Some journeys arrive not by ship or by plane, but by sound—by the trembling of strings that carry centuries within them. In the quiet resonance of wood and wire, islands speak to one another. This May, from the slopes and sea-winds of Madeira to the Portuguese halls and cultural spaces of California, that voice will be heard anew.

Visiting from Madeira, Professor Roberto Moniz—a leading expert in chordophone instruments—brings with him not only performance, but memory. At the heart of his work is the machete, the small but historically powerful instrument that would travel across oceans and evolve into the modern ukulele. In his hands, the instrument becomes more than music; it becomes genealogy, diaspora, and return.

Over the course of early May, California audiences will have the opportunity to experience this living tradition through a series of performances that weave together scholarship, artistry, and cultural continuity.

The journey begins in the East Bay:

Friday, May 1 – 7:30 PM
Bom Jesus Milagro (BJM) Hall
21160 Ocean View Drive, Hayward, California 94541
Performance at the Madeiran Portuguese Community Hall of the East Bay
Tickets: Professor Moniz Music of Madeira at BJM Hall (Eventbrite)

From Hayward, the music moves south:

Saturday, May 2 – 6:30 PM
Aliança Jorgense
198 N 27th Street, San Jose, California 95116
Performance at the Azorean Portuguese Community Hall in the South Bay
Tickets: The Music of Madeira – featuring Professor Moniz (Eventbrite)

Then north again, where the tradition meets a broader global stage:

Sunday, May 3 – 7:00 PM
Ashkenaz Music & Dance Hall
1317 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, California 94702
World Beat and ukulele-oriented performance
Tickets: The Island Music of Madeira (VenuePilot)

And finally, a more intimate evening set against history and atmosphere:

Saturday, May 9 – 8:00 PM
Fado at the Pines – The Pines Mansion
33 Miller Avenue, Sausalito, California 94965
A special event limited to 100 guests, featuring Portuguese petiscos (tapas), wines, and music in the historic 1888 mansion
Tickets: Fado at The Pines X (Eventbrite)
(Note: A portion of the cost beyond food and music is tax deductible.)

In addition to these performances, Professor Moniz will lead a specialized workshop on chordophones and the ukulele tradition with the UFOhana club in San Rafael on May 9, offering a rare, hands-on encounter with the lineage of these instruments.

This series of events is more than a tour. It is a reminder that culture does not remain fixed to geography—it migrates, transforms, and returns enriched. The machete, once carried by Madeiran hands across oceans, now echoes in California not as an artifact, but as a living voice.

Credit is due, deeply and sincerely, to the organizers and community leaders who continue to make such moments possible. In a time when cultural memory can so easily dissolve into the noise of the present, their work stands as an act of preservation and renewal—quiet, persistent, and essential. They build bridges not of steel, but of sound and shared belonging.

And so the strings will sound again—across halls, across generations, across the Atlantic imagination—reminding us that the islands are never as distant as they seem, and that in every note, there is a path home.

Adapted from press release sent by CALuso