Patrício da Silva (1973) received formal musical training at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa where he studied piano and composition (B.M. in piano). Composition studies in the US at CalArts (MFA), and the Uni. of California (Ph.D). His composition teachers include António Pinho Vargas, Mel Powel, Stephen L. Mosko, Morton Subotnick, William Kraft, David Cope, Curtis Roads, Michael Gandolfi, John Harbison and Sydney Hodkinson. Post-doctoral work in algorithmic composition at Ircam (France).

Awards include the II International Barto Prize, the Gould Family Foundation Composers Award, the Ojai Festival Music for Tomorrow, Foundation of Science and Technology, Fundação Luso-Americana, Betty Freeman Foundation, American Music Center, Composers Forum, Meet the Composer, the Otto Eckstein, Norton Stevens, and the Susan and Ford Schumann Fellowships. Residencies at the MacDowell Colony and the Atlantic Center for the Arts.

Festivals and concert halls where Patricio da Silva’s music has been performed include Tanglewood, Ravinia, Ojai Music Festival, Aspen, Ruhr Festival, Schleswig Holstein Music Festival, Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal, Stadttheater Wels, London Festival of American Music, LACMA, Auditorio de Galicia,Yamaha's YASI in NY, SCRIME in Bordeaux, LASO, and Cistermúsica.

Previous performances of his works by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra (composer in residence 2008-10), California Ear-Unit, Lontano, Memphis Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Piano Quartet, New Fromm Players, Orquestra do Algarve, Shakespeare & Co., Stefan Asbury, Tzimon Barto, Ryu Cipris, Gloria Cheng, Joana Carneiro, Cesário Costa, William Eddins, Lorenz Gamma, David Gutkin, Paul Haas, Michael Kudirka, David Loebel, Brian Pezzone, José Rodilla, Mark Robson, Tara Schwab, Ming Tsu, and Laurent Wagner.