Luís Bittencourt is a percussionist, artist-researcher, science communicator, composer, and producer. An active performer in a range of styles—from Western art music, South American folk music, and free improvisation to contemporary experimental music—Bittencourt is hailed as "a master of sound experimentation" (Vision Magazine). He has performed solo in Europe, Oceania, North and South America. His performances, described as "a torrent of originality" (Casa da Música), include premieres of his own compositions and works by composers such as Tan Dun, Gabriel Prokofiev, Steve Reich, Vinko Globokar, and other national and international contemporary composers. Bittencourt has been featured in numerous contemporary art and music festivals and venues, including IKLECTIK (UK), Sound Res (Italy), The Cockpit (UK), Ciclo Do Audible (Spain), Theatro Treze de Maio (Brazil), Guildhall School of Music and Drama (UK), Queensland Conservatoire Theatre at Griffith University (Australia), Lisboa Soa, Casa da Música, Sonoscopia, Convento de São Francisco, Theatro Circo, Serralves em Festa!, GNRation, Arquipélago Centro de Artes Contemporâneas, Solilóquios, and Museu de Lisboa, among others. He has collaborated with renowned artists such as Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth), Jeffrey Ziegler (solo/Kronos Quartet), Phill Niblock, Helga Davis, Gabriel Prokofiev, David Cossin (Bang on a Can), Jon Rose, Rafael Toral, Mina Tindle, and Emily Hall. As a composer and music producer, Bittencourt won the 1st prize in the Legends of China - Confucius Arts Institute Award 2016. He has collaborated with artists and institutions such as Cecile Elton, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Lange Studios, United Nations Organisation, Instagram®, and Cannes Lions. As an artist-researcher, Bittencourt has conducted pioneering investigations, including "Percussion and Instrumentality: Exploring the Performance of Unusual Instruments and Sound Sources," a doctoral artistic research funded by CAPES; "The Use of Water as a Percussive Sound Source: Analysis of Tan Dun's Water Music," a master's study on the sonic affordances of water; and "Liquid Memories for Solo Waterphone and Live Loops: Creation, Performance and Transtextuality," an artistic research on the sonic potential of the waterphone, an almost unexplored contemporary musical instrument. His groundbreaking research has established new insights into experimentation in percussion music and the instrumentality of "found instruments," and has been published and presented at many institutions worldwide, such as the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique et Dance de Lyon (France), Leeds College of Music (UK), Conservatório de Valencia (Spain), Guildhall School of Music and Drama (UK), Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (Brazil), International Summer Course for New Music Darmstadt (Germany), Bath Spa University (UK), and Queensland Conservatoire at Griffith University (Australia). Bittencourt holds a PhD and a Master's in Music Performance from the University of Aveiro (Portugal) and a Bachelor's Degree in Percussion Performance from the Universidade Federal de Santa Maria (Brazil). He is a member of the Society of Artistic Research (SAR) and the Percussive Arts Society (PAS), and regularly contributes as a peer reviewer for Per Musi, SHIMA, ORFEU, the Society for Artistic Research (SAR), and others. More information can be found on his website: www.luisbittencourt.com.