[1] She was known for playing works by Portuguese composers,[2] such as the 19th century pianist João Domingos Bomtempo, and more recent composers such as Vianna da Motta, Alfredo Keil, Fernando Lopes-Graça, Frederico de Freitas, and Luis de Freitas Branco.

Among her other roles, she has been President of the Lisbon Metropolitan Orchestra (2003/2008), president of the Academia Nacional Superior de Orquestra, founder and artistic director of the MusicAtlântico Festival (1999–2009) in the Azores, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Luso-American Foundation for Development (FLAD).

Her achievements included a successful campaign to have a collection of paintings by Joan Miró stay in Portugal.

[1][3][9][10] After resigning from both the national parliament and from the Cascais council, Canavilhas enrolled to take a PhD at the Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas (Higher Institute of Social Sciences and Politics – ISCSP), with a thesis on "Female characters in Opera, The Voices of a Gender discourse".

She returned to work at the National Conservatory and began to collaborate with a project of the Ministry of Education to support elementary schools in the areas of music and dance.