António J. L. Ribeiro was born in Souto, Portugal, on the 7th of December 1956. He started his musical path at the age of eight at the Philharmonic Band in his hometown. At the age of thirteen he became a music student at Academia de Música de Santa Maria da Feira, where he studied the trumpet and also finished the General Course. Later on, he studied singing, composition, piano, classical guitar and also the flute, having completed the course of this last instrument with Distinction. He has also studied at the Aveiro Music Conservatory, the Music School of Campo Alegre, at the Piaget in Canelas and at the Aveiro University.
Antonio Ribeiro has studied Choral and Symphonic Wind Band Conducting, and is an active Conductor.He holds a Licentiate Degree in Music Education.
In Composition, and still very young, he wrote several songs for children, having belonged as leader to the group IABACAD and other light music ensembles as well, having won many festivals in Portugal:
1968 - Song Festival in Souto - Feira; “Your friendship is my freedom” – 1st Prize
1969 - Song Festival in Souto - Feira; “Come along with me to smile” – 1st Prize
1970 - Inedit Song Festival – Espinho; “Throw the seed” – 1st Prize
1971 – Inedit Children Song Festival in Ovar; “The black doll” – 1st Prize
1972 - Inedit Children Song Festival in Estarreja; “The kittens” – 1st Prize
1973 – National Song Festival for Young Christians; “Being young is to love” - 1st Prize (Regional Category) and 2nd Prize (National Category).
After 1996, some of his works have been presented in competitions and international meetings not only in Portugal but also abroad:
1996 – Work for Orchestra “Tch”, included at “Danced Musical Chronicles” (Cronicas Bailadas da Musica); Tour in Portugal with concerts at several concert halls such as Forum da Maia and Europarque. Antonio Ribeiro conducted the concerts.
1997 – Work for solo flute “Monte Pacato”; it was dedicated to his sister, Ana Maria Ribeiro, a renowned flutist in Portugal. The work has also been performed by Alfonso Anzevino at Napoles University in Italy.
1999 – Chamber Music – Comissioned work for the II International Music Festival of Santa Maria da Feira. It was performed by the Ensemble Terras de Santa Maria and conducted by Osvaldo Ferreira.
2004 – Wrote a Cadence for a Basson Mozart Concerto, recorded in CD by Paulo Martins in Germany.
2005 – Work for Symphonic Band – “As Montanhas do Monaco” (“The Mountains of Monaco”) – 1st Prize at the National Composition Competition Cidade de Aveiro, Portugal.
2008 – Musical for Children “Conta, canta e encanta” (“Count, sing and enchant”) – Performed at Europarque by the Feira Youth Orchestra and the Choir of Little Singers from EB2, 3 School of S. João da Madeira. It was conducted by Paulo Martins.
2010 – Musical for Children “O Planeta está doente” (“The Planet is ill”); Performed at Paços da Cultura – S. João da Madeira. String orchestra and piano from Academia de Música de S. João da Madeira.
2011 – Work for Horn Quartet “Ilha de S. Jorge”. It was specially composed for the Portuguese Horn Quartet and performed at the Prémio Jovens Músicos Competition.
2012 – Flute Trio “La Lys” Prémio Jovens Músicos – Composed for the “Incertos Trio”. In 2013 it was performed at the “Encontro Luso-Brasileiro”.
2013 – Flute Duo “Passchendaele” - Prémio Jovens Músicos.
2014 – Duo for Violin and Viola “Torre dos Clérigos”, dedicated to his daughter, violinist Heloisa Ribeiro.
2014 – Work for flute and piano “Egas Moniz”. The piece will soon be presented in London. It is dedicated to Marta Goncalves, Portuguese flautist and former student.
António J. L. Ribeiro has worked with renowned composers such as Jorge Peixinho, Teodoro Aparício, Jan Van der Roost, F. J. Stoiber, António Mário, amongst others. He studied Composition during five consecutive years with Professor Evgueni Zudilkin, from 2005 to 2010.
He has composed numerous works for Band, such as marches, rhapsodies, overtures, suites and others. Some of his works are edited on Disc and have been performed in many countries.
Currently, he is finishing, with a colleague, a book with didactic songs for children that will be used as a complement to Musical Education.
He has attended, at the Catholic University, the course of “Harmony in Evolution” with Professor Zsolt Gardonyi. At the same institution he has also attended the Gregorian Chant Course. In Fatima, Portugal, he has frequented and concluded a Course in Choir Direction and Liturgical Music.
He is a Professor of Music Education in S. João da Madeira.