Graduating in Composition from the Lisbon School of Music (studying composition with Constança Capdeville and Christopher Bochmann), Carlos Caires subsequently obtained a Maîtrise (1999), a Diplome d’Études Approfondies (2000) and a Doctorate (as an FCT grant holder, 2006) from the University of Paris 8 Saint-Denis-Vincennes, under the supervision of Horacio Vaggione.

He is a Coordinating Professor at the Lisbon School of Music, where he began teaching in 1993, was a Researcher at CITAR – Portuguese Catholic University (Porto) between 2007 and 2013, and has been an integrated researcher at CESEM-FCSH since 2014. He is also a collaborator at CICM – Centre de recherche Informatique et Création Musicale (University of Paris 8, Saint-Denis-Vincennes).

He taught at the Setúbal Regional Conservatory and at the National Conservatory School of Music (between 1988 and 1991). Alongside his composition studies, Carlos Caires attended various summer courses in choral and orchestral conducting, both in Portugal and abroad. Together with conductor Paulo Lourenço, he directed the choir of the Juventude Musical Portuguesa, subsequently founding (also with Paulo Lourenço) the Ricercare Choir, which he directed until 1998, when he left for Paris.

His music has been featured in various festivals across Europe, Asia, and the USA.

Among the groups that have performed his music are the Casa da Música Symphony Orchestra, Casa da Música Choir, Remix Ensemble, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Metropolitan Orchestra of Lisbon, Portuguese Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra and Wind Orchestra of the Lisbon School of Music, the Chamber Choir of the Lisbon School of Music, the University of Aveiro Wind Orchestra, OrchestrUtopica, Ricercare Choir, Sinfonietta de Lisboa, Grupo de Música Contemporânea de Lisboa, Ensemble Ars Ad Hoc, Ensemble Futurs Musiques, Gruppo di Percussione della RAI, Sond’Ar-Te Electric Ensemble and the Smith Quartet.

He received the Joly Braga Santos Prize in 1995 for the work *Al Niente*, the Claudio Carneyro Prize in 1996 for the work *Wordpainting*, and the ACARTE Prize in 1998 for the work *Retábulo-Melodrama*. Carlos Caires has developed various computer applications in the fields of electroacoustic music and computer-assisted composition, notably the IRIN sound micromontage software, a project initiated during his doctorate and updated to the present day.

His activity also includes composing music and sound for film, having to date presented 4 animated short films at the Monstra Festival with subsequent international circulation.