Terras sem Sombra: a festival in Baixo Alentejo
The 15th edition of Terras sem Sombra starts this month, a festival which combines heritage, music and biodiversity, taking place in 13 locations of Baixo Alentejo.
Terras sem Sombra unites, in an unprecedented way, music to heritage and biodiversity, and is characterised by the association of an international programme with the demand for quality. Its stage is the Alentejo, one of the regions where the weight of identity is most strongly felt, and the event does not just bring the world to its territory it also brings the Alentejo to the world.
The 2019 edition has the United States as a guest country, and brings to Portugal outstanding performers from the other side of the Atlantic, as well as a programme that takes an X-ray of North American music, from the 19th century to the most recent creation. There will be premieres, either full-length or European, of some of the most important American composers of our time.
On the 26th, the Church of São Cucufate in Vila de Frades, Vidigueira, will receive the black spirituals of the Spelman College Glee Club choir.
Terras sem Sombra starts on January 26th in Vidigueira and counts with almost 50 activities, among concerts, conferences, heritage visits and actions to safeguard biodiversity, in 13 places: Vidigueira, Serpa, Monsaraz, Valência de Alcântara, Olivença, Beja, Elvas, Cuba, Ferreira do Alentejo, Odemira, Barrancos, Santiago do Cacém and Sines.
Spain is well present, in this edition of the festival, which inaugurates in Portugal the Mostra Espanha 2019 cycle of events, at the invitation of the Spanish Government. From Madrid will come the Trío Arbós, with a programme of Spanish-Portuguese music from the 19th – 20th centuries. Juan de la Rubia, titular organist of the Basilica of the Sagrada Família, from Barcelona, will present, in the Elvas Cathedral, the work of Antonio de Cabezón. “Outside the box” will be the concert, in Odemira, with Quartetazzo, formed by four women flutists from Argentina, Brazil and Spain, who recreate traditional South American melodies.
If the ties to America and Spain set the tone for TSS, Portuguese authors and performers, a priority of the festival, take on a decisive role, with names such as Ana Telles, Orquestra Clássica do Sul and maestro Rui Pinheiro, Sofia Diniz, Fernando Miguel Jalôto or Nuno Lopes. There is also room for an approach to other musical homelands, including interpreters from Hungary, the Czech Republic and the Philippines, something to keep in mind in an edition dedicated to Fernão de Magalhães’ journey, but which does not forget the 550th anniversary of Vasco da Gama’s birth (1569-2019).
To participate in Terras sem Sombra means to get into what the Alentejo has to offer. This year, the heritage panoply is decisively opening up to new areas, including intangible heritage, giving great attention to aspects as diverse as the artisanal manufacture of bread, learning the Cante or traditions related to the stars, with their nocturnal observation as a backdrop.
As for biodiversity, 2019 will be a year full of adventures. For example, following the fish lift of the Pedrógão dam, taking part in the celebration of the rural world – following a flock of sheep of indigenous breeds along the royal canadas, with shepherds from Beja and Fundão – or entering the port waters of Sines to discover the cutting edge of aquaculture. Or even, in Extremadura, visit the largest area of megalithic monuments in Europe, in Valencia de Alcantara, discover the secrets of the international Tagus or delve into the unique personality of Olivenza.