Where musical practice is research. Where research is musical practice.
At a moment of transformation in higher artistic education in Portugal, ESMAE launches a pioneering space where musical practice is, in itself, the driving force of research.
Doctoral Programme in Music — Artistic Practices in the Portuguese Context.
This programme responds to a critical double gap: the residual presence of Portuguese Musical Heritage in the public sphere, and the absence of a structured academic space where artistic creation is recognised as research in its own right.
Through Artistic Research Through Practice, DocMus.pt positions Portuguese Musical Heritage within an international context of artistic and academic exchange, consolidating artistic research as an essential field of knowledge. Its anchoring to CESEM guarantees access to research resources and a specialised critical mass, enabling musician-researchers to contribute to musical knowledge through the integration of artistic production, critical reflection and innovative methodologies.
The curricular structure accommodates multiple musical areas — Performance, Composition, Production, Theory and Analysis, Technology — allowing each doctoral student to build a path coherent with their artistic and research project, including transdisciplinary approaches or team projects.
Artistic Research Through Practice. Assumes creation and performance as forms of knowledge production. Performative, compositional and experimental practice acquires an epistemological dimension: it questions models, introduces perspectives and builds knowledge in the performing arts through the living documentation of creative processes, critical reflection and public sharing of results.
Direct connection to the professional sector. Integrates doctoral students into real contexts of production, programming and cultural and artistic circulation. Projects are developed in connection with cultural institutions, festivals, orchestras, publishers and digital platforms, ensuring an active presence in the artistic milieu and the consolidation of professional trajectories.
Portuguese Musical Heritage as a creative driving force. Understood in a broad, living and dynamic sense, it encompasses historical repertoires, documented performance practices and new creations — including contemporary and extemporaneous creation — in dialogue with musical memory. It promotes innovative approaches to performance, composition and sound experimentation, ensuring its dissemination in national and international circuits.
The programme equips artists for the planning and execution of high-level projects, using creation as a tool for inquiry and social transformation, in a model that articulates academic research and musical practice through interdisciplinary approaches.
Within the specific scope of Portuguese Musical Heritage, students develop skills for in-depth research, from historical repertoires to current practices, underpinning the design of innovative projects aimed at increasing the visibility of this heritage in the public sphere.
Across the board, the study cycle consolidates leadership and teamwork skills in professional and academic contexts, enabling artist-researchers to communicate their results to the academy through mastery of conventional methods and alternative formats suited to artistic research. The first curricular year was designed to provide the theoretical and practical foundations necessary to achieve these objectives: it grounds creation in methodological rigour, builds capacity for project leadership in professional contexts, and provides the historical framework indispensable for those seeking to reinterpret or innovate from musical heritage.
The pedagogical model of DocMus.pt is based on an active and integrative approach, centred on the student as an artist. At the core of the programme is Artistic Research Through Practice, a concept that structures both the teaching method and the research method.
After admission, the first curricular year begins, with compulsory course units (research methodologies, creative strategies, communication of results) and optional ones. During this year, the Artistic Research Project is defined and dialogue with stakeholders begins. This is followed by admission to the Artistic Project and Thesis. In the 2nd and 3rd years, projects evolve under supervision. The path culminates in the presentation and defence of the Artistic Project and Thesis, with publication and dissemination of results.
Learning by doing — exploration of creative processes supported by logbooks and reflective reports.
Problem-solving — development of innovative solutions, integration of theoretical and technical references.
Collaborative work — articulation with undergraduate and master's degrees in music.
Creative dimension — interaction between doctoral students, supervisors and stakeholders.
Communication and community engagement — academic (conferences, publications), artistic (public presentations) and professional (application in cultural projects).
Dissemination and sustainability — contribution to a living anthology of Portuguese Musical Heritage.
Continuous mentoring with structured feedback. ESMAE provides studios, laboratories, recording equipment, specialised software and digital archiving platforms.
