Joaquim Luís Gomes

Portuguese composer, arranger, and conductor, born in Santarém (1914), died in Lisbon (2009). Played the clarinet in the Band of the Fifth Battalion of Riflemen in the Portuguese army. In 1940, he changed to the famous Band of the National Republican Guard, in which he played harp. In the 1950s, he turned to record arranging and conducting radio and television orchestras. He was involved in the Eurovision Song Contest as a conductor in 1968, leading Norrie Paramor's orchestra at London's Royal Albert Hall for Carlos Mendes' interpretation of 'Verão'.