The activities of the Performa – Composition and Performance Lab are carried out in the framework of an ensemble founded in 2007: Performa Ensemble. It has a variable formation, integrating mostly performers – musicians/professors and post-graduation students connected to the Department of Communication and Arts of the University of Aveiro (Portugal), that hosts and supports the Ensemble.
This ensemble is one of the most active chamber music groups in Portugal specialized in the performance of contemporary music. It seeks to promote the composition and performance of new chamber music repertoire, especially by Portuguese composers. Most of its projects have been co-funded by the Portuguese Culture Ministry, and have been presented in major concert halls and contemporary music festivals in Portugal, Italy, Ireland, the UK, Spain and Brazil. The ensemble is particularly interested in interactive work with composers, leading to collaborative and interdisciplinary creative projects, and has commissioned and premièred several new works. Performa Ensemble has recorded and participated in several CDs: "Crossover" (2008), "Cultures électroniques 20" (2008), "Momentum" (2010), "7 Pomegranate Seeds" (2012), "Fados" (2014), and "Intertextualities / Interculturalities" (to be issued in 2018). Another recent project, on 20th and 21st-century Portuguese women composers, was selected for international tour funded by the Portuguese Government in 2016 and it was recorded in CD in 2019. Currently, in 2020, the project 'Invisible Cities' is being implemented, which has also won the support of DGARTES - Apoio Pontuais, Criação.
Coordenation: Jorge Salgado Correia, Helena Marinho and Sara Carvalho
