Biography
Helder Oliveira is a Brazilian composer, performer, music educator and theorist. He holds a PhD in Music Composition from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), was a 2019–2020 Fulbright Visiting Researcher at Louisiana State University, and was a 2023– 2024 postdoctoral fellow at University of São Paulo.
His works explore intertextual tools, psychological processes, and Biblical narratives, all of this with a variety of compositional techniques based mostly on analytical contexts. Furthermore, Dr. Oliveira composes for different syles, such as jazz, film music, Brazilian popular music, historical stylistic works, band music, and contemporary trends. He has songs, music for band, choir, unacompanied instruments, chamber ensemble, and symphony orchestra.
Dr. Oliveira has received several composition awards, such as the 2017–18 Emerging Composers Competition (Canada), 1st place in the A Hymn for Mercy Competition 2019 (Ireland), Internationalen Eisenacher Bach Kompositionspreis 2020 (Germany), the 2021 Dolphy Prize (USA), and 1st prize in the Stellar Composer competition 2021 (Denmark).
He has collaborated with several groups, such as Mivos Quartet, Chorus Austin Chamber Ensemble, KC Vitas Chamber Choir, C4 Choir Ensemble, Nebula Ensemble, Thüringen Philharmonie Gotha-Eisenach, and Lowell Chamber Orchestra.
Dr. Oliveira has works published by Edition Svitzer, Scherzo Editions, Alea Publishing & Recording, T.U.X. People’s Music, Sociedad Siero Musical, Viola da Gamba Society of America, Ministério da Cultura (Brazil), and Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Some of his works are self-published.
His music was played in the Twin Cities New Music Festival, International Clarinet Association New Music Weekend, the Northwest Horn Symposium, New Music on the Bayou, Viola da Gamba Society of America Conclave, Academia de Flauta de Verão (Portugal), Festival Internacional de Música Contemporánea del Conservatorio Ástor Piazzolla (Argentina) and other festivals.
Dr. Oliveira’s papers about music composition based on analytical tools have been published in annals of congresses and several journals after peer-reviewed evaluations, including the Indiana Theory Review, Revista Vórtex, and Musica Theorica.
On the piano, he performed in numerous recitals as a collaborative pianist and soloist at Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte and in national choral festivals. He was part of the IFRN Children’s Choir as a pianist and participated in the recording of the choir’s album and the edition of the sheet music book for the songs on the album. In 2019, he gave artistic presentations at LSU. Moreover, he have participated in important music festivals such as the UNIRIO Composers Series and the Panorama of Current Brazilian Music, organized by the UFRJ. On the recorder, he performed in numerous recitals from 2002– 2007 with the IFRN Recorder Ensemble and Lourdes Guilherme Choir. He participated in the recording of the album of these groups in 2008, and his Opus 1 is part of this CD. As a tenor, he sung with the Canto Dell’Arte Opera Group in the opera Orfeo ed Euridice by Gluck in 2007, and with the UnP Choir in the International Festival of Christmas Choirs 2020.
Currently, Dr. Oliveira is a music educator at Pedro II School, professor at Rio Grande do Norte State University, member of the MusMat (UFRJ) and COMUS (UFJF) research groups, and is a member of the International Millennium Composers Initiative (USA).
