It is already a reference in the cultural panorama of Faro and has been gaining public over the years through a concept that combines the music of renowned performers with valuable heritage elements.
The Organ Festival of Faro starts next Saturday, November 7th, with a concert by João Vaz, at 21 pm, at Igreja da Sé, and will liven up the Algarve capital until the end of the month.
This is a festival that has several stars. From the outset, the virtuous who are invited to be present in Faro, all of them renowned interpreters. Then there are the musical instruments themselves, as both the Cathedral and the Church of Carmo have centuries-old historical organs, with very specific characteristics. The copy of the Sé celebrates 300 years in 2015.
Finally, there is the surrounding of beauties and architectural and artistic details inside the temples that host the event.
For open hostilities, Associação Música XXI and the Regional Directorate of Culture, which co-organize the festival, chose João Vaz, who is «the most renowned Portuguese organist today». This concert, in which the Portuguese musician will play pieces by various composers, has the special support of the Inatel Foundation.
João Vaz studied in Lisbon with Antoine Sibertin-Blanc and in Zaragoza with José Luis González Uriol. He also holds a PhD in Music and Musicology, with a thesis on Portuguese music for organ from the late XNUMXth century. He developed an international career both as a performer and as a teacher in organ development courses, and made numerous recordings in Portuguese historical bodies.
He currently teaches at the Lisbon Superior School of Music. He is the artistic director of the Madeira Organ Festival, as well as the series of concerts in Mafra and the historical organ of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon, an instrument of which he has been the main organist since 1997.
In the following weeks, the festival will feature the presence of the Italian/Brazilian organist Marco Brescia (14 November, Sé), a musician who is frequently invited to perform in prestigious festivals and international concert cycles in Europe and America.
The event then moves to the Igreja do Carmo, on November 21, where Rute Martins will echo in the organ pipes her mastery as a disciple of professor Antoine Sibertin Blanc. To end the event, on November 28, Igreja do Carmo will host a chamber music concert with Diogo Pombo on organ and Nuno Miguel Silva on saxophone.
The 2015 edition of this event, the 8th, will have a parallel program, dedicated to the celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the Organ of the Cathedral of Faro.
This offer can already be enjoyed, since yesterday it opened a photography exhibition on this organ, in the Igreja da Sé.
On Saturday, a tuning workshop will be promoted as organ maker Dinarte Machado, between 12:13 and XNUMX:XNUMX. Before the start of the festival's inaugural concert, a brochure on the musical instrument will be released.
On Sunday, the 8th, João Vaz will lead a new workshop, in this case, on organ.
For the 14th of November, a lecture is scheduled on the organ of the Sé, which will bring together Dinarte Machado, the organ maker who has taken care of this centenary instrument, and the organist Marco Brescia.
On November 21, there is a new workshop on tuning, this time at Igreja do Carmo and with the organ maker António Simões.
The VIII Organ Festival - Faro 2015 is co-organized by Associação Cultural Música XXI and the Regional Directorate of Culture of the Algarve, in partnership with the Municipality of Faro, the INATEL Foundation and the Hotel Faro. It has support for the dissemination of Sul Informação, FM Street and Antenna 2.
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