It won't have as many presentations as in other years, nor as many guest organists, but the Algarve Organ Festival will take place between the 6th and 28th of November, "with the same dignity as always", so that the audience can, once again, "close their eyes" and enjoy, "without distractions", good music played in historical organs of algarvian churches.
In a year of pandemic, the association Música XXI, which organizes the festival, decided to carry out the event, albeit with the necessary adaptations, both in terms of space, size and sanitary rules.
«This is a year of contingency, so we made the festival in a reduced format. Last year we had 15 performances. This year, it's only seven. But we wanted to continue to mark our presence», he told the Sul Informação Patrícia Neto Martins, from the Música XXI association.
"We decided to do it as a milestone, as an anchor of continuity, around so many events that ended up being cancelled, not least because they are smaller, more intimate initiatives," he added.
“Sometimes, in these situations of such profound changes in society, a mark of continuity also conveys security to people and we wanted to show that we are here”, he reinforced.
In 2020, four organists will be invited to perform seven concerts in five churches in four municipalities in the Algarve: the Sé de Faro, Igreja do Carmo, also in the Algarve, the Matriz de Portimão, the Igreja de Boliqueime, in Loulé, and the Igreja de Santiago, in Tavira.
The protagonists will be the musicians João Vaz, Rute Martins, Pedro Monteiro and Beatriz Resendes.
“This year, due to seating restrictions in churches, we have limited everything, including the type of concerts, as we will not have chamber music. We will go back to the original version. We will only have the organ and the organist, there are no images, there is no projection on the altar, there is none of that. Anyone who goes to concerts will have the privilege of being able to close their eyes and listen to that music without any distraction», revealed Patrícia Neto Martins.
Basically, it is a return to the origins of the festival.
Entrance to the concerts, which always start at 21 pm, is still free, as is the hallmark of the Algarve Organ Festival, but without the possibility of prior booking.
“We will open the doors 15 to 20 minutes before the concert and seat people in order of arrival. The entire entry and exit process will be accompanied by elements of the organization», explained the Música XXI representative.
“The capacity varies from church to church. The one with the highest capacity is the Matriz de Portimão, where we have limited seats to 100. In the Sé de Faro, we will have 80 seats and, in the remaining churches, the one in Boliqueime, the one in Carmo, in Faro, and the one in Santiago, in Tavira, we will have 50», he reinforced.
The "privileged" who get a place to watch the concert - only the closing concert, with João Vaz, is scheduled to be broadcast online - will have the opportunity to hear virtuosos playing "the always young melodies that sound from these ancient instruments".
The festival is launched on the 6th, at the Igreja Matriz in Portimão, with a concert by Pedro Monteiro, an organist who, despite being a debutant at the Música XXI event, has strong connections to the Algarve, namely Vila Real de Santo António, and to the Dean of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Faro, mentor of the idea of create an "Organ School" in this temple.
“This year we wanted to meet and satisfy a request from Canon José Pedro Martins, who in 2020 completed 50 years of priesthood. And he's been talking to us about Pedro Monteiro for some time», explained Patrícia Neto Martins.
This is because, he says, Pedro Monteiro has roots in VRSA, where Father José Pedro was also, and, "when he was only 9 years old, he heard the canon playing and was ecstatic."
“He was so excited that he insisted on listening to him play. Later, he had some lessons with the canon, who guided him to study music in Porto, where he still lives and where he established himself as a musician», he illustrated.
“Until now, we have never had the chance to bring it, but this year it has been provided. It ends up being a gift for Father José Pedro Martins, who had a great influence on Pedro Monteiro's choice of life. It will be a reunion», he concluded.
Pedro Monteiro will also perform on November 7th, at Sé de Faro.
A week later, on November 13th and 14th, it will be the turn of the young Beatriz Resendes to perform at the Parish Church of Boliqueime and at the Igreja do Carmo, respectively. This organist “recently finished her course at the Lisbon Superior School of Music in 2017”.
«It has been our recurrent bet to bring new values, to present themselves and help launch their artistic careers», stressed Patrícia Neto Martins.
The career of Rute Martins is already well launched, who will be a «repeat» at the festival, to which she had already been invited. In this case, the two concerts are scheduled for the Igreja de Santiago, in Tavira, and for the Igreja do Carmo, in Faro, on 20 and 21 November, respectively.
The festival closes a week later, on the 28th, «with a golden key», in the Cathedral of Faro.
«For the last concert, we wanted to bring the one who is considered the best national organist and who has a great international career, João Vaz, who has also directed organ festivals in Madeira, Mafra and São Vicente de Fora», he explained to Sul Informação Patricia Neto Martins.
The representative of Música XXI also stressed that all health rules will be scrupulously respected.
“We have our contingency plan approved by the Regional Health Authority, we are going to implement circulation circuits inside the churches, we will have hand hygiene and the mandatory use of masks”, he summed up.
As the organizers of the event say, taking into account that everything will be in place, «let's listen then, with all due reverence, to the 13th edition of the Algarve Organ Festival».
O Algarve Organ Festival 2020 counts on the support of the Regional Directorate of Culture of the Algarve and the Municipalities of Faro, Loulé, Portimão and Tavira, with support for the dissemination of the Algarve Tourism Region and communication partners Antena 2, Sul Informação and FM Street. It also has a partnership with the Diocese of Algarve, the Cabido da Sé de Faro, of the Order of Carmo of Faro and the parishes of Portimão, Boliqueime and Tavira.
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