
Luís Tinoco [b. Lisbon, 1969] graduated at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. Later, in the UK, he completed a composition MMus at the Royal Academy of Music, in London, and a PhD Music research at the University of York.
Since 2000 he has worked as a freelance author and producer of new music radio programmes for the Antena 2 / RTP. For this same radio, Tinoco is the artistic director of the Young Musicians Prize and Festival.
He also lectures at the Escola Superior de Musica in Lisbon.
Tinoco's catalogue includes vocal and stage works such as “Search Songs” (2007) – for soprano and orchestra, setting texts by Alexander Search; “From the Depth of Distance” (2008) – for soprano and orchestra, setting texts by Walt Whitman and Álvaro de Campos; “Evil Machines” (2008), a music theatre project with libretto and stage direction by the Monty Python Terry Jones; “Paint Me” (2010), a chamber opera with libretto by Stephen Plaice and stage direction by Rui Horta; “Wanderings of a Solitary Dreamer” (2011), a cantata with text by Almeida Faria; “Lídia” (2014) a ballet with choreography by Paulo Ribeiro; and “Work Songs”, for voice and orchestra - written for the Brazilian singer Lívia Nestrovski.
Orchestral works include “Cercle Intérieur” (2012), premièred by the Radio France Philharmonic at the Cité de La Musique; “Horn Concerto” (2013), premièred by Abel Pereira at the 45th International Horn Symposium (Memphis, EUA); “Frisland” (2014) – premièred by the Seattle Symphony Orchestra at the Benaroya Hall; “Incipit” (2015) premièred by the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra in June 2015 (Rio de Janeiro); “The Blue Voice of the Water“, a work co-commissioned by the Orquestra Gulbenkian and the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (2015), "Cello Concerto", premièred by Filipe Quaresma and the Portuguese Symphony; "Entre Silêncios - Clarinet Concerto", premièred by Horácio Ferreira and the Gulbenkian Orchestra; “Kokyuu - Saxophone Concerto”, premièred by João Pedro Silva and the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra; and “Accordion Concerto”, premièred by João Barradas and the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra.
From 2016-2018 Luís Tinoco was the Composer-in-Residence at the São Carlos Theatre - Portuguese National Opera House. In 2017 was Associated Artist at Casa da Música (Porto).
Tinoco’s music is available on commercial CDs recorded with the Orquestra Gulbenkian (Naxos) and the Ensemble Lontano (Lorelt). In 2018 the record label Odradek released a CD with world première recordings of orchestral music by Tinoco, with performances by the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Casa da Música Symphony Orchestra, Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony and cellist Filipe Quaresma as soloist. More recently, also on Odradek, Tinoco released "Archipelago" - an album fully devoted to his percussion works, performed by the Drumming GP. “Archipelago” was awarded the “Prémio Play” for best classical music album of the year 2020.
In 2022, Artway Next released "Aleppo and other silences", featuring Tinoco's chamber works written between 1998 and 2021. This album was awarded the "Portuguese Author’s Society” prize for best classical music album of the year.
In 2016, Luís Tinoco was appointed Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) and in 2019 Tinoco was awarded the DSCH - Shostakovich Ensemble 2019 Prize for Composers.
In 2024 he was the recipient of the "Prémio Pessoa", a prestigious award that recognizes the outstanding activity of Portuguese individuals in the country's cultural and scientific sphere.
His music is published by Artway Editions and the University of York Music Press.
Distinctions and Awards
2025 – Municipal Merit Medal for Culture – Leiria City Council
2024 – Prémio Pessoa – awarded by Expresso newspaper and Caixa Geral de Depósitos
2022 – Prémio Sociedade Portuguesa de Autores – Classical Music category, for the album Alepo e outros silêncios, released by Artway NEXT
2020 – Excellence Award / Community Impact Awards – Arts category, Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon
2020 – Prémio Play – Classical Music category, for the album Archipelago, released by Odradek Records – Coliseu dos Recreios, Lisbon, July 29, 2020
2019 – DSCH Composition Prize | Shostakovich Ensemble
2018 – Nominated for the 2019 ICMA – International Classical Music Awards, with the CD The Blue Voice of the Water
2016 – ARAM – Associate of the Royal Academy of Music, London
2009 – 1st Prize in Music / Theatre Awards, for the work Evil Machines – National Theatre Museum, Lisbon
2008 – National Prize “Cidade de Gaia” ("Artur Napoleão" – Music) – Vila Nova de Gaia
2003 – Selected for the World Music Days / International Society for Contemporary Music – Slovenia
2000 – Cláudio Carneyro Composition Prize – Porto City Council
2000 – Finalist (Top 4) – International Young Composers’ Forum, promoted by the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (Montreal) and supported by the International Music Council
1999 – Charles Lucas Composition Prize, awarded by Master's jury – Royal Academy of Music
1999 – Galliard Ensemble Composition Prize – Galliard Ensemble, London
1999 – Finalist – International Composition Prize Journées Internationales de la Jeune Musique, Marseille
1999 – Selected by the Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM), London, for the 1999/2000 season, under the artistic direction of Joanna MacGregor
1999 – Ribeiro da Fonte Revelation Prize (Music) – IPAE – Ministry of Culture
1998 – Master's Scholarship – Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation
1998 – Battison Haynes Prize – Royal Academy of Music
1998 – Mosco Carner Merit Prize – Royal Academy of Music
1998 – Howard Carr Memorial Merit Prize – Royal Academy of Music
1997 – Edward Echt Composition Prize – Royal Academy of Music
1997 and 1998 – Creative Grant – Centro Nacional de Cultura
1996 – Honorable Mention – Joly Braga Santos Prize – Lisbon City Council
1995 – Lopes Graça Composition Prize – Cascais City Council
1990 – “Youth and Music / Portuguese Regional Music Composition” Prize – Portuguese Musical Youth