Gulbenkian Choir and Orchestra in Cape Verde
The Cape Verde National Assembly hall was too small to accommodate large audience that attended the concerts conducted by maestro Rui Pinheiro, in collaboration with Cape Verdean composer Mário Lúcio.
As part of the celebrations of 50 years of Cape Verde’s independence, as the president of the Foundation pointed out at the time, this event highlighted ‘the close relationship between the Gulbenkian Foundation and Cape Verde, which goes beyond culture, with support for the teaching of mathematics in universities, secondary schools and postgraduate courses, as well as projects in the fields of oncology and the arts’.
Both concerts included songs from Mário Lúcio’s album Cretcheu, accompanied by musicians Manel de Candinho (guitar), Afrikanu (cavaquinho) and Elísio Faria (percussion) and artists Teresinha Araújo, Tété Alhinho, Zú and Lúcia Cardoso.
The audience accompanied Mário Lúcio in his most emblematic and well-known songs, such as ‘Ilha de Santiago’ and ‘Hino à Gratidão,’ which he wrote, or ‘Morgadinha,’ ‘Oh Linda,’ ‘Sorriso de Nha Cretcheu,’ ‘Força de Cretcheu’ and ‘Doce Guerra,’ by other composers.