The trumpet is a brass aerophone (made of brass) with a mouthpiece, which functions as the highest-pitched instrument in the brass section. Its morphology is based on a mostly cylindrical tube, which coils into a compact oval shape, opening into a conical bell. The sound results from the vibration of the instrumentalist's lips against the small cup-shaped mouthpiece, a vibration that is channeled and amplified by the air column inside the tube.
Acoustically, the dominant cylindrical profile guarantees the trumpet a characteristically bright, clear, and directional timbre. The modern instrument has three valves (usually piston) that allow adding extra lengths of tubing, lowering the fundamental pitch. By combining different valve positions with the alteration of lip tension (to select different harmonics of the natural series), the musician obtains full chromaticism.
The trumpet has an immemorial lineage, linked to military and ceremonial functions due to its acoustic projection. Until the beginning of the 19th century, before the invention of the valve system, the "natural trumpet" was played, limiting the melodic repertoire almost exclusively to the superacute register (clarino), where the natural harmonics are contiguous. Valves gave it full melodic flexibility throughout its range.
Teachers
Courses with this instrument
Born in Carviçais, he began his musical studies at the local Philharmonic Band. He studied at the Escola Profissional de Artes de Mirandela with Maciel Matos, at the Escola Profissional de Música de Espinho with Jorge Almeida, at the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra with David Burt, Rui Mirra, and Sérgio Charrinho, at the Royal Northern College of Music with John Miller and Murray Greig, and at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama with John Wallace, Mark O’Keefe, and Peter Franks.
He completed a Master's Degree in Orchestral Performance at the International University of Andalusia/Barenboim-Said Foundation with Denis Konir and Rainer Auerbach, a Master's Degree in Music Education at the Jean Piaget Institute of Almada, and a Specialized Training Course in School Administration and Organization, all with high distinction.
He is a founding member of the PLAN B4T Trumpet Quartet, of the Portuguese Trumpet Ensemble, a group with which he was invited to participate in the International Trumpet Guild (ITG) in Denver, Colorado, and Glassboro, New Jersey (USA), as well as The Skyline Brass Quintet, winners of the Philip Jones Brass Prize competition in 2007, with whom he performed recitals throughout the United Kingdom and Italy.
Currently, he is a trumpet and chamber music professor at the Conservatório de Música de Loulé – Francisco Rosado, Artistic Director of the Festival Internacional de Trompete do Algarve (FITA), and B Soloist of the Orquestra do Algarve.