Higher Professional Technical Course in Light and Sound for Performing Arts

The Higher Professional Technician Course (CTeSP) in Light and Sound for the Performing Arts is coherently aligned with the training offered in this area at the Coimbra School of Education (ESEC) of the Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra. The establishment is unique in the Coimbra region in that it offers first cycle courses dedicated to stage arts from a practical perspective, namely Applied Musical Studies and Theatre and Education. The creation of this new course serves to complement and reinforce the affirmation of an artistic training cluster in the region. Given the existence of two existing degrees dedicated to the performing arts, there is an urgent need to establish the necessary conditions for training in the technical component of supporting and building cultural events. This proposal, therefore, facilitates the opportunity for students who have previously attended primary and secondary education, or vocational education, to dedicate themselves to the deepening of their knowledge and skills in the domain of technical support for performances.
The degree courses offered by ESEC are characterised by their practical nature and the acquisition of knowledge and skills. The polytechnic environment is conducive to the development of multidisciplinary techniques and skills in a logical, coherent and integrated way, supported by rigorous and constant practice. The aforementioned degree courses at ESEC, by their very nature, represent a potential pathway for continuing studies, open to the students of this CTeSP. In this context, students can gain access to subjects that they can later develop and deepen. Furthermore, these courses can be instrumental in facilitating a broadening of competences that will redound to the benefit of the region’s network of cultural spaces, as well as the area of residence and influence of the students admitted.

The following individuals are eligible to submit an application for admission to the programme of studies that culminates in the diploma of higher professional technician:
a) Holders of a secondary education course or a legally equivalent qualification;
b) Individuals who have successfully completed the designated tests designed to evaluate the capacity to pursue higher education for those over the age of 23, taken for the programme in question;
c) Holders of a technological specialisation diploma, a professional higher technician diploma, or a higher education degree.

Lighting and sound technicians can work in
1. Cultural venues;
2. Dance companies;
3. Theatre companies;
4. Event companies.

Portuguese

Organising, planning, setting up and operating the light and sound equipment needed for a small show or similar production, in different contexts.
Main activities of the professional profile:
1 Analysing the physical conditions and technical needs of a show, event or artistic and cultural project, and selecting the materials and equipment to be used
2 Assembling, dismantling and maintaining the light, sound and image equipment
3 Implementing the light design according to a pre-defined lighting plan, adapting it to the characteristics of the stage space
4 Programming, on the light table, the desired effects and record the programming
5 Set up and adjust sound equipment, define levels and equalisations, and may use microphones to amplify voices and stage sounds, mixing desks and recorders to create certain effects
6 Operate digital and analogue audio desks and related equipment

Holders of a professional higher technical diploma can apply for the first cycle of studies (bachelor’s degree) through the special application, according to the decree law No. 113/2014 of 16 July).