After completing her studies, Carvalho worked as a pianist, composer, conductor and music educator. She became the first woman member of the Brazilian Academy of Music and became the first woman Brazilian maestro, founding an all-woman orchestra, the Orquestra Feminina de São Paulo. In 1960, having composed about 400 works, Dinorá was invited by the Culture Ministry to go in a cultural mission around Europe, playing her compositions as well as other Brazilian composers.[2] Her work Missa Profundis received first prize for Best Vocal Work of 1977 from the Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte. She died in São Paulo in 1980.[3][4]
Works
Carvalho composed for solo instruments, chorus, choir and orchestra, chamber ensemble, piano and orchestra, symphony orchestra, theater and ballet. Selected works include:
A ti, flor do céu (Text: Theodomiro Alves Pereira)
Acalanto (Text: Cleómenes Campos)
Água que passa (Text: Paulo Lébeis Bonfim)
Ausência (Text: Suzana de Campos)
Bamboleia
Banzo (Text: Menotti del Picchia)
Berceuse (Text: José de Freitas Valle)
Canção do embalo (Text: Cecília Benevides de Carvalho Meireles)
Canção ingênua (Text: Milton Vaz de Camargo)
Carmo (in Estampas de Vila Rica) (Text: Carlos Drummond de Andrade)
Coqueiro-coqueirá (Text: Volkslieder)
Ê-bango-bango-ê (Text: Volkslieder)
Epigrama número 9 (Text: Cecília Benevides de Carvalho Meireles)
Espelho (Text: Jandyra Sounis Carvalho de Oliveira)
Ideti (Text: Dioscoredes dos Santos)
Instantâneo do adeus (Text: Elza Heloísa)
Menino mandú (Text: Volkslieder)
Mosaico (Text: Geraldo Vidigal)
Noite de São Paulo (Text: Guilherme de Almeida)
Num imbaiá (Text: Volkslieder)
O ar (Text: Paulo Lébeis Bonfim)
O fogo (Text: Paulo Lébeis Bonfim)
O pipoqueiro (pregão)
Onde estás (Text: Alice Camargo Guarnieri)
Pau-piá (Text: Volkslieder)
Perdão (Text: Milton Marques)
Pobre cego (Text: Volkslieder)
Presença (Text: Jandyra Sounis Carvalho de Oliveira)
Quem sofre (Text: Menotti del Picchia)
Quibungo te-rê-rê (Text: Volkslieder)
Quinguê-lê (Text: Volkslieder)
Samaritana (Text: Paulo Lébeis Bonfim)
São Francisco de Assis (in Estampas de Vila Rica) (Text: Carlos Drummond de Andrade)