Radio presenter Armando Carvalheda, who distinguished himself as a promoter of Portuguese music, died on Tuesday at the age of 73, at his home in Meco, in Sesimbra. Antenna 1the public broadcaster where he worked for nearly half a century.
Armando Carvalheda is distinguished as the author of Long live the musica program dedicated exclusively to the dissemination of “music sung in Portuguese”, which he directed for 24 years, from 1996 to 2020, making it one of Antena 1’s longest-running programs.
Long live the musicwhich often took risks by broadcasting music live, revealing new singers, composers and musicians, produced by Ana Sofia Carvalheda, the daughter of a radio broadcaster.
Armando Carvalheda was born in Lisbon, on December 30, 1950, and spent his childhood and adolescence in Setúbal. He began working in radio in 1967, on the “first pirate station” in Portugal, Rádio Clube de Alcácer do Sal, which he helped create, according to information published by Antena 1 in location.
Antena 1 quotes historian Rogerio Santos, who recalls how this pirate station began on medium wave, with the construction of a primitive transmitter and nothing more than “a recorder, two turntables and a microphone.”
However, the Radio Club Alcácer do Sal ended shortly afterwards, as Antena 1 recalls, after an interview with José Afonso, who “disturbed the authority” of the dictatorship.
The next stage on the radio was in 1972, during Armando Carvalheda’s military service in Guinea-Bissau. Upon his return to Portugal in 1973, he joined the former team Emísura Nacional.
In the 1980s, when the public station was already called Rádio Difusao Portuguesa (RDP), it began broadcasting several programs on the first channel of RDP. From 1996 with Long live the musicHe took on what he saw as his mission to promote and help affirm Portuguese music and its musicians.
Antena 1 highlights the special broadcast made by Armando Carvalheda from Bosnia, in 1995, when he produced and presented the concert “Juntos na Ditância”, during the conflict in the Balkans, “with the aim of encouraging the Portuguese soldiers deployed in Bosnia.” Conflict Management.
In the 1980s, Armando Carvalheda participated in the creation and launch of the solidarity project Pirilampo Mágico da Antena 1, in partnership with the National Federation of Social Solidarity Cooperatives (Fenacerci).
“Doing radio was not a profession,” said Armando Carvalheda, as Antena 1 recalls today, “it was a passion.”
“Proud coffee junkie. Gamer. Hardcore introvert. Social media trailblazer.”
