Reading of a poem by and performed by Mrika Sefa, and of a poem by Audre Lorde performed by Marta Domingues.

João Quinteiro: Pairs – à propos de l’interiorité (2024)
Valerio Sannicandro: Esercizi di morte (2024)
Marta Domingues: Sowing snow in cone pots (2024)
Anda Kryeziu: new work (2026) / EA (commissioned by Miso Music Portugal)

Nada Contra should be interpreted as a bold and irreverent response to the fascist narrowing of art and the imagination. In a cultural climate increasingly shaped by market logic, artists who carry a lit candle through a dry, ruined pool – focusing all their will on keeping that fragile flame alive, as in Tarkovsky’s Nostalgia – represent, for us, a profound act of faith, sacrifice and resistance.

This programme was born out of close collaboration with composers we admire. Each piece presented here is the result of a mutual commitment to friction and freedom.

The inexhaustible sonic possibilities of percussion meet the MIDI keyboard, an instrument without an intrinsic, fixed sonic identity which, through digital manipulation, can be transformed into any conceivable texture, shaping auditory materials and the creation of meaning. As such, it is not a neutral tool, but a relational partner — a reality of human relevance.

Working with digital tools also means grappling with their contradictions. Technical advances often outpace careful reflection on their artistic purpose. Whilst these tools democratise creation, they also reinforce capitalist imperatives. In our view, the first question when dealing with any musical technology should always be simple and inevitable: why? In this programme, this question is explored through sound-based research and collaborative practice.

Here, the insurgency lies in asserting intention, the primacy of the body and of labour, and standing together as a collective against the pressures of speed, uniformity and passive consumption.

Nada Contra is a duo comprising percussionist Francisco Cipriano and pianist Mrika Sefa, dedicated to the performance, exploration and expansion of the 20th- and 21st-century repertoire. The project was founded with the aim of actively contributing to the performance of contemporary music and to the creation of new works conceived specifically for this unique ensemble. The duo explores and celebrates the sonic union between percussion and the unlimited potential of MIDI keyboards. Conceived as a highly portable project – in which the piano is almost entirely replaced by a keyboard – Nada Contra seeks to decentralise the contemporary music scene, making it more accessible to different communities and geographical contexts. Since its debut in February 2024 at O’culto da Ajuda (Lisbon), Nada Contra has been working closely with various composers, including João Quinteiro, Hugo Vasco Reis, Valerio Sannicandro and Michael Maria Ziffels, whose works received their world premieres in Lisbon. In August 2024, the duo premiered a new work by Marta Domingues at the Achtelton Festival (Hitzacker, Germany). At the same time, they have performed in various national and international contexts, including the Croma Festival (Oeiras), Sonoscopia (Porto), Lisboa Incomum (Lisbon), Galeria Dr. António Lopes (Covilhã), Space Festival (Montemor-o-Velho) and Vila 31 Art Explora (Tirana, Albania), with the support of the GDA Foundation. To mark their first year of activity, Nada Contra released their debut album, When You Hear Hoofbeats, Think Horses, Not Zebras, which is available on all digital platforms.