World’s Best Musicians Competition awards CD “Revolution and Freedom: Portuguese works for woodwind quintet”

The Quinteto de Sopros do Vale was awarded 1^st Prize at the World’s Best Musicians Competition with the CD “Revolution and Freedom: Portuguese works for woodwind quintet”.

This CD was recorded by the label Grafonola and released on May 17 at the Resistance and Freedom Museum in Peniche, with the presence of one of the recorded composers, conductor António Vitorino de Almeida. It brings together wind quintets by Portuguese composers who, in different ways, were confronted by authoritarian regimes, against which they took a variety of positions, more or less active or defiant—from António Vitorino de Almeida, to Gualtério Armando, Fernando Lopes-Graça, and Marcos Romão.

These works were studied by INET-md researcher Ana Margarida Cardoso, as part of her PhD in Music at the University of Aveiro. The research was thus joined by the Quinteto de Sopros do Vale, resulting in the recording of this and other CDs promoting music written by Portuguese composers for wind quintet.

The CD was supported by the GDA Foundation, the Banda Marcial do Vale, Antena 2, the Municipality of Santa Maria da Feira, and INET-md (Institute of Ethnomusicology – Center for Studies in Music and Dance) at NOVA FCSH.

The World’s Best Musicians Competition is one of the most prestigious international competitions, based in Kraków (Poland), bringing together exceptional talents from all over the world. This contest celebrates diversity, creativity, and musical excellence, offering a unique platform for professional and emerging musicians to showcase their talent before a world-renowned jury and a global audience. It is open to several categories—instruments, voice, chamber music, composers, conductors, and Album—promoting not only technical mastery, but also originality and the ability to express oneself through music.

The competition is divided into two stages, semifinal and final, with prizes awarded from 1^st to 3^rd place, as well as distinctions in each category and age group, offering opportunities for promotion, interviews, concerts, and career development.