About

The music of Pedro Faria Gomes has been praised for its ‘high calibre of imagination and workmanship’, showing a ‘fine and original new voice’ (Gapplegate Classical), and for ‘immediately capturing the listener’ (Kathodik). His Chamber Works album (Naxos, 2020) has been critically acclaimed, with Records International highlighting his ‘fine sense of the subtleties of instrumental colour’.

Faria’s works are regularly commissioned, performed, recorded and broadcast internationally. Recordings of his music are available on prestigious labels such as Naxos, Prima Facie, Centaur Records, Casa da Música, Numérica, GDA and Compasso. Recognition for his work has included the PRS Sir Arthur Bliss Memorial Award (UK), the Lopes-Graça Prize, and the SPA Prémio Autores 2020 (Portugal).

Throughout his career, Faria has worked with a vast number of soloists, conductors and ensembles worldwide. Commissions have included new works for the Teatro Nacional São João (Crónica de Dor e Morte, 2003), Orquestra Clássica da Madeira (Romanza e Rondò, 2005), Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa (O Violino Cigano, 2006), Rádio e Televisão de Portugal / Prémio Jovens Músicos (Elegia, 2007), Academia de Música de Viana do Castelo (Como se Faz Cor-de-Laranja, 2007), Contemporary Consort / Stratford on Avon Music Festival (Dual, 2010), Guimarães 2012 European Capital of Culture (Contraluz, 2012), Intimacy of Creativity / Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Dual, 2012) Wesley Ferreira (Memória, 2012),  Academia de Música de Santa Cecília (Cinco Canções Breves, 2004, Uma Cantata Portuguesa, 2005, and Canções do Quadrante, 2015), Teatro Nacional de São Carlos / Orquestra Sinfónica Portuguesa (ELA, 2016), Companhia Nacional de Bailado (Pinguins, 2016), London Symphony Orchestra (Evening, 2017), Dryads Duo (Sonata, 2018), Grupo de Música Contemporânea de Lisboa (Tableaux, 2018), Jeremy Huw Williams (The Ways of Time, 2021) and Síntese – GMC (Partita, 2021).

Other notable performances have been given by soloists Richard Stoltzman, Simon Rowland-Jones, Madeleine Mitchell, Anne Kaasa, Bruno Borralhinho, Nils Kohler, and ensembles such as Rarescale, Endymion, Lontano, Projecto XXI, I Solisti Veneti, London Chamber Orchestra, Orquestra Gulbenkian, Orquestra Sinfónica Casa da Música, Sinfonietta de Lisboa, Coro de Câmara Lisboa Cantat, Coral Paulistano and Nederlands Kamerkoor.

Following a portrait CD of chamber music released by Naxos, a second portrait album titled Scenes from Childhood, with two new piano works performed by Kenneth Hamilton, was released by Prima Facie in 2024. The disc was warmly received by audiences and critics alike, with Klassik Heute describing Suite J as a 'stimulating, interesting and rewarding work' and Sonatina as 'concise, bright and genial'. All Music considered them 'two of the most remarkable compositions to come out of the pandemic', and the album itself 'a wonderful, offbeat find'. Scenes from Childhood reached No. 17 in the UK Specialist Classical Chart and No. 13 in the Presto Music Classical Top 25 chart.

Born in Lisbon in 1979, Pedro Faria Gomes is based in the UK, where he is Senior Lecturer in Composition at Cardiff University School of Music, in Wales. He has previously taught in Portugal and Hong Kong, and holds master's and doctoral degrees from the Royal College of Music. In Lisbon, he studied piano with Leonor Fernandes and composition with Eurico Carrapatoso. He is married to British violist and teacher Sophie Faria, and they live in Cardiff with their two children.