other's thoughts; he constantly generated his own conceptions and, above all, he put in practice his ideas in different contexts. Furthermore, his innovative attitude contributed to the development of Brazilian music and society. A significant initiative was the Manifesto Musica Nova [New Music Manifest] that Gilberto released 1963 in collaboration with other composers and musicians. They swore the "total commitment to the contemporary world", which means accepting the economic reality of the mass media and the changing status of the artist in the society. The manifest points to the necessity to explore the new possibilities of electronic media and information technologies in a globalized world. They wanted new forms for a new society: Gilberto Mendes and his colleagues contributed to overcome the limitation of the nationalistic approach that shaped Brazilian music in the first half of the 20th century with the following message: if you pretend to be a Brazilian composer and create genuine Brazilian music, you have to look into the whole world and create music that reflects the issues of the time.In 1962 Gilberto Mendes founded the "Festival Musica Nova" [New Music Festival] and remained its artistic director and/or mentor until his death. The festival, which is considered one of the oldest of its kind in the world, has been an important platform of national and international exchanging and collaboration, a real bridge connecting Brazilian and musicians from all over the world. Gilberto commissioned new works, gave opportunity to emerging composers and invited prestigious musicians from Europe and North America to perform in the festival. For a composer as myself living since 1980 outside Brazil, the Festival Musica Nova has been a great opportunity to connect with the Brazilian community and audience of contemporary music. For example, in 2008 I had the privilege to present in the festival my work Orbital Studies for piano and live-electronics (with a 8-channel sound spatialization system) in cooperation with the great Brazilian pianist Caio Pagano. Gilberto Mendes' musical openness provided the pluralistic vision that shaped the festival. His charismatic personality was crucial to ensure the continuity of this event, which has always fought against financial difficulties and the mediocre vision of Brazilian cultural institutions.It is not easy to highlight the myriad of accomplishments by Gilberto Mendes. His compositions draw inspiration from many difference sources and have been performed worldwide. His works from the 1960's are particularly successful, such as the orchestral piece "Santos Football Music", a work conceived as a musical happening in which Gilberto critically reflects on the Brazilian passion for the soccer game and its idols such as Pele, the greatest soccer player of all time who played in his hometown team Santos Footfall Club. His pieces for choir, mostly written for the "Madrigal Ars Viva" from Santos and using texts by Brazilian concrete poets, reveal an amazing deal of originality. For example, the madrigal "Beba Coca-Cola" [Drink Coca-Cola] with poetry by Decio Pignatari, a composition that explores the advertising appeal of the coke beverage and the disgusting effect it causes in our body (the singers burp on stage). When Gilberto Mendes