The Permanent Seminar of INET-md’s Creation, Performance and Artistic Research research group is a forum where all its members (integrated and collaborators) and other academic, cultural, and artistic researchers can present their work.
22.10.25 | 3 pm | Pentagonal Room of the Departamento de Comunicação e Arte da Universidade de Aveiro
Free entrance and in person.
The multifaceted practice of the contemporary percussionist: study techniques in different repertoires
Fernando Rocha | Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
Contemporary music demands a wide range of skills from the percussionist. Firstly, due to the large number of instruments they must play, some of which come from very different traditions and techniques. Moreover, the repertoire presents numerous challenges, such as the development of new techniques, mastery of complex rhythms, improvisation, interaction with electronics, and theatrical elements, among others. In this lecture, we will discuss practice techniques applied in different contexts. The aim is to present an approach that combines rationality and physicality, seeking a performance that is both precise and natural/intuitive.
Fernando Rocha |
Percussion professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), with experience in both contemporary concert music and instrumental popular music. He holds a degree from UNESP, a master’s from UFMG, and a doctorate from McGill University (Canada). Between 2015 and 2016, he was a visiting artist and researcher at the University of Virginia (USA). His research focuses on the performance of contemporary music, particularly mixed electronic music.Throughout his career, Fernando has been especially dedicated to contemporary music performance, participating as a soloist or chamber musician in numerous international festivals in Brazil and abroad (USA, Canada, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Germany, France, and Portugal). As a performer, he has premiered over 50 works, collaborating with composers such as Douglas Boyce and Lewis Nielson (USA); Almeida Prado, Silvio Ferraz, Roberto Victorio, Sérgio Freire, Maurício Dottori, Alexandre Lunsqui, and Maurício de Bonnis (Brazil); Nicolas Gilbert, Brian Cherney, D. Andrew Stewart, and Geof Holbrook (Canada); João Pedro Oliveira (Portugal); and Daniel Blinkhorn (Australia).
His ongoing work in contemporary chamber music includes participation in the group Oficina Música Viva, the Duo Qattus (with cellist Elise Pittenger), the group Tectum (percussion and electronics), and the ensemble Sonante 21 (linked to the UFMG Graduate Program). Fernando also founded the UFMG Percussion Group, which he directed for over 20 years and with which he released the CD Villa-Lobos e os Brinquedos de Roda, a finalist for the Brazilian Music Award in 2004 in the Children’s Album category, and, in 2019, a CD celebrating the group’s 20th anniversary. In addition to contemporary music, Fernando Rocha performs with various jazz and Brazilian music ensembles and musicians, including Mauro Rodrigues (flute), Neném (drums), and Magno Alexandre (guitar). In 1997, he received a scholarship from the Brazilian government for an advanced course in vibraphone and improvisation in New York, where he studied with Stefon Harris and Joe Locke.In recent years, Fernando Rocha has focused on organizing musical events, having organized two editions of FIM/BH (International Music Festival) and curated four editions of the Contemporary Music Cycle at Inhotim. He is currently the director of the UFMG Conservatory.