In this year of 2024, as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 25th of April, the BRAGANÇA CLASSICFEST International Music Festival continues its mission of democratic access to artistic excellence. Since 2021, it has brought to Bragança celebrated orchestras and musicians – such as the Vienna and St. Petersburg Chamber Orchestras, the Asturias Symphony Orchestra, violinists Esther Hoppe, Mario Hossen and Diana Tischenko, singers Lena Belkina and Julia Muzychenko, violist Gérard Caussé, clarinetist Pascal Moraguès, among many other world renowned artists – for memorable concerts that have sold out to an enthusiastic and multi-generational audience.
Starting on October 1st, International Music Day, and for two weeks, the 4th CLASSICFEST turns Bragança into the epicenter of classical music in Portugal, with an eclectic and exciting program, promoting the celebration of community life through the universal language of Music.
Among the artists and ensembles present at this 4th edition, two exceptional artists stand out at the Opening Concert: the Samuil sisters – soprano Anna and violinist Tatiana – both highly awarded soloists in major international competitions, who will present in Bragança their latest discographic project "Il Mondo Felice" for the first time in Portugal.
Other highlights of the 4th BRAGANÇA CLASSICFEST program are the concerts of two internationally renowned orchestras: The Paris Symphony Orchestra "Consuelo", one of the most audacious orchestral projects of recent years, which on October 5th will perform the extraordinary 6th and 8th Symphonies by Ludwig van Beethoven, thus continuing the complete Beethoven Symphonies cycle at BRAGANÇA CLASSICFEST, which began in 2023 with the 5th Symphony by the Asturias Symphony Orchestra. At the Closing Concert, on October 12th, the Venice Baroque Orchestra "I Solisti Veneti", founded in 1959 and considered one of the most prestigious baroque orchestras of the last decades – with an extraordinary career of over 6,000 concerts in about 90 countries and around 350 albums recorded for the best labels – will present a concert entirely filled with music by the famous Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi.
This 4th edition will also be marked by the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Luís Vaz de Camões, with a diptych of concerts dedicated to the greatest poet of the Portuguese language by renowned ensembles, namely the Concerto Atlântico, directed by its founder Pedro Caldeira Cabral, and Sete Lágrimas, under the direction of Filipe Faria and Sérgio Peixoto.
There will also be tribute concerts to two great figures of Portuguese culture in recent decades: António Victorino d’Almeida, whose 70-year career we celebrate in the presence of the composer and pianist himself, in a Carta Branca concert with several guests. António Mega Ferreira, whose literary work will be evoked with the interpretation of his favorite music, notably the famous cycle "Pictures at an Exhibition", accompanied by readings by Pedro Lamares and Filipa Leal, of an anthology of texts specially selected for this tribute by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Graça Morais, Simonetta Luz Afonso, Guilherme d'Oliveira Martins, Margarida Pinto Correia, among others.
And, last but not least, a highlight on the concerts of the Schostakovich and Juventus Ensembles, featuring renowned musicians and young talents, performing works by great composers: from Mendelssohn to Dvořák, from Beethoven to Schostakovich.
In addition to the nine concerts of this 4th edition, BRAGANÇA CLASSICFEST continues its important educational and cultural awareness axis, with masterclasses and meetings, with the participation of the artists present at the festival and especially aimed at the musicians and students of the city and region.
A significant hallmark of BRAGANÇA CLASSICFEST, since its 1st edition, is the realization of concerts in venues of great heritage value, as will happen in 2024 at the Churches of São Francisco and Santa Maria, in a healthy cross between Music and the Historical, Cultural, and Architectural Heritage of the Bragança territory.
Thus, this 4th edition continues the path of consolidating BRAGANÇA CLASSICFEST as a cultural event of excellence, on a national and international scale, contributing to the dynamism and prosperity of the region.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to all those who make the BRAGANÇA CLASSICFEST International Music Festival possible, starting with the fundamental support of the Municipality of Bragança, the Municipal Theatre of Bragança, and the DSCH Musical Association, promoters and organizers of this commendable initiative, and the festival’s patron, BPI/Fundação “la Caixa”. We also thank the Directorate-General for the Arts, the Diocese of Miranda-Bragança, the media partner RTP Antena 2, and especially His Excellency the President of the Republic, for the High Patronage once again granted.
