Hèctor Parra

In 2026 and 2027, Casa da Música will welcome Catalan composer Hèctor Parra, one of the most creative and expressive voices in contemporary music, as Composer in Residence. Gifted with a great knowledge of orchestration, Parra has mastered the art of transforming sound into living matter, creating luminous textures and orchestral colours of immediate seduction. His work, marked by colour, energy and a dazzling sonic imagination, will be performed by all of Casa’s ensembles.

The residency is divided into two phases: throughout 2026, emblematic works from his repertoire will be presented; in 2027, new creations commissioned by Casa da Música will be revealed, featuring unprecedented dialogues between different artistic genres.

Hèctor Parra’s presence in Porto will give rise to numerous encounters with the public, with the artists of Casa da Música and with the city itself. In this way, the composer will also be able to immerse himself in our creative ecosystem and participate fully in this collective epic that makes Casa da Música a living space for sharing, innovation and emotion.

A Villa Medici scholarship holder in Rome (2021/22) and recipient of numerous awards, Parra has been composer-in-residence at prestigious institutions such as the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Schwetzinger SWR Festspiele, Auditori de Barcelona, Palau de la Música Catalana and Orchestre National de Lille. Trained at IRCAM, where he also taught, he has worked with masters such as Brian Ferneyhough, Jonathan Harvey, Philippe Leroux and Philippe Manoury. His strong connection to dramatic creation led him to write six highly successful operas. His chamber works and trios are recorded on albums by Kairos, Ars Harmonica and Col Legno.