Last Saturday, November 30, the Natália Correia Center in Fajã de Baixo hosted the IX Meeting of São Miguel Guitar Schools.
The event, produced since 2005 by the Viola da Terra Youth Association, aims to showcase the work that the island’s guitar schools do throughout the school year while encouraging musical sharing and socializing between the various schools and teaching realities, according to a note sent out by AJ Viola da Terra.
The host school was the Escola de Violas da Fajã de Baixo, founded in 2008 on the initiative of the president of the Fajã de Baixo Folklore Group, António Feliciano. The school currently has 15 students, aged between 12 and 78. The school initially performed with three classes, ending with three ensemble pieces, with 11 students from the school in attendance.
This was followed by the Viola da Terra Ensemble Class of the Ponta Delgada Regional Conservatory, founded in 2011 on the initiative of Professor Rafael Carvalho. The Viola da Terra ensemble class was formed to complement the teaching of the instrument class and encourage students to learn more than just the traditional repertoire.


The Conservatory’s Ensemble Class performed with four Viola da Terra students, under the supervision of teacher Ricardo Melo since the 2022/2023 school year, but maintaining the essence of its genesis of providing students with musical challenges beyond the traditional, with a repertoire that began with two traditional songs and culminated with two adaptations of “classical” repertoire for the viola da terra, explains the same note.
Finally, the Ribeira Quente Viola School, founded in 1994, took part. The school’s current viola da terra teacher is José Braga, a former student of Rafael Carvalho in Ribeira Quente, and its guitar teacher is César Carvalho, who learned his first chords from his father. The Escola de Violas da Ribeira Quente made its first appearance at the Encontro de Escolas de Violas since its activity had been suspended for a few years, having resumed in 2022 in collaboration with the revival of the Grupo Folclórico São Paulo, presenting itself on stage with 9 players: four on viola da terra and five on guitar.
The Viola da Terra Youth Association produced the IX Meeting of Viola Schools with the support of the Regional Directorate for Culture. It was a co-production with the Ponta Delgada City Council through the Natália Correia Center. The Fajã de Baixo Parish Council and the Ribeira Quente Parish Council provided logistical support.

in Diário da Lagoa, Clife Botelho, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.