Maestro Maestro (; from the Italian '' maestro'' , meaning "master" or "teacher") is an honorific title of respect (plural: maestros or maestri). The term is most commonly used in the context of Western classical music and opera, in line with the ubiqu ...

António Fortunato de Figueiredo ComSE (20 August 1903 – 1981) was a

Goan Goans ( kok, गोंयकार, Romi Konkani: , pt, Goeses) is the demonym used to describe the people native to Goa, India, who form an ethno-linguistic group resulting from the assimilation of Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Indo-Portuguese, an ...

conductor and violinist. He was India's first conductor of

western classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" ...

Early life and education

António Fortunato de Figueiredo was born in Nacordá- Loutolim, in

Goa Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...

( Portuguese India), the son of Goan Catholic parents Gabriel de Figueiredo and Ermelinda Parras e Figueiredo. He learnt the first rudiments of music at a primary school under a local teacher. Whilst studying at the

lyceum The lyceum is a category of educational institution defined within the education system of many countries, mainly in Europe. The definition varies among countries; usually it is a type of secondary school. Generally in that type of school the t ...

of Panjim, he learnt the violin and soon became an accomplished player. He went to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in 1927 to pursue an arts degree at the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

, but transferred to the National Conservatory of Lisbon ( pt, Conservatório Nacional de Lisboa), graduating with a higher education degree in violin in 1932. He then proceeded to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

to study at the Faculty of Music and Musicology of the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

Career

On his return to

in 1936, António was appointed the choir-master at the

of Panjim. He organised and directed choral groups ( pt, Orfeões) and string ensembles ( pt, Tunas) which staged many performances in Loutolim and Panjim, most of them in aid of charity foundations. Soon after founding the Goa Symphony Orchestra, Figueiredo convinced the

Portuguese government , border = Central , image = , caption = , date = , state = Portuguese Republic , address = Official Residence of the Prime Minister Estrela, Lisbon , appointed = President ...

to found the Music Academy of Portuguese India ( pt, Academia de Música da Índia Portuguesa), modelled on the lines of the National Conservatory of Lisbon. Figueiredo gave a number of lectures on music and history of music which were broadcast by Goa's Portuguese Radio and later by the

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

, Panjim under their

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

programme ''Renascença'' ( en, Rebirth), at the Institute Menezes Braganza, and Clube Nacional.

Honours

Figueiredo was made Knight of the Order of St. James of the Sword in 1961. He also received accolades from the Institute Menezes Braganza and the Rotary Club.

External links

Biography (in Portuguese)An article by Fernando do Rego (in Portuguese)
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20070818043440/http://www.goacom.com/casa-de-goa/boletimJulAgo2003.html Sessão de homenagem ao Maestro António de Figueiredo (in Portuguese)br>An article by Ben Antão
{{DEFAULTSORT:Figueiredo, Antonio Fortunato 1903 births 1981 deaths University of Paris alumni Indian conductors (music) People from South Goa district Goan music Musicians from Goa 20th-century conductors (music) 20th-century Indian musicians Portuguese Indian expatriates in France