Competition pays homage to Almeida Prado

May 11, 2012

Brazil lost an extraordinary artist in 2010: with an output over of 300 compositions, José Antônio de Almeida Prado left an indelible mark on the Brazilian symphonic production with his multifaceted style, a blend of traditional Brazilian music with atonal post-serialist and post-modernist elements. Almeida Prado, a former student of Olivier Messiaen and Nadia Boulanger, will be honored in the 2012 edition of BNDES International Piano Competition of Rio de Janeiro, being his piece Cartas Celestes (Celestial Maps) part of the repertoire of the semifinal rounds. The series of pieces stems from the composer’s doctoral thesis, and is regarded as one of the most outstanding pieces for piano from the last century.