The Cultural Association of Lagoa, Ideias do Levante (Algarve), in partnership with the municipality of Lagoa (Algarve), will organize the 17th edition of Semana Coral de Lagoa (Lagoa Choir Week, www.semanacoral.net), a non-competitive choir festival that will take place within the Council of Lagoa from the 16th up until the 23rd of May. The 2015 edition will feature four talented choirs: Coro Gregoriano de Lisboa, Grupo Coral dos “Loureiros” (Palmela), Grupo Coral da Sociedade Filarmónica Silvense (Silves), and Coral Ideias do Levante (Lagoa, Algarve).

Each year, for one week, singing sweeps through Lagoa, and voices from all places unite in a harmonious feast of melodies and emotions. The Choir Week of Lagoa is already a reference in the panorama of Algarvian choir festivals. It began as the tiny cry of a strong and determined child, then grew with school songs learnt and sung, and now has become a searcher of new sounds and experiences in polyphonic choir singing. Each year it yearns to go farther, to innovate, to dare to fly even higher. Each year, the Choir Week of Lagoa is bigger and more mature. And with it, the singers who participate have also grown at the musical level. Many friendships have been firmed. Many musical ties have been formed. Many songs have been found. According to Roberto Estorninho (executive producer), this is the secret of music, the same musical beat that regulates all hearts, “and this is why we love music – it unites us, and it makes our hearts beat in one single rhythm.”

The Choir Week of Lagoa is, according to its first mentor, José Carlos Bago d’Uva, a conference open to the sharing of musical experiences and of unforgettable moments; it is the time of the year when Lagoa sings “in four voices” the (en)chantment of vocal polyphony across the lands of the Levante.

On May 16, a Public Presentation of the current event will take place in Convento S. José, in Lagoa, at 17:00. A Voice Technique Workshop with Francisco Brazão will be held at Ideias do Levante Headquarters in Lagoa on May 17 at 9:30. The opening concert with Coro Gregoriano de Lisboa will be held in Estômbar Principal Church on May 17, at 17:00. Coral Ideias do Levante (Lagoa) will perform at Centro Pastoral e Social de Ferragudo (just next to Ferragudo Principal Church), Wednesday, May 20, around 21h30. The closing concert will take place at 17:00 on May 23, at the Municipal Auditorium of Lagoa, and it will feature Coral Ideias do Levante, Grupo Coral da Sociedade Filarmónica Silvense, and Grupo Coral dos Loureiros.

The concerts are recommended for adults and children over six years old. All the concerts are for free.

More information about the festival could be found atwww.semanacoral.net (in portuguese). More information about the association may be gotten at its website, www.ideiasdolevante.net, or by phone (Tel. 282010080) Monday to Friday, 18:00 to 20:00 (excluding holidays and the month of August).

This initiative benefits from the support of Município de Lagoa, Lagoa/Carvoeiro Parishes Union, Estômbar/Parchal Parishes UnionEstorninho, Sonarsis – Artes do Som, Solidó – Instrumentos Musicais, Locauto Rent-a-Car, Lagoa Fire Department, Pastelaria Algarve, the parishes of Estômbar and Ferragudo, Centro Pastoral e Social de Ferragudo, Cibercafé Don Rodrigo (Lagoa), Cafetaria Chill Inside (Lagoa), Orquídea, Alma Doce, “A Tasquinha” Restaurant, Ourivesaria Cintilante, Vale d’El Rei – Suite & Village Resort, and Pingo Doce – Lagoa.