Dinorá de Carvalho


Dinorá Gontijo de Carvalho was a Brazilian pianist, conductor, music educator and composer.

Life

Dinorá de Carvalho was born in Uberaba, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and began her study of piano at the Conservatorio Musical in São Paulo at age six with Maria Lacaz Machado and Carlino Crescenzo. She made her debut as a pianist at age seven playing Mozart and Mendelssohn, and later studied with Isidor Philipp in Paris on a Ministry of Culture scholarship. She continued her studies in Brazil with Lamberto Baldi, Martin Brawnvieser, Ernest Mehelich and Camargo Guarnieri.
After completing her studies, Carvalho worked as a pianist, composer, conductor and music educator. She became the first woman member of the Brazilian Academy of Music and became the first woman Brazilian maestro, founding an all-woman orchestra, the Orquestra Feminina de São Paulo. In 1960, having composed about 400 works, Dinorá was invited by the Culture Ministry to go in a cultural mission around Europe, playing her compositions as well as other Brazilian composers. Her work Missa Profundis received first prize for Best Vocal Work of 1977 from the Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte. She died in São Paulo in 1980.

Works

Carvalho composed for solo instruments, chorus, choir and orchestra, chamber ensemble, piano and orchestra, symphony orchestra, theater and ballet. Selected works include: