The city of Barcelos will host, between April 12th and 14th, the 8th edition of the Eixo Atlântico Musical Exhibition, with 375 participants from Galicia and the North of Portugal, it was announced today.
The event, presented at a press conference in Paços do Concelho, will have the participation of 32 soloists and 343 groups from around 30 music schools and conservatories from 22 municipalities in the Eixo Atlântico, who will perform pieces of classical and jazz music in the auditorium São Bento Menni and at Theatro Gil Vicente.
In a statement, the Barcelos City Council said that the musicians, aged between 8 and 18, and the groups, in which young people up to 25 years old participate, come from Barcelos, Gaia, Braga, Famalicão, Santa Maria da Feira, Guimarães, Vila do Conde, Fafe, Bragança, O Barco de Valdeorras, Felgueiras, A Coruña, Amarante, Ferrol, Vila Real, Gondomar, Santiago de Compostela, Mirandela, Ponteareas, Esposende, Viana do Castelo and Matosinhos.
“It is a great honor for our municipality to host the 8th edition of the Eixo Atlântico Musical Exhibition, as it brings together what we think is most suitable for our cultural project, with new audiences and new talents”, said the mayor of Barcelos , mentioned in the statement.
Mayor Mário Constantino (PSD) highlighted that education and culture are “what brings people closer together and what helps to consolidate peace and democracy”, highlighting that it is “very important to bring together so many young Spanish and Portuguese people, because it is very what unites them more than what separates them.”
For his part, the secretary general of the Eixo Atlântico, Xoán Vasquez Mao, recalled that Barcelos’ candidacy for the Musical Exhibition was approved “unanimously by all the cities that make up the Eixo Atlântico”, highlighting the talent and local institutions that work in the cultural area.
“The musical weekend will culminate on Sunday, the 14th, with the final of the Musical Exhibition, in the morning, in which a professional jury will decide who the winners will be, and, in the afternoon, the awards ceremony at the São Bento Menni Auditorium. At the end of the event, the theme ‘Grândola Vila Morena’ will be interpreted”, says the note from the municipality.
In each edition, the Eixo Atlântico Musical Exhibition pays tribute to a relevant personality in classical or jazz music from the Euroregion.
“This year, the honoree will be Joám Trillo, a Galician musician, one of the most prominent figures in the protection and promotion of Galician music, carrying out extensive training work in different Galician institutions and recovering and disseminating the repertoire of Galician composers from the 18th centuries, XIX and XX”, says the Chamber of Barcelos.
The Musical Exhibition, which has been held biennially since 2008, recognizes, promotes, rewards and publicizes musical practice, supporting musicians and performers who, through their value and interest, can contribute to the dissemination of the taste for music from Galicia and the North of Portugal.
