Madeira Organ Festival 2016

For ten days, from 21 to 30 October, music will fill the churches of Funchal, Machico and Porto da Cruz, enhancing the organ heritage recovered over the past years, giving prestige to this heritage and highlighting the richness and peculiarities of each organ with diversified musical programs.

The 7th edition of the Madeira Organ Festival is no exception, and confirms the importance of this program in the universe of cultural events in the Autonomous Region of Madeira and the relevance of this program for the consolidation of a differentiated and quality cultural offer.

The realization of events of this nature, on a continuous basis, has allowed the formation and loyalty of audiences, residents and visitors, creating a greater identification and commitment of the entire community of Madeira to its heritage and culture. This year, this effort was expanded with the creation of a new program specifically for children, in order to stimulate their understanding and curiosity about this instrument, making them aware through the telling of a story accompanied by improvisations on the organ.

An evocative exhibition of the organistic landscape of Madeira was also held, which illustrates the richness and diversity of the recovered heritage, as well as the investments made in the construction of new organs, namely the big organ in the Church of São João Evangelista (Colégio) and the new organ in the Cathedral still under construction, both by Dinarte Machado.

Music knows no boundaries, neither physical nor temporal. And the organ, despite being fixed, comes to meet us, crossing centuries and diverse origins, inviting us to discover a true ocean of sonorities, with cultural dialogues across distinct musical geographies, from Rome to Leipzig, to the music in Spanish Baroque convents, to the contrasting musical worlds united by the same instrument.

Unlike the previous editions supported by community funds, the 2016 edition of the Madeira Organ Festival is marked by the production under the responsibility of DRC - Regional Directorate of Culture with funding exclusively from the regional budget. All this programming, production and realization was only possible thanks to the dedication and professionalism of the DRC staff, the prompt commitment of the Diocese of Funchal and the Churches involved and the dedication of the Festival's artistic director, Prof. João Vaz, whom I thank in a very grateful way for all the effort and dedication to this project.

Natércia Xavier
Regional Director of Culture

VII Organ Festival of Madeira

Madeira's churches are once again opening their doors so that the public can enjoy the sound of their organs. With a diversified organistic landscape, which includes 17th century Portuguese-made instruments (Machico main church, São João Evangelista Church (Colégio) and Conventos de Santa Clara and Bom Jesus in Funchal), organs imported from England during the 19th century (Sé, São Pedro and São Martinho Churches in Funchal and Porto da Cruz main church) and a new instrument built in 2008 for Colégio Church in Funchal, Madeira allows the presentation of a vast repertoire.

As in previous years, the program of this edition of the Madeira Organ Festival intends to show various facets of the instrument. Ludger Lohmann, Albrecht Koch, Frank van Wijk, and Jesús Gonzálo López will give solo recitals with varied repertoires, giving pride of place to the music of Bach, Sweelinck, and Cabezón. Of the remaining concerts, which feature the organ in various instrumental or vocal formations, the highlights are a program with Mozart's Church Sonatas by organist Tiago Ferreira and the Orquestra Clássica da Madeira conducted by Norberto Gomes at the Sé do Funchal, and Vierne's Messe solennelle for choir and two organs by the Madeira Chamber Choir conducted by Zélia Gomes at the Igreja do Colégio. The participation of baritone Armando Possante, cornetist Tiago Simas Freire and the Capella Patriarchal group ensure programs dedicated respectively to German Romanticism, instrumental music of the 17th century, and late Portuguese polyphonic music. A novelty in the present edition of the Madeira Organ Festival is the inclusion of a program for children, conceived and presented by the young organist Inês Machado, with the collaboration of narrator Sofia Maul. An exhibition dedicated to the organ landscape of Madeira will allow the public to get to know a little better this heritage that, thanks to a consistent policy of recovery developed over two decades, has allowed, since 2010, the Madeira Organ Festival to be held, which has already established itself as one of the most important events of its kind in the country.

João Vaz
Artistic Director