanist alongside his Percussion studies, making the most of his lessons with Professor David Corkhill and LSO Principal Timpanist Nigel Thomas.

Also, after growing interest, Francisco has broadened his horizons by taking up the baton by assuming Assistant Conductor positions at the SFUA’s academic ensembles and later began having lessons at Guildhall under tutelage of Professors Tim Redmond and David Corkhill.

The highlights from Francisco’s career include being an invited musician at the Orquestra Sinfonica Portuguesa just before his relocation to London in 2018, performing Sibelius’ Finlandia. In the United Kingdom, he has performed with the Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra, the Cambridge Philharmonic Society, the Aleph Chamber Orchestra, Camden Symphony Orchestra, amongst others. Most recently, Francisco has debuted in BBC Radio3, as part of UBU Ensemble’s Frank Zappa Yellow Shark Album concert, for the BBC Total Immersion concerts in March 2022.

Composers

Vincenzo Di Francesco, composer of Valsugana

Vincenzo is a composer, orchestrator and pianist.
He studied classical and jazz piano at the Italian academy Conservatorio Statale di Musica J. Tomadini and film music at the Royal College of Music in London, graduating with honours from both institutions.

As a composer he has worked on a wide range of productions (short film, feature films, documentaries, series and more) working with directors from all over the world.

As an orchestrator he has worked in the music department of several Hollywood productions (Gemini Man, Bad Boys For Life, Black Widow, …) and television productions (Netflix, BBC, HBO).

As a pianist and producer he has played live and as a session musician with many different international bands as well as writing, producing, recording and mixing music for many of these projects (Anemoi, Francesco Imbriaco Acoustic Trio, Udine Jazz Collective, TrioKalliope & the Swingadillas, The Colours of Gospel, the Royal College of Music’s Jazz Big Band).

Darren Sng, composer of …bleak midwinter…

Darren is a London-based composer born in Singapore, whose works span a range of genres and medium including orchestral, film, electronic, and experimental concert music. Having been occasionally talked out of writing overly-ambitious music in his earlier years as a composer, Darren’s current artistic direction remains ironically driven by a stubborn urge to challenge instrumental conventions in extreme yet meaningful ways.

His compositional output includes titles such as “Baby Bird in the Forest”, a piece that requires an entire wind orchestra playing on mouthpieces only, and most recently a chamber opera titled “My Days as a Zombie on Earth” staged by Tete-a-Tete Opera in collaboration with the Royal College of Music.

Darren is a two-time recipient of the 2022 and 2020 Elgar Memorial Prize, and has read music under the tutelage of Kenneth Hesketh and Dai Fujikura at the Royal College of Music.

Luis Mota, composer of Melodias

Luís is a composer and orchestrator from Portugal. After graduating from the Royal College of Music in London, he has been composing for silent films from the 1920s, including ‘Ben-Hur’ (1925), ‘The Phantom Carriage’ (1921) and ’Seventh Heaven’ (1927). Luís has recently scored the award-winning short film 'Time Is', by Zaur Kourazov, and collaborated as assistant orchestrator in ‘Veleno’ and ‘Card Shark’, and as arranger in ‘April 3rd’. Luís’s debut album ‘Invisible Cities’ for piano solo was released in 2021. His recent collaboration with the Cat’s Cradle Collective brought together his passion for chamber music and traditional Portuguese music.

Samuel Gapp, composer of Eu de cá e tu de lá

Samuel Gapp (*1997) is a German pianist, composer and interdisciplinary artist based in Lisbon, Portugal.
Gapp is active as a pianist in improvised and contemporary music. As a composer, he works in the field of classical contemporary music as well as improvised and jazz music.

He received various awards for his musical work: Prémio de Composição Bernardo Sassetti (2019), Prémio Jovens Músicos (2019), Prémio de Composição Francisco de Lacerda (2022) and Prémio Musa (2022).

Besides his musical activity, he works also in interdisciplinary projects, combining music and sound with other forms of artistic expression.

Gapp co-founded the international record label ”Habitable Records”, a platform for musical research and intercultural exchange.

Gapp has organised and participated in various educational activities, teaching music, composition and improvisation. In this context he has worked in institutions in Portugal, Germany, Ecuador and Nepal.

Gapp studied jazz piano in Cologne, Germany and Lisbon, Portugal, where he is currently finishing his master degree in composition.

Jorge Ramos, composer of Layers

Jorge Ramos (b. 1995) is a Portuguese multiple award-winning composer, electronics performer, and researcher based in London. He has written music for performances across the world.

Commissioners and partners for Ramos’ work extend beyond the concert hall to major international bodies such as Arte no Tempo, Braga Media Arts, Braga ’27, Galerie Sans Nom / RE:FLUX Festival, gnration, Theatro Circo, UNDERSCORE Film Festival, and UNESCO, as well as through prominent fellowships and awards from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, Festival Internacional de Órgão de Braga, Miso Music Portugal, Orquestra Clássica do Centro, Portuguese Symphonic Band, Royal Music Association, RTP/Antena 2, The National Flute Association and Youth Foundation.

DMus researcher at the Royal College of Music London, where he also holds a position as a Teaching Assistant. He is the Student Representative of the Executive Committee at The ACTOR Project — Analysis, Creation, and Teaching of Orchestration.

Pedro Fonte, composer of Às vezes lencinho, outras vezes cantinho

Pedro Fonte (b. 1988) graduated in physics from FCUP and music (composition) from ESMAE.

He composed works for different formations and styles, some of which have already been premiered. In November 2021, the work Ás vezes lencinho, outras vezes cantinho was selected for the 2nd edition of Das Tripas Coração, promoted by the ensemble Cat’s Cradle Collective. Is a researcher in the project A obra cultural de Adelino Mota, under the scientific supervision of CESEM.

Current interest is focused on new paradigms of composition and performance linked to the interactions between performer, sound result and audience. He also intervenes in the dissemination and promotion of music in cultural associations.