Aural Education and Music Theory
Rafael Araújo has a degree in Conducting and Music Theory, having worked with Vasco Negreiros and António Vassalo Lourenço. He completed his master’s degree in Pedagogy and Ensemble Music at the University of Aveiro in 2015. She had the opportunity to work in various chamber music groups with Jaime Mota, António Chagas Rosa and Helena Marinho. She studied at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, in Germany, with Frank Leenen, Dieter Kurz and Stephman Hoffmann – Choral Conducting, and Orchestral Conducting with Andreas Weiss. He graduated summa cum laude. He took part in further training courses in orchestral conducting with Javier Castro (Salamanca), Jean-Sébastien Béreau (Paris), Lior Shambadal (Berlin, Berliner Sinfonietta) and Simon Halsey (Rundfunk Chor Berlin).
As a composer, his works have been premiered at the Autumn Festivals, the Percursos da Música Festival, the Kaunas Music Festival, the Harp Festival in Holland, the University of Houston and many others. In 2014 he took part in the International Programme of Musical Education in Groningen, Holland. In 2016 he won 1st prize in the 3rd Children’s Composition Competition organised by the Portuguese Music Education Association (APEM). In 2018 he won 2nd Prize at the Tarptautinis muzikos aranžuočių konkursas (International Music Arrangement Competition – APEX) in Lithuania and 3rd Prize at the 5th Composition Competition for Children of the Portuguese Association for Music Education – APEM. In 2019 he won 3rd prize in the FOLEFEST Composition Competition.
He has worked as a teacher, accompanying pianist and conductor, also writing works for children and contemporary music ensembles. Examples include Requiem for a Cat (2014), Dronofonia (2016) and The Magic Hat (2016). He is frequently invited as a pianist to national competitions such as Sons de Cabral, Terras de La Sallete, Alto Minho Competition and Paços Preminum, among others. He regularly collaborates with the Orquestra Clássica do Centro as a pianist and accompanist. He has played in important venues such as the Casa da Música in Porto, the Centro Cultural de Belém in Lisbon, the Bastille Opera in Paris, the Konzerthaus in Berlin and the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona. In 2013 he founded the ABH/RSH CHOR (Karlsruhe) and in 2014 the Royal Voices Choir (Aveiro).
He has taken part in improvisation, soundpainting and music therapy workshops with internationally renowned figures such as Christopher Azzara, Chris Philpott, François Choiselat, Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble, Joaquim Alves and Natália Santos, among others. He teaches at the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra – Metropolitana, the Escola Superior de Dança de Lisboa and the Escola de Música de Nossa Senhora do Cabo. He is studying for a PhD in Cultural Sciences, in the area of Music, at the University of Minho, focussing on children’s opera and the ethical dimension, critical thinking and creativity in developing participatory art.