Paulo Costa Lima

Brazilian composer and music theorist, whose main interest has been the vivid interaction between composition and culture, including the political aspects of it, namely, composition as a way of resisting cultural colonization. He has published books and articles on subjects such as the theory and pedagogy of musical composition, analysis and history of Brazilian contemporary music, analysis of Brazilian popular songs, and the possible dialogue between music, psychoanalysis and cultural semantics. A member of the Brazilian Academy of Music (created by Heitor Villa-Lobos in 1945), he has received along the last decades more than twenty prizes and commissions. He belongs to the second generation of the movement initiated by the ‘Group of Composers of Bahia’ that was formed in 1966, launching a one-line manifesto “In principle, we are against all and every asserted principle”. The manifesto also implies that all suggestions are valid and acceptable, and this inclusivity reflects the cultural diversity and relativity of Bahia - a society created by the encounter and conflict of three civilizations (Europe, Africa and Native American). Since 1992 his compositional interests addressed the rhythmic tradition of Afro-Bahian candomblé, creating universes of hybridization and contradiction, non-sequitur and humor, involving Afro-Bahian and Avant-Garde contexts and ideas. He has mentored a new generation of Brazilian composers such as Guilherme Bertissolo, Paulo Rios Filho, Alex Pochat, Tulio Augusto, Vinicius Amaro and Danniel Ferraz.

Contents

• Paulo costa lima ponteio para piano solo op 35
• V s paulo costa lima composer zelia chueke piano
• Books
• Albums
• Articles
• Performances
• Works
• References

In fact, his works have received more than 400 performances in more than 20 countries in important concert halls such as Konzerthaus Berlin, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, De Rode Pomp, Sala Cecilia Meireles, Teatro Castro Alves and Sala São Paulo. In 2001 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians included an article dedicated to his work, written by Gerard Béhague. After studying composition with Lindembergue Cardoso and Ernst Widmer in Brazil, and Ben Johnston and Herbert Brün at the University of Illinois, USA, in the 70's, he became a professor at the Universidade Federal da Bahia, and held several positions such as Director of the Music School (1988–1992) and Assistant Provost (1996–2002). Two doctoral degrees: one devoted to the pedagogy of music composition, the other to the analysis of octatonic strategies in the output of Ernst Widmer. Most important prizes and commissions: Vitae Foundation (1995), American Composers Orchestra (1996), Secretary of Culture-Bahia (2009) and Ministry of Culture (Brazil) - Funarte (2012, 2014 and 2016). Some recent important events: premiere with Orquestra Sinfônica de São Paulo (Cabinda: We are black op. 104, 16.04.2015), premiere with Neojibá Orchestra (Seven arrows op. 102, 10.10.2015), Teatro Municipal (Rio de Janeiro), and the III FMCB (16 to 19.03.16), a Festival held at the University of Campinas, dedicated to his life and work.

In recent years he has proposed the notion of compositionality – the attributes of that which is composed – involving at least five dimensions: i) the ‘invention of worlds’ (i.e. universes of meaning); ii) the ‘commitment to critique’, in the sense that composition requires the construction of interpretation; iii) ‘reciprocity’ or playing with identities - the fact that the designer creates the design as much as the design creates the designer, see Laske (1991); iv) the continuous interaction between theory and practice, there is no such a thing as compositional practice, or theory-free composition; v) and a ‘field of choices’, the place in which all these perspectives manifest themselves as potential freedom.

From 2005 to 2008 participated of the political life of the city of Salvador (the third largest Brazilian city, with 3 million inhabitants) as President of the Fundação Gregório de Mattos (2003–2008), the cultural office of the city. His administration designed new formats for popular participation such as the Program Mestres Populares da Cultura, which led to the identification and recognition of elderly people with wide knowledge of ethnic-popular traditions, being considered an important contribution to cultural policies and management in Bahia. In 2009 he was appointed for the Academia de Letras da Bahia (founded in 1917), and in 2011 became a founding member of the Academia de Ciências da Bahia. For him, teaching, writing (texts and music) and management activities are unified by the compositional challenges they involve, closely connected to the political needs of our times. Two examples: in 2005 he organized a cultural manifestation involving 456 capoeira performers, walking and dancing on the streets of Salvador, in order to celebrate the anniversary of the city, but also the adoption of specific cultural policies, by the Ministry of Culture, for this important Bahian and Brazilian cultural activity; in 2001 he was the general Coordinator of a huge program of cultural activities in Salvador, as part of the SBPC Congress (Brazilian Society for the Progress of Science) Sociedade Brasileira para o Progresso da Ciência, reinforcing the ideal of proximity between arts and sciences. In 2015, the National Foundation for the Arts (FUNARTE-Ministry of Culture) consulted around 120 Brazilian composers and conductors in order to prepare a list of 30 commissions for the XXIth Biennial of Brazilian Contemporary Music. He obtained the highest number of indications, being classified as the first prize, a clear demonstration of his national prestige and reputation.