Brazilian composer and poet, rooted in tradition and in constant search of the new, Armando Lôbo develops varied musical genres and styles, making use of experimental hues in an intense symbiosis with literature, history, philosophy and religion.

Lôbo has released four albums that received top ratings from the specialized media in Brazil. In 2011, continuing his experimentations in popular music, Armando also begins exploring the universe of contemporary classical music.

 

In 2010, he is invited by the Brussels Jazz Orchestra to take part in the recreation of George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess. In the same year, he receives the highest award for Brazilian music, Prêmio da Música Brasileira, for his work with the Frevo Diabo Orchestra. 

In 2012, he wins a contest and is awarded with a grant by the Rio de Janeiro State Government for classical music creation with the project entitled Musicians’ Hell, which proposes a musical reading of a painting by Hieronymus Bosch. He is also one of the winners of the 2012 edition of the Classical Composition Award of the Brazilian National Foundation for the Arts with Pernambukalos, a piece for septet. This will be Lôbo’s second appearance at Brazil’s Bienal de Música Contemporânea.

In May 2013, his piece Calunga! for percussion and electronics is premiered by the Percussion Quintet of the Symphonic Orchestra of Rome, in Italy, as part of a concert paying tribute to the Ballet Mécanique, by Fernand Léger and George Anthiel. He also takes part in the creation of two contemporary music ensembles: the Pan Ensemble, linked to the Brazilian Conservatory of Music; and the Diaspora Ensemble, whose debut took place in the famous venue Gasteig in Munich. In October, his piece Pernambukalos makes its premiere during the XX Biennial of Brazilian Contemporary Music, being acclaimed as the best piece of the evening by audience’s vote.

In 2014, he publishes S.O.S. REVERSOS, a poetry book with palindromic verses. His music is performed by the Diaspora Ensemble in Sao Paulo (Brazil) and Munich, as well as by the Freya String Quartet and the Bechtler Ensemble during the Charlotte New Music Festival (USA). He is also one of the composers of the project entitled Il Viaggio, conceived by the Laboratorio Creativo Permanente, a contemporary music group based in Rome, Italy. This project has since then performed at several events in Italy, and is associated to the historical Nuova Consonanza. 

In 2015, he is a runner-up to the Spark Greyfriars Festival, a sacred music competition in the UK. His piece “Trio Eletrico I” is selected for the COMA Festival of Contemporary Music, in London.

 

In 2016, Lôbo is chosen one of the winners of the 2016 edition of the "Classical Composition Award of the Brazilian National Foundation for the Arts", with the work entitled "Romantic Games", for Strings Orchestra. He also wins the Emre Araci Composition Competition (UK) with his piece ''The Last Samba in Moscow'', for string orchestra.

Lôbo also develops an academic career. He has studied and participated in workshops with notable composers as Peter Nelson, Wolfgang RIhm, Ronald Parks, David Lang, Michael Edwards, Philip Cashian, J G Ripper, Rodolfo Caesar, Armando Bayolo, and others. Armando holds a Master’s degree in Music Composition from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (2005). From 2008 to 2014, he lectured Composition and Counterpoint at the Brazilian Conservatory of Music. He holds a *PhD at the University of Edinburgh (UK),