INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL "BRAGANÇA CLASSICFEST"

Welcome to the 1st edition of the International Music Festival Bragança ClassicFest!

It is with great satisfaction and enthusiasm that we launch the Bragança ClassicFest in 2021, which, like 2020, will be indelibly marked in our lives by tragic moments related to the Covid-19 pandemic; moments of great difficulties, in the face of which the mobilization of several people and institutions was extraordinary to start this festival of unquestionable international excellence and, therefore, celebrate life in Bragança, united by great music.

Bragança is a cultural and historical reference in our country. I remember, still as a teenager, the impact that my debut in the city had on me, in a piano recital at the Paulo Quintela Auditorium with works by Bach and Shostakovich. We were in the early 90’s and, since then, there have been many concerts in which I had the pleasure of performing in Bragança, from 2004 onwards, invariably at the excellent Teatro Municipal de Bragança, where every return is a reason to rejoice, (re)encountering eager and warm audiences of several generations.

Bragança ClassicFest will open on the International Music Day, October 1st, launched in 1975 by famous violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin, as president of UNESCO’s International Music Council, to “promote the value of musical art among all sectors of society, building peace and understanding through a common language”, Music – a noble goal embraced by Bragança ClassicFest!

Among the many reasons of interest in the programme of the 1st Bragança ClassicFest, we highlight the presence of the Russian Chamber Orchestra Philharmonic of St. Petersburg, one of the great cultural ambassadors of Russia, under the direction of conductor Juri Gilbo; concerts dedicated to the Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla, within the centenary of his birth, with some of his most iconic works and a performance of his only opera: “Maria de Buenos Aires”; we will receive in Bragança some of the greatest Piazzolla interpreters in the world, such as the famous Argentinian bandoneonist resident in New York, Héctor Del Curto, who played in concerts with Piazzolla himself, the Canadian Karen Gomyo, considered one of the most brilliant violinists of our days , accompanied by her famous violin Stradivarius “Aurora” built in 1703, and singers Ana Karina Rossi, Daniel Bonilla-Torres and Rubén Peloni, references in the interpretation of Piazzolla; masterpieces from the History of Music, such as Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons” – with the soloist Diana Tishchenko, a rising star in the international scene – and compositions by Bach, Mozart, Tchaikovsky, Schubert, Dvořák – performed by several renowned national and international musicians – not forgetting Portuguese music, which has opening honors with the Symphony in B flat major by Carlos Seixas, one of the main Portuguese composers of the 18th century.

I express my deep gratitude to the institutions that make this 1st edition of the Bragança ClassicFest possible, with emphasis on the Municipality of Bragança, the Municipal Theater of Bragança and the DSCH Associação Musical, organizers of this praiseworthy initiative, and to the main patron BPI/“la Caixa” Foundation, also underlining the support of the General Directorates for Arts and Higher Education, the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança and the Diocese of Miranda-Bragança.

The International Music Festival Bragança ClassicFest is then proposed as a cultural event of international dimension and a reference in the city, region and country, a crossover between Music and Historical, Cultural and Architectural Heritage of the territory of Bragança, preserving and cultivating its identity. Bragança ClassicFest is thus a festival to celebrate Music and an open door to new and regular audiences, national and international, with the aim of dignifying, enriching and energizing the region, contributing to prosperity in a sustainable way and promoting the access of All to Culture.

Thank you all!

FILIPE PINTO-RIBEIRO
Artistic Director of the International Music Festival Bragança ClassicFest