Isabel Novais Gonçalves studied piano at the Conservatory in Oporto and graduated in Music Education in Oporto, and later in Musicology in the Universidade Nova de Lisboa. She is a member of the research centre CESEM and member of the research team in the project “Theatre of Laughter: Musical Comedy in Portuguese-speaking Theatres (1849-1900)". She has a PhD in theatrical music in Lisbon between the 1830s and the 1860s.