15.12.2025

Carlos Azevedo is the winner of the DSCH Composition Award 2025

Composer Carlos Azevedo, born in Vila Real in 1964, is the winner of the DSCH – Shostakovich Ensemble Composition Prize 2025. The award, valued at €6,000, was created in 2019 by DSCH – Associação Musical, with the support of the Directorate-General for the Arts, with the purpose of honoring a Portuguese composer for the excellence of their work and career, promoting and valuing contemporary Portuguese art music.

A singular figure in the Portuguese musical scene, Carlos Azevedo has built a unique career that masterfully spans both classical and jazz music. A composer, arranger, pianist, and pedagogue, he stands out for his creative versatility and the solidity of a deeply personal musical language, recognized both in contemporary repertoire and in the jazz world.

Trained at the Porto Conservatory of Music, he completed the Higher Piano Course and, subsequently, the Higher Composition Course at the Escola Superior de Música do Porto (1991). He pursued further studies in the United Kingdom, where he obtained a Master’s degree and later a Doctorate in Composition from the University of Sheffield, under the guidance of George Nicholson.

Professor at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espetáculo since 1999, Azevedo has played a central role in the training of new generations of composers, contributing decisively to the dynamism of higher music education in Portugal.

At the same time, he built a remarkable career with the Orquestra Jazz de Matosinhos, where he worked for 25 years as a pianist, composer, and arranger, collaborating with internationally renowned artists.

Among his works, notable pieces include Crossfade (for symphony orchestra, jazz orchestra, and soloist), Largo (symphony orchestra), Mumadona (three-act opera), Labirintho (solo cello), Tempo de Outono (clarinet and piano), Brexit (string quartet), O Bispo (wind ensemble), and Short Term Memory (solo cello and ensemble). Several of these works were commissioned by prominent institutions and festivals and dedicated to leading performers in today’s musical scene.

His jazz discography equally reflects the aesthetic breadth of his work, with recordings such as Lenda (2000), Portology (2007), Our Secret World (2010), Bela Senão Sem (2012), as well as quartet and ensemble projects including Origens, Lento, After Midnight, Serpente, and Pilgrimage.

With a writing style that combines technical rigor, sonic imagination, and profound expressiveness, Carlos Azevedo stands out as one of the most original and influential voices in contemporary Portuguese music, in a continual dialogue between tradition, innovation, and improvisation.

The DSCH Composition Prize is awarded by the prestigious DSCH – Shostakovich Ensemble, under the artistic direction of Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro. The winners of previous editions were Luís Tinoco (2019), Eurico Carrapatoso (2021), Andreia Pinto-Correia (2023), and Sérgio Azevedo (2024).

Founded in 2006, the DSCH – Shostakovich Ensemble is today regarded as one of the most significant international chamber ensembles, with albums dedicated to Shostakovich and Beethoven, released by Paraty/Harmonia Mundi–PIAS and acclaimed by the specialized press with the highest distinctions.