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João Valinho at the 12th Edition of Funchal City Sessions
October 06, 2026
The Funchal City Sessions continue their programme with João Valinho, who will be performing at the 12th edition on 30 October.
One of the most active figures on Lisbon's improvised music scene, João Valinho's work moves between jazz, improvised music and approaches verging on near-silence, whilst also maintaining an interdisciplinary practice in the fields of dance, theatre and performance.
Throughout his career, he has collaborated, both in the studio and live, with national and internacional musicians, taking part in projects such as the Rodrigo Amado Refraction Quartet, Fashion Eternal, Rodrigo Brandão Outros Espaços and Anthropic Neglect. He is currently working with MOVE, Sonic Tender, Subplanar, Barulho Coletivo and Quarto com Luz.
His approach to improvised music grew out of his research into the visual arts and philosophy, in particular his engagement with forms of expression centred on indeterminacy and the creation of new relationships. His previous experience with genres such as metal and noise also contributed to this journey. Subsequently, his enganement with classical music and its avant-garde movements, concrete music, electroacoustic music and electronic music broadened his field of research, to which jazz and the possibilities for exploration associated with instrumental practice were later added.
It is at this intersection of different languages that João Valinho finds in improvisation a tool for exploration and for opening up to the unexpected. Through an experimental methodology, he seeks to create spaces of indeterminacy where listening, adaptation and the relationship between performers take centre stage. Music thus becomes a means of investigating new forms of relationship, experience and thought, challenging standardised models and allowing each musical action to shape what follows.
Among the projects that have marked this journey is MOVE, an album released in 2023 and conceived by Felipe Zenícola, Yedo Gibson and João Valinho. The project stems from an idea of urgent movement, in which change is not only inevitable but desired. Through improvisation, the three musicians forge a direct and dynamic relationship, based on listening, communication and the ability to adapt. The interconnectedness between the performers becomes the very substance of creation: each gesture influences the next, and doubt can pave the way for new ideas. The music unfolds like an organism in constant transformation, in a realm of experimentation between sound, silence, improvisation and other forms of artistic expression. It is from this space of openness to the unexpected that João Valinho arrives in Funchal for his first performance in the city.
It should be noted that APCA – the Agency for the Promotion of Atlantic Culture has announced the remainder of the Funchal City Sessions programme, with concerts taking place monthly in the city of Funchal. The Tratuário Gallery will continue to host the Funchal City Sessions concerts, followed by an after-session at the end of each concert.
The Conservatório - Escola das Artes da Madeira Eng. Luiz Peter Clode has also joined the project’s network of partners, hosting the training activities that characterise the Funchal City Sessions concept and fostering interaction between artists and students on vocational courses.
Admission to the concerts is by ticket, which can be purchased via the Funchal City Sessions platforms, or directly on Eventbrite.
Ticket prices are €5 for the general public and €2 for students and those aged 65 and over, upon presentation of the FCSaluno and FCS+65 vouchers, respectively.
Originally conceived as an extension of the MADEIRADiG Festival, Funchal City Sessions focuses on engaging, educating and developing new audiences for Digital Arts. The initiative is promoted by APCA in partnership with Colectivo Casa Amarela and Conservatório – Escola das Artes da Madeira, Eng.º Luiz Peter Clode, with the sponsorship of Elby, Quinta Moscadinha and the Instituto do Vinho, do Bordado e do Artesanato da Madeira, and the support of the Portuguese Republic – Culture, Youth and Sport / Directorate-General for the Arts.