Testimonials

It's a pleasure to welcome more than two dozen shows to the Monastery during the festival, with an international programme on the scale of what this monument represents to the world.

Ana Pagará
Director of the Monastery of Alcobaça

It is an honour and a privilege to have this partnership at the Monastery of Alcobaça, a guarantee of quality music production throughout the year, with moments that reflect the spirit of this World Heritage site.

Alexandre Pais
President of Museums and Monuments of Portugal

It was very special to allow this orchestra of musicians aged between 18 and 26, from Alto Minho and Spain, to close the tour here, in this fantastic space [Monastery Fence].

Nuno Coelho
Conductor of the Alto Minho Youth Orchestra

I commend the resilience of Cistermúsica. We know how difficult it is to develop a classical music festival, but we need partners and a network of Culture in order to design another Portugal, another Culture project for the country.

Filipa Lima
President of the Musicis Pontem Association - Alto Minho Orchestra

It's always a pleasure to perform as part of the festival; the connection is great, I really like the city and the organisation, and it was very important for me to come back to Alcobaça.

Bruno Belthoise
Musician

It was a pleasure to return to Cistermúsica to hear the premiere of a work by me. (...) I wish this festival a long life; may it continue on this path of publicising our musical heritage.

Tiago Derriça
Composer

It's always an honour to play at the festival, (...) in a fantastic edition. In the Portuguese music scene, Cistermúsica is a very important festival, if not the most important, because of its size, diversity and quality.

Beatriz Cortesão
Animarpa Duo

It was a very special concert, the first time I performed with a 360-degree audience, which proved to be a positive experience. I received energy from all angles of the room; (...) I had fun and felt great energy from the audience.

Carolina Coimbra
Animarpa Duo

I was completely dazzled. I'm used to attending performances in closed rooms, but listening to Mahler in this medieval setting and so well lit made you feel like you were in a film with an absolutely incredible soundtrack.

Mami Pereira
Writer

I feel privileged to have been at this concert, which brought together the poetic roots of Wagner's work with the architecture of the Monastery in a magical fusion! (...) I admire the scale of this Festival, a benchmark in Portugal.

António Chagas Rosa
Composer

What we saw here was a huge involvement between the artists and the people who attended this great concert. Volkswagen as a "Love Brand" is therefore linked to this Festival, which also has a sustainability project leveraged.

Marília Santos
General Manager of the SIVA Group Portugal

It was my first time here and I was really impressed. The space, the nave of the church completely full of an audience with enormous respect, which we rarely see, and with a very careful and very exciting programme.

Juan Ángel Vela del Campo
Music critic for El País and artistic director of the Terras Sem Sombra Festival

I would like to congratulate you on the excellence of the programme, its modernity and versatility. It was gratifying to open doors to the city and to all those who need these moments and this sharing with musicians of such quality.

António Machado Matos
Director of the Montebelo Mosteiro de Alcobaça Historic Hotel

Cistermúsica presents a diverse programme aimed at different audiences, inviting them to enjoy and contemplate Cistercian architecture and other heritage sites: this is its great merit.

Isabel Cordeiro
State Secretary of Culture