Historical Note

The first edition of the "Madeira Music Festival"

The first version of the "Madeira Music Festival" took place in the months of March/April, at the end of the 1950s, conceived and promoted by the Madeira Concert Society, through the Madeira Academy of Music and Fine Arts, more precisely in the years 1959 to 1965, held at the Municipal Theatre (at the time it was called Teatro Funchalense and currently "Teatro Municipal Baltazar Dias"), Casino Pavão (located on the site of the Pestana Casino Park Hotel) and at the Funchal Cathedral. After an interregnum of six years, the Madeira Music Festival reappeared in March 1971, in its 5th edition, this time with the collaboration of the Junta Geral do Distrito, the Funchal City Council and the Goethe Institut (an organization whose aim is to disseminate German language and culture). This edition of the Festival earned the following comment in the regional press: "The reappearance of the Madeira Music Festivals, which, on the initiative of the Madeira Concert Society, had given the city four magnificent editions a few years ago, deserves special praise." In 1974, due to the uncertainty and instability resulting from the April 25 Revolution, the Madeira Concert Society suspended all its activities because the Academy of Music and Fine Arts was unable to continue its activities.

At the beginning of the 1980s, the "Bach Festival", sometimes referred to as the "Madeira Bach Festival", was organized internationally by a group of people of Jewish and American origin. This Festival was initially held in the same venues (Teatro Municipal, Sé do Funchal and the Casino Park Hotel auditorium) and later included the English Church, the São João Evangelista do Colégio Church and the São Pedro Church. One of the articles in The New York Times also mentioned the price of the tickets: from US$ 566 to US$ 1,990, which included air travel, access tickets to the concerts and accommodation for 7 to 13 nights. In 1986, the "Madeira Bach Festival" was canceled after reaching Bach's 300th birthday in 1985. "Its founders reported a lack of local support."

Following the impossibility of holding the "Madeira Bach Festival", the Regional Government of Madeira through the Regional Secretariat for Tourism and Culture / Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs, took the initiative to continue this Festival, under the name of "Madeira Music Festival", held until the XXXVI Edition, which took place from June 5 to 14, 2015 and which since 2002 has been integrated into the Atlantic Festival.

It should be noted that the "Madeira Music Festival" was supported by the European Regional Development Fund through the Madeira Operational Programs from 1990-1993 to 2007-2013, just like other events promoting tourism in the region, namely the Madeira Wine Festival, the New Year Festival, Carnival and the Flower Festival.

This music festival was geared towards diversifying the offer, with the aim of providing Madeirans and tourists with a variety of music, from ancient to contemporary. The festival was held in June and consisted of 10 concerts. Big names, orchestras and ballet companies took part in the Festival.

Following the European Commission's new guidelines to stop funding this type of cultural and tourism promotion project from the new 2014-2020 funding period, the Regional Government stopped promoting this Festival in 2015, the year in which it held its XXXVIth edition.

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Reactivation of the "Madeira Music Festival"

Reativação do “Festival de Música da Madeira”

With a history of excellence dating back to 1959, the Madeira Music Festival, which had its last edition (XXXVI) in 2015, promoted until that year by the then Regional Directorate for Cultural Affairs/SRTC, will be revived in 2024 by the Madeira Classical Orchestra, under the artistic direction of violinist Norberto Gomes.

This Festival will have the seal of approval of the Regional Secretariat for Tourism and Culture, as this was the government entity responsible for promoting this Festival for around thirty years, and for this reason the Atlantic Notes and Symphonies Association, as manager of the Madeira Classical Orchestra, proposed its reactivation, a proposal that received the immediate agreement of the Regional Secretary, who provided the use of the name, the brand and the continuity of the numbering.

This Festival will take place in March, just as the First Version of the Festival did, which in 1959 was conceived and promoted by the Madeira Concert Society, through the Madeira Academy of Music and Fine Arts.
The idea of reactivating the "Madeira Music Festival" is related to the importance of sharing the passion for music, combined with the promotion of built and movable heritage, in an inspiring environment for musicians and audiences.
For the Madeira Classical Orchestra, this Festival is of great significance, as its return will open up new horizons, since a Festival always offers the possibility of bringing together various essential vectors.
For ten days, and in a concentrated way, we will have in the month of March:

the presentation of great artists with international careers, as well as outstanding national artists, also giving the stage to performers who are at the beginning of their careers;
the performance of works from the past and present, as well as works making their debut, will be a constant feature of our Festival;
the linking of major works of musical composition, the enhancement of the built heritage and the occasional combination of movable cultural assets will be a proposal to be developed;
and, furthermore, the educational aspect of the Festival will also be valued, with close cooperation with the Madeira Conservatory - School of the Arts, so young people will be expected to take part in the concerts, the 11 masterclasses and the conferences (one conference will be associated with 4 masterclasses), as these are unique opportunities that will greatly contribute to the education of the youngest.

We believe that the reactivation of the "Madeira Music Festival" as an art form will be successful, as it will be another mechanism for promoting the image of the Madeira/Portugal destination, bringing added value from the point of view of the destination experience, contributing to the enhancement of cultural heritage and social development, which, in addition to the underlying economic impact, will also have a very important impact on the education of the public and the youngest.

In terms of support for this Festival, ANSA has a range of different sponsors and public and private partners, identified in the image on this page.

It is therefore with a sense of responsibility that we have taken on this project, which is intended to be eclectic and encompass various artistic areas, continuing this Festival as one of the main Music Festivals in the country.

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