Musical training and creation project, in honor of HELENA ALMEIDA (1934-2018)
Conceived by John Romão, artistic director of BoCA, the project “Feel Me, Hear Me, See Me” aims to pay tribute, through contemporary music, to one of the greatest artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, Helena Almeida (1934-2018).
Inspired by Morton Feldman, who created music for Rothko’s paintings at the Rothko Chapel in Houston, BoCA’s artistic director wondered what it would be like to create music based on the visual art of Helena Almeida, who developed the series “Feel Me, Hear Me, See Me” between 1978 and 1979.
Establishing a partnership with three music universities in three cities (Lisbon, Porto, and Braga) and bringing together three curators (Ana Cristina Cachola, Delfim Sardo, Filipa Oliveira) and two composers (Dimitrios Andrikopoulos and Diogo Alvim), who are responsible for mentoring the project, “Feel Me, Hear Me, Vê-me” promotes new contemporary Portuguese creation, focusing on the relationship between the visual arts and music, allowing new connections to be forged between the two.
In partnership with the Lisbon School of Music, the School of Music and Performing Arts (Porto), and the Department of Music at the University of Minho (Braga), each city was assigned a verb – “Feel Me” / Lisbon, “Hear Me” / Porto, and “See Me” / Braga. Over a period of four months, young composers and instrumentalists received training from guest curators and composers in order to compose and interpret musically each verb from Helena Almeida’s series of the same name, constructing a single artistic object through a stimulating dialogue between students from different cities.
“Feel Me, Hear Me, See Me” exudes the essence of BoCA, based on synergies and itinerancy. It promotes a unique synergy between cities, between higher education institutions, between cultural institutions, between artistic territories, and between young composers and instrumentalists, who engage in dialogue through their passion for music and their curious interest in Helena Almeida’s work. In the final days of the biennial, “Feel Me, Hear Me, See Me” will be a concert, presented in Braga, Porto, and Lisbon, thus bringing together the three verbs of this series.
Produção