PERMANENT SEMINAR IN HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL STUDIES IN MUSIC
The Permanent Seminar of the research group Historical and Cultural Studies in Music of INET-md intends to be a forum where all its members (integrated and collaborators), as well as other invited researchers from the academic, cultural and artistic circles, may present their work and discuss ongoing projects and research.
12-11-2025 | 4 PM | NOVA FCSH, Av. de Berna, Lisbon | Tower B – Room B301 & Online
Free access, in person and online:
Meeting ID: 345 391 470 765 8
Passcode: dv2A3t5C
Beyond Fados for piano: Reflections on the influence of Alexandre Rey Colaço (1854-1928) on the late 19th-century music scene in Lisbon
Alejandro Reyes Lucero | INET-md/NOVA FCSH
The extent and effects of the influence that Portuguese-Spanish pianist Alexandre Rey Colaço had on Lisbon’s musical scene are still open questions that need further clarification. From his first visit to Portugal in the autumn of 1881, through his permanent settlement in Lisbon in 1888, until his death in 1928, the pianist participated in the musical life of the city as: 1) a performer, mainly of chamber music and solo piano repertoire; 2) a teacher, both privately and in institutions, and especially connected to the upper middle class and the nobility (he was a teacher to the last king of Portugal, D. Manuel II); 3) a musical promoter, organising concerts to promote repertoire that was unknown at the time, either in his private salon, at the Conservatory or in other venues that welcomed him at different times; 4) a composer, publishing a modest but significant body of work inspired not only by fado, but also by Spanish and Portuguese popular and traditional music and even Moroccan motifs. For this seminar, I propose to address Alexandre Rey Colaço’s artistic and professional life in Lisbon with the aim of contributing to his rediscovery as a central figure in the city’s musical sociability at the turn of the 19th century to the 20th century, reflecting on his role as a performer, teacher, musical promoter and composer, questioning why he is relatively forgotten or unknown today.
Alejandro Reyes-Lucero | Born in Venezuela (1995), began his musicological studies at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV). He holds a bachelor’s degree in Musical Sciences (2019) and a master’s degree in Historical Musicology (2021) from NOVA FCSH. He is currently a doctoral student in the Doctoral Programme in Musical Sciences – Historical Musicology at NOVA FCSH, benefiting from a scholarship from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and developing his research work as a member of INET-md Research Unit. His research focuses on private and domestic musical activity in the context of the city of Lisbon between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with particular emphasis on the case of the music salon of pianist and teacher Alexandre Rey Colaço (1854-1928). Between 2021 and 2022, he participated as a research fellow in the project launched by INET-md, PROFMUS: being a musician in Portugal – the social and professional condition of musicians in Lisbon (1750-1985), based at INET-md and funded by FCT. He has an eighth degree in piano and completed a one-year diploma in Orchestral Conducting at UCV.