This conference will present various aspects of the activities of the José Mário Branco Studies and Documentation Centre – Music and Freedom (CEDJMB-ML), established in 2021 following the deposit of José Mário Branco’s documentary archive at NOVA FCSH.
Operating as a collaborative platform between CESEM, INET-md, and subsequently IHC, the CEDJMB-ML has as its core mission the preservation and dissemination of this archive, which comprises thousands of paper documents related to the various facets of José Mário Branco’s artistic activity, as well as audio and video recordings.
A substantial part of this documentation has been inventoried and made available through an online platform based on AtoM (Access to Memory) software, designed to reflect the original physical organisation as arranged by the musician himself. Complementing the website launched by CESEM in 2018, where part of this documentary collection was already accessible, this new platform will be formally presented as part of this event.
PROGRAMME
10:30 am–11:00 am – Opening Session
- Alexandra Curvelo, Director of NOVA FCSH
- Salwa Castelo-Branco, Chair of the Scientific Committee of CEDJMB-ML
- António Branco, in representation of the Family
11:00-11.30 – CESEM, INET-md and IHC within CEDJMB-ML
- Manuel Pedro Ferreira, in representation of CESEM
- Manuel Deniz Silva, in representation of INET-md
- Victor Pereira, in representation of IHC
Coffee Break
11:45 am -12:45 pm – The Archive and the CEDJMB-ML Database
- Ricardo Andrade, curator of the JMB archive
- Hugo Castro, curator of the JMB archive
- Patrícia Lopes, archivist
LUNCH BREAK
2:30 pm–4:00 pm – The Database from the Users’ Perspective (Roundtable)
Chair: João Carlos Callixto
- João Branco, Stage Director and son of José Mário Branco
- Elisabete Rodrigues, journalist (Sul Informação)
- Sílvia Seixas Rodrigues, Archivist at the Algarve Orchestra and MA Student in Musicology at NOVA FCSH
- Pedro Boléo Rodrigues, Musicologist and conductor of the Casa da Achada Choir
Coffee Break
4:30 pm Musical performance by Marco Oliveira e José Peixoto
Organization: Hugo Castro, Ricardo Andrade, António Branco (curators of CEDJMB-ML), Patrícia Lopes (archivist of CEDJMB-ML), Salwa Castelo-Branco, Luís Trindade, Manuel Pedro Ferreira e Manuel Deniz Silva (Scientific Council of CEDJMB-ML).
This work was financed by national funds through FCT — Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., with the project EXIMUS: ‘We must warn everyone’: Music and Portuguese exile in France during the Estado Novo regime (1933-1974), reference 2022.05129.PTDC, DOI: 10.54499/2022.05129.PTDC; and INET-md – Instituto de Etnomusicologia – Centro de Estudos em Música e Dança, reference UID/00472/2025, DOI: 10.54499/UID/00472/2025.
Image: “Fotografia de José Mário Branco”, Centro de Estudos e Documentação José Mário Branco – Música e Liberdade, catalogue reference PT CEDJMB CX-14-08-001-019.