A challenging but highly enjoyable week for those wishing to sing at a semi-professional level and develop their skills and knowledge in both chamber ensemble and symphonic chorus contexts.

The standard of this specially curated and balanced programme will be similar to that of an entry-level professional chorister, and all participants will be required to pass an audition monitored by our guest conductor, Vasco Negreiros, and Artistic Director, Brian MacKay.

Successful candidates will join the Chamber Choir of up to 24 singers, including members of ZAVE, our resident professional vocal ensemble, and spend the first half of the week working with Vasco Negreiros.

We meet for the first time on the afternoon of Saturday 19th July, when rehearsals begin for the Chamber Choir’s concert that will take place on Wednesday evening in a beautiful venue with perfect acoustics for a cappella singing, the 16th century Santa Casa da Misericórdia church in Tomar.

The focus will be the music of Palestrina and his Portuguese disciple Manuel Cardoso. Dr Vasco Negreiros is a specialist in Portuguese Renaissance polyphony and with the programme Hic est discipulus ille, he proposes to highlight the influence of the great master on Cardoso, while also introducing a lesser-known strand in the works of Palestrina through his rich and passionate setting of the poetry of Petrach.

Wednesday is not only concert day, but also, excitingly, the day when we join all the other participants to form the Festival Chorus and begin rehearsals for our symphonic programme ‘Ever ancient, ever new’, directed by ZêzereArts Artistic Director Brian MacKay.

This inspired programming couldn’t be more aptly named, as poetry and chants from the distant past are given new life through the beautiful music of contemporary composers, which we are privileged to sing in stunning historic surroundings.

We travel to Batalha on Friday afternoon for our first Festival Chorus performance in the famous Capelas Imperfeitas (‘Unfinished Chapels’) of the Mosteiro da Batalha.

Our week concludes on Saturday evening, 26th July, with a concert in a simply magical setting: the main cloister (Claustro de D. João III) of the Convento de Cristo in Tomar, with its magnificent architecture and astonishing acoustics.

Further details, including the repertoire for both programmes and an outline schedule, as well as the application form, can be found below.

“It was a privilege, a joy and a thrill to be among such great singers. This chamber choir was possibly the best choir that I have sung with.”