Jonathan silva

onathan Silva is a percussionist and teacher of percussion and chamber music. He is currently a professor of percussion and chamber music at the Jobra (Albergaria-a-Velha), and a freelance musician. He has collaborated with several ensembles and orchestras such as Drumming GP, Remix Ensemble Casa da Música, Orquestra Gulbenkian or Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, Orchestra Internazionale d’Italia, Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa and Orquestra Filarmonia das Beiras, among others. He is PhD candidate at the University of Aveiro. Master of music teaching since 2018, he presented the dissertation entitled “Sight reading on the marimba: the recognition of musical patterns on the path to autonomy” to the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo of the Instituto Politécnico do Porto.

The aforementioned research work includes a literature review that articulates contributions from different authors on the mechanisms involved in reading a musical score on first contact, proposing approaches for developing this ability in percussion classes. Specialist in vibraphone from the Conservatoire de Strasbourg, he has developed intense artistic activity in promoting repertoire for solo vibraphone by Portuguese composers. He is responsible for commissioning and premiering new works by Portuguese composers, both solo and in a chamber music context. He performed in contexts such as: “Bienal Aveiro Síntese” (Teatro Aveirense); “Autumn Festivals” (Aveiro); “New Talents” (Teatro Rivoli, Porto); “Emerging Talents” (O’culto da Ajuda, Lisbon); “Guimarães Allegro”; “Very serious!” (Alcobaça); television program “InMusic Portugal”, broadcast on Canal Q and “Temporada de Concertos Antena 2” (live broadcast). He is a founding member of chamber music groups such as Apophenia Duo, Aestuarium Ensemble and NoMad Duo.

Doctoral project

TItle The Electric Vibraphone in an Augmented Artistic Practice at the Service of an Uninterrupted Concert Dramaturgy

Advisor Helena Marinho, Nuno Aroso and Rui Penha (ESMAE)

Abstract In the present context in which the classical concert model is problematized by artists and researchers, there is the relevance of studying alternative patterns in terms of structure and continuity, and the incorporation of software or artifacts of sound production and manipulation. This project will investigate alternative artistic practices in percussion, particularly on the electric vibraphone. Uninterrupted concert models will be studied and proposed, based on interviews and performative laboratory work, respectively, through the creation and exploration of various resources (among others, the elaboration of musical ‘bridges’, creation based on improvisation and the development and testing of digital resources). Envisaging three lines of research (solo, solo + software and ensemble), this project will develop practices adaptable to different contexts, through Art-based Action Research (Jokela & Huhmaniermi, 2019), and will result in public presentations, multimedia recordings, scientific articles , and a digital toolkit, listing and describing the resulting processes.

keywords Augmentation; improvisation; artistic creation; concert’s dramaturgy; electric vibraphone.

Funding Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (2024.01136.BD)