CARVALHO, Dinora De

Dinorá Gontijo de Carvalho was a Brazilian composer, pianist, conductor and music educator, born in Uberaba, Minas Gerais. She studied piano at the Conservatory of São Paulo and later continued her training in Paris with Isidor Philipp. Her composition teachers included Lamberto Baldi, Martin Braunwieser and Camargo Guarnieri.
Carvalho composed orchestral and chamber music, four piano concertos, ballets, theatre music, choral and sacred works, art songs and numerous piano pieces, including educational music for children. Her musical language developed from Brazilian nationalism towards a more modern and experimental style, while retaining elements of Brazilian folk traditions. Her works include Missa Profundis, Salmo XXII – O Bom Pastor, Noite de São Paulo, Estampas de Vila Rica, Fantasia for piano and orchestra and the ballet Aruanã.
She founded the Orquestra Feminina de São Paulo in 1939 and became the first woman elected to the Brazilian Academy of Music. Her Missa Profundis received the 1977 award for best vocal work from the São Paulo Association of Art Critics.