“There are few projects that try to have a programmatic line that unites all the islands. We go to the nine islands. It is not an easy project. Logistically it is very difficult, but we try to carry out this ambition. Also because it is the 18th edition. We can say that we are emancipating ourselves”, said the festival’s artistic director, Tiago Nunes, to Lusa news agency.

The event, which will take place between August 31 and September 16, will feature performances by Pavel Gomziakov, Andrei Korobeinikov, Tatiana Samouil, Gustaaf van Manen, António Capelo, Artur Pizarro, Adriano Jordão, André Gago, Júlio Resende, António Vitorino de Almeida, Maria João and Herman José.

With sessions in all the Azorean islands for the first time, the FIA director emphasizes the importance of taking concerts to “communities so culturally forgotten” and “without regular cultural programming,” giving as examples the performances of Titus Isfan in Flores (September 8) and Corvo (September 3) or António Victorino de Almeida in São Jorge (September 16).

“This year’s theme is the Atlantic Diaspora. We’re talking about the whole Azorean community that is spread all over the world and that is diverse and plural. We intend to unite people and go to the reunion of all the public and of all the archipelago that has been forgotten,” he pointed out.

Tiago Nunes promises that this year’s edition of FIA will be “completely different”, since the festival, which has always been linked to classical music, will now be a “showcase of the arts”.

“We felt that this had to be a completely different edition. The festival has always had a classical music DNA, but for the first time it will not only be a classical music festival: we will also go to the performing arts, to Brazilian music, to jazz, and to literature”, he highlighted.

With more than 40 activities scheduled, the FIA will organize workshops and shows with the community, as is the case of António Capelo’s performance in partnership with local theater groups, amateur musicians and local artisans.

The festival will include the concert “Da clave de sol à clave de lol” to celebrate the 50-year career of Herman José and mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of composer Sergei Rachmaninoff.

“Our first concern is to present a completely diversified programming to reach several different audiences,” he concluded.

The FIA was created in 1984 by the then regional director of Culture, Jorge Forjaz, and by the musician Adriano Jordão, having been suspended in 2002 and resumed in 2021 by the CulturXis association.

From LUSA news reports and Açoriano Oriental, translated by PBBI-Fresno State as a community outreach service.