More than a dozen concerts, masterclasses, a visit to the inside of the organs and a photography competition make up the 16th edition of the Algarve International Organ Festival, which will take place Faro, Portimão, Loulé, Boliqueime and Tavira, between the 3rd and 26th of November.
The festival, organized by Associação Música XXI, presents proposals for solo organ, choral music, chamber music (with saxophone, singing, baroque harp and oboe and baroque violin and cello), positive organ with orchestra and concerts with improvisations on themes musicals.
Although this year's program brings some new features – such as improvised music concerts and the transport of the positive organ to Teatro das Figuras, Patrícia Neto Martins, from Associação Música XXI, says that the festival maintains “an important line of continuity”.
«We continue with the pedagogical concert, which, last year, brought together 300 children at the Cathedral of Faro, and it was an important moment because it made the younger ones come into contact with instruments and learn about the great history of the Sé organ. Furthermore, the masterclasses will also continue, bringing some approximation to formal teaching spaces, with a visit to the organs», he says Patrícia Neto Martins.
For the organizer of the program, it is also important to make these instruments known, «which are in a privileged location and in themselves, constitute a patrimonial value, in the case of the Cathedral's organ, a treasure».
For this edition, organists Filipe Veríssimo, Daniel Nunes, Pedro Monteiro, André Ferreira, Sérgio Silva, Samuel Pinto and Maurice Clement were invited.
The program also features the participation of Coral Adágio, Coro Cantate Domino, Coro Jubilate Deo, Rui Piques (saxophone), Orquestra do Algarve, Ensemble 258, Nuno Mendes (violin), Pedro Massarrão (cello) and the students and guests of the Organ School of the Cathedral of Faro.
The first concerts are scheduled for the 3rd of November, at 21pm, at Igreja Matriz Portimão, with Filipe Veríssimo and Coral Adágio, and for the 00th, at 4pm, at Igreja da Sé, in Faro, with Filipe Veríssimo and Coro Cantate Domino.
For the 10th of November, two concerts are scheduled: one at the Igreja Matriz de Portimão, at 21pm, with Daniel Nunes and Rui Piques (saxophone) and another at the Parish Church of Boliqueime, at 00pm, with Pedro Monteiro.
On the 11th, at 11 am, the Igreja do Carmo, in Faro, welcomes Daniel Nunes and Rui Piques (saxophone) and, on the 12th, at 18pm, it is Pedro Monteiro and Orquestra do Algarve who perform at Teatro das Figuras, Faro.
This is one of the great novelties of the program, in which, according to Patrícia Neto Martins, for the first time, the organ is “taken out of doors”.
On November 17th, the concerts are at the Boliqueime Parish Church, with André Ferreira and Ensemble 258, and at the Misericórdia de Tavira Church, with Sérgio Silva, Nuno Mendes (violin), Pedro Massarrão (cello), both at 21pm.
On the 18th, the Carmo Church, in Faro, welcomes, at 21pm, André Ferreira and Ensemble 00, and on the 258th, at 19pm, Sérgio Silva (with positive organ), Nuno Mendes (violin) and Pedro Massarrão (cello) provide music.
This is followed, on the 24th, by a concert with Samuel Pinto, at the Church of Santiago, in Tavira, at 21pm, on the 00th there will be a concert with Maurice Clement, at the Igreja da Sé, in Faro, at 21 pm, and on the 00th, at the Church of Santiago, in Tavira, at 26 pm, on the “stage” Maurice Clement and Coro Jubilate Deo.
The extra concerts are scheduled for November 4th, at Igreja Matriz Portimão, between 10am and 00pm, with a Masterclass by Filipe Veríssimo. On the 13th, at the Church of the Cathedral of Faro, between 10 am and 00 pm, there is an educational concert for children, with André Ferreira, and at the Misericórdia, Santiago and Carmo Churches, in Tavira, at 13 pm, there is an accompanied visit to the organs.
On the 18th, the Boliqueime Parish Church hosts André Ferreira's Masterclass, between 10am and 00pm, and at the Loulé-FR Music Conservatory, at the same time, the singing Masterclass with Teresa Duarte takes place.
Finally, on November 19th, the Church of the Sé de Faro hosts a concert by students and guests from the Sé Organ School, at 15pm, and on the 00th, the winners of the photography competition will be announced in the same location at 25pm.
In the year in which the Festival reaches its 16th edition, Patrícia Neto Martins gives a very positive assessment of its history.
«We started only in the Cathedral of Faro, then we extended it to Carmo, and we established contacts and partnerships. There has been a line of continuity and trust in the relationship between institutions, between our association and between the public bodies that support us», says the person in charge, reinforcing that, over the years, there has also been various private support.
In 2016, at the encouragement of master organist Dinarte Machado, contacts were established with Portimão, Tavira and Loulé and these municipalities also began to host concerts.
After overcoming the pandemic period, in which they had to hold a smaller version of the festival, participation has been enormous, with more than 5 thousand people joining in-person events last year.
«This event also ends up being a landmark in the regional program and what is certain is that, well in advance, we always have some emails in our inbox from people who want to confirm whether the festival will continue for the month of November because there are people who come here at that time to be able to attend the concerts», concludes Patrícia Neto Martins.
Concerts in churches are free and do not require prior reservation. Masterclasses must be booked and cost 5 euros.
Registration for Portimão can be made by contacting 282 426 290, 966 642 279, and email [email protected]. For Loulé, call 916 782 780 or email [email protected]
This year's Algarve Organ Festival has the support of the Regional Directorate of Culture of the Algarve, the Municipalities of Faro, Loulé, Portimão and Tavira, from the Kultur LX agency, with support for promoting the Algarve Tourism Region, with communication partners Antena 2, Sul Informação and Rua FM and with the Hotel accommodation partner Faro. It also has a partnership with the Diocese of the 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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