The Museum celebrates European Night of Museums on 16 May at 21:00, at the Sacred Art Centre (Colégio Church), with the programme “Music at the Museum – French Baroque Music for Recorder and Theorbo”. Integrated into an artistic residency, the project culminates in a concert dedicated to the performance of French Baroque music, featuring João Francisco Távora (recorder) and Luís Abrantes (theorbo).
The artistic residency takes place beforehand at the Church of Santo André, within the Santo André Centre, providing a dedicated working space for the preparation and research of the selected repertoire. This process enables direct engagement with historically informed performance practices, fostering a well-grounded artistic interpretation of the French Baroque repertoire.
The public performance takes place during European Night of Museums at the Sacred Art Centre, where audiences are invited to experience a concert focused on the sonic aesthetics of the French Baroque, featuring the recorder and the theorbo—two instruments of significant relevance in musical practice during the 17th and 18th centuries.
This project is supported by the Portuguese Republic – Directorate-General for the Arts.
Biography
João Francisco Távora | Recorder
After completing his studies at the School of Music and Performing Arts in Porto and at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig, João Francisco Távora began an international career as a soloist, ensemble musician, and musical director.
His first solo album, dedicated to the music of Georg Philipp Telemann for recorder, was released in 2025 by Coviello Classics. This debut recording precedes a second solo project focused on transcriptions of works by J. S. Bach, scheduled for release in 2026.
Throughout his career, he has toured with various ensembles across Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Finland, Portugal (including the Azores and Madeira), and Spain.
Since the 2023/24 season, he has regularly collaborated with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He is also a member of the Arte Minima ensemble, with which he has recorded repertoire by Francisco de Santa Maria and Vicente Lusitano, released by Pan Classics.
He is a founding member and co-artistic director of the Musurgia Ensemble, dedicated to the performance and dissemination of music from the 16th to the 18th centuries. Among the ensemble’s recording projects are “Ad vesperas – music for the Vespers of Corpus Christi”, in collaboration with the vocal ensemble Quarto Tom, and “Missa Iste confessor domini”.
Luís Abrantes | Theorbo
Born in Ponta Delgada in 1993, he began his musical studies at the Ponta Delgada Regional Conservatory in 2002, starting classical guitar the following year with teacher Gianna de Toni.
He later entered the University of Aveiro, where he completed both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Education in 2017, under the guidance of Paulo Vaz de Carvalho and Pedro Rodrigues. During this period, he participated in masterclasses with Luciano Lombardi, Rúben Bettencourt, José Pina, Margarita Escarpa, Judicaël Perroy, and Daniel Wolff.
His contact with the lute began in 2013 at the Early Music Free Course of the School of Music and Performing Arts (ESMAE) in Porto. He later enrolled in the Bachelor’s degree in Lute at the same institution, studying under Hugo Sanches and Ronaldo Lopes, completing the programme in 2024.
He has furthered his training with internationally renowned musicians such as Eduardo Egüez, Daniel Morais, Luciano Contini, Peter Croton, and Xavier Díaz-Latorre.
He is currently a member of the board of the Johann Sebastian Bach Musical Association (AMJSB), dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of early music in the Azores Autonomous Region.
