Cistermúsica Sacra returns in March

Under the theme "Choral Music in the Alcobaça Monastery," the event will feature Francisco Ruiz Montes and Paula Pereira as instructors

Cistermúsica Sacra returns to Alcobaça from March 22nd to April 19th to offer training in Sacred Choral Music during Lent and the Easter period. In this fourth edition, the artistic direction, under Pedro Teixeira and Tiago Morin, has chosen "Polyphony and Counter-Reformation: a soundscape for Holy Week" as the theme for the Advanced Polyphonic Music Workshop. This training for advanced students and choral singers will take place from March 30th to April 1st and will be led by Francisco Ruiz Montes, a renowned choral director and professor at the Higher School of Singing in Madrid.

The Liturgical Music Workshop "Sounds of Celebration," taking place on April 18th and 19th, will be led by Paula Pereira, a choral director with profound knowledge and experience in liturgy, having been a soloist and choir director at the Sanctuary of Fatima between 2016 and 2021, also serving as artistic director of the Schola Cantorum Pastorinhos de Fátima during the same period. This choral training activity is aimed at liturgical choral communities.

Those interested can register at www.cistermusica.com until March 15th.

Grand Concerts with Excellent Choirs

In the opening concert, the Ensemble São Tomás de Aquino and the Coro Regina Coeli de Lisboa join Cistermúsica to celebrate their anniversaries of one and six decades of activity, respectively. At the Alcobaça Monastery, they will present works by Antonio Lotti, Domenico Scarlatti, and João Rodrigues Esteves, the latter for three choirs and basso continuo.

The Salix Cantor choir, led by Francisco Ruiz Montes, will perform the Requiem for an Empress at the Cós Monastery. This program is based on the Officium defunctorum, a masterpiece by Tomás Luis de Victoria, composed for the funeral of Empress Maria of Austria.

In addition to the presentation of works from the Advanced Workshop at the Alcobaça Monastery, the Ensembl’ando Choir will also perform at the Parish Church of São Gregório Magno, in Bárrio, with the eclectic concert Sounds of Light: a sound window of Easter Time, interpreting works that span different eras, styles, and geographies. At the same location, the trainees of the Liturgical Music Workshop will participate in the Eucharist on the Third Sunday of Easter.

Organized by ABA – Banda de Alcobaça, Associação de Artes, Cistermúsica Sacra is supported by the Portuguese Republic – Culture / Directorate-General for the Arts, and is held in strategic partnership with the Municipality of Alcobaça and with the institutional partnership of Museus e Monumentos de Portugal, EPE /Mosteiro de Alcobaça. This training activity is sponsored by Crédito Agrícola and has the partnership of the Parish Council of Bárrio, the Parish of São Gregório Magno do Bárrio, the Union of Parishes of Coz, Alpedriz and Montes, the Parish of Santa Eufémia de Coz, the Social Welfare Center of Coz, the Parish of Santíssimo Sacramento de Alcobaça, the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Alcobaça, and Armazém das Artes.