Biography
Ana Ferreira has begun her piano studies in Macao (China), where she has won prizes at the “Young Macao Musicians” piano competitions. In December 2001, she played at the First Lopes Graça Piano Competition, held in Tomar (Portugal), having obtained the second prize. In June 2002, she played with the National Conservatoire Orchestra, J.S. Bach’s Piano Concerto in f minor, at the Ajuda Palace, in Lisbon. She participated in various piano masterclasses in Europe under distinguished pianists, namely Dimitri Bashkirov, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Helena Sá da Costa, Luiz de Moura Castro, Oxana Yablonskaya, Pedro Burmester, Pierre Réach and Vitaly Margulis. After her graduation at the Superior School of Music and the Arts of Spectacles, she studied piano performance in USA, at the University of Hartford, with distinguished pianists Luiz de Moura Castro and Oxana Yablonskaya. She participated as a younger pianist in some of the most famous international music festivals, such as Puigcerda Music Festival (Andorra), the International Engadin Summer Piano Academy (Switzerland) and the Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatory where she was selected from the international piano students to play at the famous Rachmaninoff Hall. In Macau,Ana Ferreira was invited to be a research assistant at University Saint Joseph (Macao, China) where she taught Piano, Chamber Music and Music History and obtained her Master degree on Education with special focus on Neuroscience, Music and Education. Embracing projects such as "Piano for Everyone" with her teaching approach strongly based on Neuroscience findings, her students have won prizes in Macao Competitions and because of that she received "Excellent Teacher" award by the 21st Japan Hamamatsu Piara Competition. More recently, she is a PhD student in Music Performance at Aveiro University and has been invited to some conferences and concerts.
Ciência Vitae | ORCID
Doctoral Project
Title
Singularidades das vivências interculturais musicais em Macau: Recriação artística da obra para piano de Áureo Castro
Advisor
Abstract
Áureo Castro’s was a Portuguese musician that had a profound influence on the development of erudite music in Macao (China), a place of secular dialogue between the East and Western cultures. As a composer and enthusiastic of Chinese folk music and with a deep affection for Macao and its people, Áureo Castro composed some works that merges Western style and Chinese style, revealing traces of Sino-Western interculturality.
This research aims for a performative recreation of Áureo Castro´s solo piano works, composed in the second half of the 20th century, as an artistic expression of a singular intercultural exchange between China and the West.
As a performer, who also had living experiences in Macao, I aim to create a scenic-musical event. To achieve this purpose, I will explore new performative approaches that express not only the composer´s affection to Macao´s culture, but also to communicate to the audience the imaginary of an intercultural and mystic world of Macao.
This project will provide a wider recognition of Áureo Castro in Macao's cultural heritage and will contribute for the dissemination of his solo piano works. Furthermore, I hope to contribute for the development of Artistic Research and to encourage the study of new performative approaches that enhance musical interculturality.
