Festival & Academy VERÃO CLÁSSICO 2025 | 11th edition

Artistic Director: Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro

INTRODUCTION

In 2025, the concerts of the Verão Clássico return to the Centro Cultural de Belém — the Festival’s “home” during its first five editions (2015–2019) — and to the Museu Nacional dos Coches.

Among the internationally renowned musicians taking part in the 11th edition of the festival are the German singers Anna Samuil and Werner Güra, the American cellist Gary Hoffman, the Ukrainian pianist Milana Chernyavska, the Norwegian violist Lars Anders Tomter, the Belgian clarinetist Annelien Van Wauwe, and the Finnish double bassist Janne Saksala, soloist of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Opening Concert will take place on 23 July at 8:00 p.m. at the Centro Cultural de Belém, featuring works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Max Bruch, Antonín Dvořák, and Ludwig van Beethoven.

There will also be two monographic concerts: the first, dedicated to Franz Schubert, on 26 July at the CCB; the second, featuring works by Robert Schumann, on 30 July at the Museu Nacional dos Coches.

Between 24 July and 1 August, six Talent Fest concerts will take place, featuring young award-winning musicians selected for the Verão Clássico Academy 2025, who will present works by composers from the 18th to the 21st centuries.

The Closing Concert of the 11th Verão Clássico Festival is scheduled for 2 August, at the Museu Nacional dos Coches, featuring, among others, the Austrian violinist Eszter Haffner, the Swiss cellist Christian Poltéra and the pianist Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro, artistic director of the festival. The programme includes works by Mozart, Brahms and Dvořák.

Founded in 2015 at the Centro Cultural de Belém by Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro, the Verão Clássico Festival is today regarded as one of the most prestigious and sought-after music festivals and academies in the world.

Since its first edition, the Verão Clássico has promoted, alongside the concerts, hundreds of masterclasses — open classes focused on musical technique and interpretation — led by internationally renowned musicians and pedagogues. This edition includes professors from institutions such as the Berlin State Opera, the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía (Madrid), the Chapelle Musicale Reine Elisabeth, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and various conservatoires and universities in Vienna, Munich, Oslo, Lucerne, Berlin, Graz and Zurich.

For this 11th edition, around 200 young musicians were selected from hundreds of applications received from more than 30 countries, including Germany, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, South Korea, Denmark, Spain, USA, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Mozambique, Montenegro, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.

Over the course of its previous ten editions, the Verão Clássico has welcomed artists from the world elite of classical music, as well as more than fifteen hundred young musicians, many of whom found in the festival a launchpad for their careers. Among them are the Ukrainian violinist Dmytro Udovychenko (winner of the Queen Elisabeth International Competition of Brussels 2024), the British pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason, the German conductor Anna Handler, the American violinist Claire Wells, the Ukrainian pianist Roman Fediurko and the French flautist Luc Mangholz, currently soloist of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.

Among the many Portuguese musicians who have participated in previous editions and gone on to successful careers, notable names include flautist Sónia Pais and clarinetist Telmo Costa (both soloists of the Gulbenkian Orchestra), oboist João Miguel Silva (soloist of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra), double bassist Rui Pedro Rodrigues (soloist of the Casa da Música Symphony Orchestra), and violist Sofia Silva Sousa (soloist of the London Symphony Orchestra).

The Verão Clássico Festival is organized by the DSCH Associação Musical and enjoys the High Patronage of the President of the Republic. Its main patron is the Millennium BCP Foundation, and it receives institutional support from the Lisbon City Council, the CCB, the National Coach Museum, and the Music School of the National Conservatory.

In short, the 11th Verão Clássico Festival presents an exceptional program that celebrates classical music with passion, talent, and excellence – from Lisbon to the world.

The detailed Festival program can be consulted here: (https://www.veraoclassico.com/)

VERÃO CLÁSSICO Calendar 2025:

21 JULY • Masterclasses
22 JULY • Masterclasses
23 JULY • Masterclasses & Opening Concert
24 JULY • Masterclasses & Talent Fest Concert 1
25 JULY • Masterclasses & Talent Fest Concert 2
26 JULY • Masterclasses, Talent Fest Concert 3 & Schubert Fest Concert
28 JULY • Masterclasses
29 JULY • Masterclasses & Talent Fest Concert 4
30 JULY • Masterclasses & Schumann Fest Concert
31 JULY • Masterclasses & Talent Fest Concert 5
01 AUGUST • Masterclasses & Talent Fest Concert 6
02 AUGUST • Masterclasses & Closing Concert

Concerts at Centro Cultural de Belém e no Museu Nacional dos Coches

The 11th edition of the VERÃO CLÁSSICO Masterclasses will take place from 21 July to 2 August 2025, at the Music School of the National Conservatory and at the Marquês de Pombal Secondary School.