Sara Carvalho is a composer and senior lecturer at the Department of Communication and Arts at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. She is currently the Director of the Doctoral Music Program, Vice-Director of the Undergraduate Music Program, and coordinator of the Composition course. She is also a member of the University's Doctoral School Board and a fellow researcher at the Institute of Ethnomusicology - Center for Studies in Music and Dance (INET-MD). As a lecturer she primarily teaches postgraduate courses and composition. She has supervised numerous students, including 2 postdoctoral projects, 9 PhD theses (8 currently ongoing), and 36 Master of Music and Master of Music Education dissertations. Sara's research focuses on composition and music education. As a composer Sara’s work examines the interaction of different performing arts as an extension of musical thinking. She explores aspects of gesture, musical narrative, audience participation, and composer-performer collaboration. Sara’s portfolio has over 90 pieces regularly performed both in Portugal and internationally. These include commissions by prestigious international institutions, ensembles, and renowned soloists [Antonietta Loffredo, Black Hair, Borealis Ensemble, Borislava Taneva, Capricorn Ensemble, Composers Ensemble, Duque Quartet, Ensemble DME, Ensemble Lontano, Ensemble Móbile, Ensemble Neue Musik Bratislava, Ensemble Vertixe Sonora, Erato Alakiozidou, FLUTUA, Guenadie Rotari, Henrique Portovedo, João Roiz Ensemble, Késia Decoté, Mieko Kanno, Medea String Quartet, Northen Symphonia, Orquestra Filarmónica Portuguesa, Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa, OrquestrUtopica, Peter Kolkay, Performa, Ensemble, Remix Ensemble, Síntese, Sond’Ar-te Electric Ensemble, Stacey Barelos, University of York Chamber Orchestra, Verge Ensemble and Young Ha.] Several of her pieces are available on CD, including her monographic CD "7 pomegranate seeds" released by Numérica. Her scores are published by the Portuguese Music Information & Investigation Centre (MIC.PT), Babel Scores, and Wirripang Pty. Ltd, Australia. Sara is frequently invited to participate in composition juries, including the "International Competition: Arioso Musica Domani", the "9th and 13th International Composition Competition of Póvoa de Varzim", the "Prémio de Composição SPA/Antena 2", and "MPMP Musa prize”. In the field of Music Education, her research examines the influence of creative processes on children's musical development. Her research themes explore ways to cultivate creativity in music education, optimize classroom teaching and learning, and understand the impact of musical projects in schools and communities. She also investigates the role of emotion and flow in musical contexts. Between 2005 and 2017, Sara served as an expert evaluator for the European Commission's "Culture" and "Creative Europe" programs. She actively participates in the academic community, organizing and serving on scientific committees for conferences and journals, like "Performa - Conference on Performance Studies" (2011 and 2015), "Orff-Schulwerk Meeting of the University of Aveiro" (2016, 2017, and 2019), "National Meeting of Composition and Musical Analysis: Educational Perspectives" (2016, 2019, and 2023), "1st and 2nd International Conference Music for and by Children: Perspectives from Children, Composers, Performers and Educators" (musichildren'17 / musichildren'22), and “Symposium ACTUS: Audience as Performers" (2024), an event linked to her funded project "ACTUS: Audience as Performers”. Additionally, she is one of the artistic directors of Performer Ensemble (Portugal), focusing on commissioning, premiering, disseminating, and recording works by Portuguese composers. Sara's research is presented at national and international conferences and published in various journals, books, and book chapters, including those by ASHGATE/SEMPRE Studies in The Psychology of Music Series and London: Imperial College Press.