Music and technology in dialogue in the first season of Circuito's BMA Labs

Between January and July, Circuito — Serviço Educativo Braga Media Arts presents a series of three workshops that combine music and technology, exploring the use of Ableton Live, artistic creation processes and collective improvisation. The workshops are led by Nuno Loureiro, Oren Ambarchi and Will Guthrie, and Ensemble of Other Living Beings.

In the first month of 2026, Nuno Loureiro proposes an approach focused on the expansion and compression of musical material, exploring MIDI generation as a tool for shaping notes and transforming sound in real time. Throughout the workshop, participants develop a music generation system tailored to their artistic practices, giving rise to dynamic variations and transformations.

A musician and producer, Nuno has released music under his own name and under the alter egos Mada Treku and Lorr No on the Superpang and Favela Discos labels. In addition to his solo work, he is a member of the bands Fugly, Milteto and Solar Corona/SCEM and has worked on the production, recording and mixing of albums by Richie Culver and on exhibitions by Pedro Huet.

This BMA lab unfolds in four face-to-face sessions, which take place on 24 and 31 January and 7 and 14 February, from 3 pm to 6 pm.

On 15 March, at 11:30 a.m., Oren Ambarchi and Will Guthrie will lead a masterclass focusing on their artistic practices and processes.

Oren and Will are two prominent musicians on the contemporary scene, known for their innovative approach to their instruments. Oren Ambarchi, composer and multi-instrumentalist, focuses on exploring the guitar and has had a prolific career both as a solo artist and in numerous collaborations over the last three decades. Will Guthrie, a percussionist based in France, has developed a versatile practice that combines drums, percussion, amplification and electronics, performing both solo and as leader of the gamelan Ensemble Nist-Nah, the result of an intense trajectory of collaborations.

Resonating in landscape: Collective practices of sound presence with Ensemble of Other Living Beings is the last BMA lab of this first semester of the Circuit. On 20 June, starting at 2:30 p.m., this workshop, open to the public, aims to explore various forms of collective improvisation, based on listening techniques and horizontal, fluid and organic interaction practices.

The Ensemble of Other Living Beings is the result of the formalisation of a collective that has been collaborating spontaneously and continuously for over a decade. Connecting different musical trajectories, the ensemble promotes collaborative and horizontal practices, using music both as an exercise in freedom and as a tool to stimulate artistic experimentation and strengthen community projects.

Find out about the Circuit programme here.