Carlos Guedes has a multifaceted compositional activity, counting numerous commissioned projects for dance, theater, film, as well as conventional concert music. In 2019 he had his 80th public premiere, and his work has been heard in numerous festivals and concert halls including The Kitchen, Joyce SoHo, Judson Church, ArCo, De Waag, SXSW, Teatro Nacional de S. João, SIGGRAPH, Shanghai eArts , Casa da Música, Expo '98, Expo 2020, NYUAD Arts Center, Porto 2001, Guimarães 2012, Beijing Modern Music Festival 2016, Sharjah Flag Island Festival, and Asia Culture Center (Gwangju, South Korea).

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His music is eclectic, combining influences that range from industrial to world music, from western erudite traditions to trans-cultural free improvisation, often using computational technologies as a tool for further expanding musical expression. Recent collaborations include “Fragile ecosystems” (2019) for bass drum and electronics commissioned by (and dedicated to) João Dias; “Uma coisa longínqua” (2020, Teatro de Ferro, dir. Igor Gandra); “Neve” (2021, Balleteatro, choreography by Né Barros); “Jardineiro imaginário” (2022, Teatro de Marionetas do Porto, dir. Isabel Barros). 

In 2021-2022, Carlos Guedes was composer-in-residence at Drumming GP where he developed the cycle for percussion and fixed-media electronic music entitled “Time Poetries” with a duration of around 50 minutes (full premiere in 2023). He recently released the album “Shadows and reflections” (2021) by his duo Chess with the Danish pianist Nikolaj Hess. Some of his music is available on streaming platforms Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Bandcamp, etc.

Carlos Guedes is Associate Professor of Music at New York University Abu Dhabi, where he co-founded the Music and Sound Cultures (MaSC) research group.