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Sunday 27th October, 11:00am Sunday Mass As in previous years, artists participating in the Madeira Organ Festival will collaborate in a liturgical celebration. Organists João Vaz and Laura Mendes join the Funchal Cathedral Choir in this Sunday Mass. The music and the instruments themselves will be heard in the context for which they were originally conceived. Participants |
Sunday MassParticipants
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João Vaz studied in Lisbon with Antoine Sibertin-Blanc and in Zaragoza with José Luis González Uriol. Besides his regular studies he attended courses with teachers such as Edouard Souberbielle and Joaquim Simões da Hora, acquiring a deep interest in Early Music. He also holds a PhD in Music and Musicology, with a thesis on Portuguese organ music from the beginning of the 19th century. Having developed an intense international career, he is frequently invited to play in prestigious organ festivals, as well as to teach in interpretation courses and to join juries in international competitions. His interest in Portuguese music is reflected in his many CD recordings (most of them on historical Portuguese organs) and in his musicological work (articles and music editions). He currently teaches at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. He is artistic director of the Madeira Organ Festival and of the concert series that takes place on the six organs of the Basilica of the National Palace of Mafra (for whose restoration he was permanent consultant) and on the historical organ of the Church of São Vicente de Fora in Lisbon (an instrument he took over in 1997). |
João Vaz|
Born in Porto d Cruz, Laura Silva Mendes started her musical studies in the Association Cultural Group Flores de Maio at the age of six years old. Two years later, she began studying piano at the Conservatório - Escola das Artes Eng° Luiz Peter Clode, in Machico, Madeira, with Emesse Szepesi and later with Iryna Kózina and organ with Halyna Stetsenko at the professional instrumental music course in Funchal. In 2013, she began a piano course at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp, Belgium, with Polina Leschenko. She has performed frequently as a soloist and in chamber music formations at the Main Hall of the Conservatory of Madeira, at the Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias, Finchal, and at the Witte Zaal and Blauwe Zaal at the deSingel in Antwerp. In 2015 he began his master's degree in piano with Polina Leschenko and Eliane Rodrigues and his bachelor's degree in organ with Joris Verdun at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp. During these years, he attended organ masterclasses with João Vaz, Benjamin Righetti, Maurizio Crossi, Ludger Lohmann, Esteban Landart and others. He has performed as an organist in Portugal, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland and Great Britain. In February 2019, he was selected to attend the ECHO Academy in Brussels, and in July he attended the 55th Estoril International Music Course at the Sé de Lisboa with Michel Bouvard. He successfully applied to the Royal College of Music in London, where he will continue his organ studies. |
Laura Silva Mendes
Notes about organ
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T. A. Samuel, 1884 In the See of Funchal, the presence of an organ was first documented at the dawn of the 16th century. In 1739, King João V gave the Cathedral a new organ, built in Lisbon by the organ builder Francisco do Rego Matos. In 1740, the Chapter had this instrument placed in the original rostrum, to the left of the chancel. Since it was in a non-functional state, in 1925 the organ was dismantled and, eleven years later, offered to the Colégio Church. To replace it, the Cathedral Chapter chose to buy the organ then belonging to the Anglican Church. belonging to the Anglican Church. The minutes of the Cathedral Chapter, written on January 5, 1937, state "that by order of His Excellency, the Bishop had bought the present organ belonging to the Anglican Church, at a cost of thirty-four thousand five hundred escudos, plus transportation, installation, etc." It was placed in the high choir at the entrance to the main door of the Cathedral. This instrument, which has since undergone several interventions, was built in England in 1884 by order of an English doctor who lived in Madeira and who was also dedicated to the organist's art. At some point, this doctor decided to offer it to the Anglican Church. The organ was the result of the collaboration of several organbuilders, and T. A Samuel in 1884 (Organ Builder, Montague Road, Dalston-London). The pipes - or part of the pipes - were built by Charles S. Robson (1861), the adders by Wilson Gnnerson, the keyboards by S. W. Browne, and part of the metal pipes by A. Speneir (1884). Speneir (1884). Originally equipped with a mechanical drive, three decades ago the instrument underwent considerable modifications, changing parts of the mechanism and adding some reed "on call" registers. These interventions ended up completely mischaracterizing the organ, without giving it greater musical quality. As a result, and with the intention of providing the Cathedral an instrument suitable for liturgical and concert purposes, major restoration work was carried out in 1995/96, and completed by Dinarte Machado. I Manual (C-g''') Trompette 8' II Manual (C-g''') Pedal (C-g'') Couplings |
Historical Organ|
The new choir organ of the Sé of Funchal resulted from an initiative by the Cabido da Sé, in order to provide the Cathedral with an instrument fundamentally geared towards the current needs of the liturgical service, and simultaneously suitable for recitals and events of a non-liturgical nature. The organ was installed in the south transept, near the altar and choir (emphasizing its eminent liturgical vocation), but it can rotate on an axis and face the central nave. The design of the case, by organ-builder Dinarte Machado, results from a free interpretation of the ogival arches of the Cathedral, and most of the decorative elements refer to religious aspects (names of saints) or traditional aspects (wicker baskets). The organ, the final version of which resulted from the dialogue between the organ-builder and the Master of the Cathedral Chapel, Father Ignácio Rodrigues, has sixteen registers, distributed over two keyboards and a pedalboard. The harmonization of all those registers took into account not only the multiple functions of the instrument, but especially the adaptation to the acoustics of the temple. The phonic conception is profoundly original, not being made in the image of another similar instrument, nor identified with an era or style. It was intended that, using its timbric diversity and exploring its capabilities, organists could make this instrument heard in repertoire from various eras and composers, as well as encourage current composers to use their creativity and new works. This was the vision of its builder, Dinarte Machado, who considers that the organ "offers all the freedom to an organist, as an improviser. I Manual - Main organ (C - g''') II Manual - Expressive organ (C - g''') Pedal (C - f')'] 24-capped flute [16'] Couplings |
Choir Organ