Lunch & News from Scherzo Editions!

Between rehearsals for Donizetti's opera based on the true story of Anne Boleyn, "Anna Bolena", I had a delightful lunch with João Vidinha, who is an outstanding flutist as well as the owner/founder of Scherzo Editions, the up-and-coming Portuguese music publisher/editor. 

It was, as always, great to catch up! Scherzo is "on a roll", having received a 1st Prize in the most recent "Newly Published Music" Competition of the (American) National Flute Association with "O motivo da menina laite" by André M. Santos for solo flute. This puts Scherzo on a par with renowned music publishers such as Theodor Presser and Universal Editions, which have been in existence for over 100 years!

I received my order for some of the latest items from Scherzo for flute, or flutes, and it was exciting to see Scherzo's catalog growing; it now includes works by Ricardo Matosinhos, Wilson Tanner Smith, Nuno Peixoto de Pinho, and two by Jorge F. P. Ramos—all of which come out of the Summer Flute Academy's Composition Competition! There are also works for flute by Sílva Mendonça, Fábio Cachão, Donald Yu, Sara Claro and others— you can check out the catalog on Scherzo's site. The composition talent in Portugal is second to none, and so is the publishing talent!

Scherzo Editions also has published all the commissioned works for the Young Musician's Prizes (Prémios Jovens Músicos) recently, and that adds a wonderful variety to the catalog as well.

Another day, another hat off! It's great to see well-executed entrepreneurial efforts based here in Lisbon—Portugal today; tomorrow, the world!

João Vidinha of Scherzo Editions, holding a new work by Jorge F. P. Ramos

DEAR COMPOSERS: 4th Competition underway!

Dear cherished composers: we are pleased to announce (again, better a little late than never) that the 4th Composition Competition of the Summer Flute Academy is underway! 

Our two categories this year are: 1) SOLO WORK for "low flute"—alto, bass or contrabass; and 2) QUINTET for a flexible group of five flutists. The competition is open to composers of all ages and nationalities. We are excited to see, play and hear what you send in, so set your imaginations free!

First prizes include a premier performance at the 5th Summer Flute Academy, recorded in video and audio, publication of the work by Scherzo Editions, and cash prizes. We are proud to be sponsored by Verne Q. Powell Flutes, USA, and Kingma Flutes in Holland, and supported by ESMAE and Scherzo Editions—thank you all!

All details can be found on the Summer Flute Academy (Academia de Flauta de Verão) site. Deadline for entries is March 20th, 2017. SPREAD THE WORD!

Information available online in both English and Portuguese

Portugal at the US National Flute Association Convention!

We're small, but we're mighty! For anyone attending the NFA Convention in San Diego, CA, put this on your calendar for tomorrow, Sunday, August 14th, 9am: the US premier of Portuguese composer André M. Santos's work for solo flute: O motivo da menina Laite, published by Scherzo Editions of Lisbon.

The work will be performed by American flutist Tracy Doyle, of Colorado, a winner of the NFA's 2016 Convention Performer's Competition, and a Powell Flute player. The premier will be Sunday at 9am, on the program of "Newly Published Works" — works whose publishers won First Prize for the edition—in the California Room at the Convention venue. 

I sure wish I could be there to hear it, but you can be sure that the room will be filled, and Portugal will be "put on the map" as we say. Tracy has kindly agreed to send an "on-the-ground" report from the Convention afterwards, for me to publish here on the blog—keep your eyes out for that!

Toi-toi for the performance (that's Portuguese for "break a leg"), Tracy!!

Powell Flutist Tracy Doyle, with a beautiful out-West, Colorado background

Summer Flute Academy Composition Competition - WINNER!

A quick entry about the First-Prize Winning work from the 3rd Composition Competition of the Summer Flute Academy: "Traveling", for flute and alto flute duo, by Ricardo Matosinhos. The work is in four movements, each very picturesque and extremely well-written for both instruments, with a touch of extended techniques here and there, but very accessible to any listener! The composer, also a horn player, is now composing for flute, and all we can say is WELCOME!! The work will be edited and published by Scherzo Editions before the end of 2016—you can order it online. 

We professors of the Academy were particularly proud that two advanced participants gave the work's premier at our final presentation, in the Teatro Helena Sá e Costa in Porto, and extremely well and beautifully played it was! The performers were André Cameira, flute, and Patrícia Pires, alto flute — BRAVO!! Here's a photo of these two fine players with composer Ricardo Matosinhos after the performance. Cheers to all, and on to next year's competition, dear composers!

Flutists André Cameira and Patrícia Pires, with composer Ricardo Matosinhos, center

Bravo, Scherzo Editions of Lisbon!

At the last three editions of the Summer Flute Academy, we have been pleased to include João Vidinha, owner-founder of Scherzo Editions. Scherzo Editions has been busy publishing works by Portuguese and foreign composers, mostly living ones, for a variety of instruments and ensembles. As João has described it, he is looking for "fresh" compositions, music that is well-written and stylistically interesting, without following any particular "school". 

Scherzo Editions is a fundamental element in the Academy's annual Composition Competition for Works for Flute, in that the winning works are subsequently published by Scherzo. Not only is this great for the winning composers, but also for us flutists, since the emphasis at Scherzo is on attention to the legibility and practicability of the score for the PERFORMER! Scherzo's editions are truly a joy to look at and to play from!

Recently, along with publishing all the required commissioned works for the Portuguese Young Musicians' Prizes, Scherzo received a FIRST PRIZE in the American National Flute Association's Newly Published Music Competition—right alongside long-established editors such as Bärenreiter Verlag and Theodor Presser Company, which is an amazing achievement! The winning work, by the Portuguese composer André M. Santos, O motivo da menina Laite, for solo flute, will have its US premier at the NFA Convention in San Diego, California, later this month! To purchase, order directly from the Scherzo site. Bravo Scherzo Editions and André M. Santos!!

João Vidinha of Scherzo Editions, with the NFA prize-winning work, at the Summer Flute Academy