About
Having graduated in Composition from the Lisbon Higher School of Music (composition with Constança Capdeville and Christopher), Carlos Caires subsequently obtained a Maîtrise (1999), a Diplôme d'Études Approfondies (2000) and a Doctorate (as an FCT scholarship holder, 2006) from the University of Paris 8 Saint Denis-Vincennes, under the supervision of Horacio Vaggione.
Coordinating professor at the Lisbon Higher School of Music, where he began teaching in 1993, researcher at CITAR-Catholic University (Porto) between 2007 and 2013, and integrated researcher at CESEM-FCSH since 2014. He is also a collaborator at CICM-Centre de recherche Informatique et Création Musicale (University of Paris 8, Saint-Denis Vincennes).
He was a professor at the Setúbal Regional Conservatory and at the National Conservatory's School of Music (between 1988 and 1991), and from 1992 onwards he taught at the Lisbon Higher School of Music. Alongside his composition studies, Carlos Caires attended several summer courses in choral and orchestral conducting, both in Portugal and abroad. He conducted the Portuguese Musical Youth choir with maestro Paulo Lourenço, and later founded (also with Paulo Lourenço) the Ricercare Choir, which he conducted until 1998, when he left for Paris.
His music has been performed at various festivals in Europe, Asia and the USA.
Among the groups that have performed his music, the following stand out: Casa da Música Symphony Orchestra, Casa da Música Choir, Remix Ensemble, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra, Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, Lisbon Higher School of Music Symphony Orchestra and Wind Orchestra, Lisbon Higher School of Music Chamber Choir, Aveiro University Wind Orchestra, OrchestrUtopica, Ricercare Choir, Lisbon Sinfonietta, Lisbon Contemporary Music Group, Lisboa, Ensemble Ars Ad Hoc, Ensemble Futurs Musiques, Gruppo di Percussione d'ella RAI, Sond'Ar-Te Electric Ensemble and Smith Quartet.
In 1995 he received the Joly Braga Santos Prize for his work Al Niente, in 1996 the Claudio Carneyro Prize for his work Wordpainting, and in 1998 the ACARTE Prize for his work Retábulo-Melodrama. Carlos Caires has developed several computer applications in the fields of electroacoustic music and computer-assisted composition, most notably the IRIN sound micromontage software, a project initiated during his doctoral studies and still being updated today.
His work also includes composing music and sound for film, having presented 4 animated short films at the Monstra Festival to date, followed by international distribution.