Marcos Lucas Inferno Verde for solo baritone and large chamber ensemble (flute, clarinet, oboe, horn, trombone, percussion, harp, violin, viola and double bass) duration: 18 minutes Inferno Verde (Green Hell) was written in commemoration for the tenth anniversary of the death of Brazilian environmentalist Chico Mendes, who won international acclaim for his non-violent campaign to protect the rain forest on which both the rubber tappers and natives depend for their livelihood. Encountering sharp resistance from local ranchers he was shot dead in December 1988 outside his home in Xapuri, an outcome that many had predicted. The text was drawn from Mendes' personal correspondence, documents, stories, interviews, and biographies. The work is a monodrama for baritone and ensemble in six movements preceded by a prelude titled., I- Childhood; II - Discovery; III - Xapuri; IV - Alliances; V - Farewell; VI - Epitaph. Common features of the work include: the exploration of noise and timbre transformation, the symbolical representation of the text through musical gestures and the use of Brazilian percussion instruments. Marcos Lucas was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in September 1964. Between 1985 and 1990 he studied Composition and Musical Education at the. Universidade do Rio de Janeiro - UNI-RIO. During this time he also attended private lessons with Cesar Guerra-Peixe, a leading composer in Brazil. Works from this period include: a piece for string orchestra (Estratos) a piano sonata (dedicated to Guerra-Peixe), a flute quartet, solo and duets for woodwind and string instruments and a series of short guitar pieces. After graduating he undertook a Master's Degree in Composition at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro - UFW under supervision of Ricardo Tacuchian, who gave the first performance of his work Estratos, for string orchestra with the University of Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestra in 1993. In 1995 he was awarded a federal scholarship to do a PhD in Composition at the University of Manchester - England, (concluded in 1999) where he studied with Professor John Casken. During his stay in England he received a Procter-Gregg Award for his piece 'Distant Tunes' premiered by the Gemini Ensemble. His String Quartet was also premiered by the Lindsay String Quartet in February 1997. In 1999 his work A Vision of Sulis (for: flute, clarinet, piano, percussion and string trio) was selected by spnm and received performances by the Paragon Ensemble Scotland in Glasgow and Edinburgh. His orchestral work The Sleep of Reason, also selected for performance by spnm, was given a world premiere by the University of Manchester Symphony Orchestra in 1998. More recently - April 2000 - his monodrama Inferno Verde, for baritone and large ensemble has been shortlisted by spnm for the artistic season 2000/01. Marcos Lucas has written music for different ensembles (solo, chamber, orchestra and choir) and has been performed in Brazil and in Britain by: The University of Sao Paulo Symphony Orchestral, University of Manchester Symphony Orchestra, The Lindsay String Quartet, Harmos String Quartet, The University of Manchester New Music Ensemble, The Paragon Ensemble Scotland. Since 1989, he has been lecturing Harmony and Analysis at the Conservatorio Brasileiro de Musica and he is also a music teacher at Colegio Pedro II. Back to shortlist.