Information
Capuchos Music Festival 2026
23 MAY to 24 JUNE 2026
Almada – Portugal
Artistic Director: Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro
All information at: FESTIVALCAPUCHOS.COM
Capuchos Festival 2026
Loves & Humors
Welcome to the Capuchos Festival 2026!
After five editions of the Capuchos Festival which, since its revival in 2021, have established it as an event of excellence and a space for dialogue between cultures, times, and artistic languages, we now propose a reflection on what is most intimate and universal to us: loves and humors, affections and states of mind.
Under the theme “Love & Humors”, the Capuchos Festival 2026 draws inspiration from the duality and complementarity between love – in its many human and spiritual forms – and the “humors” of the soul, those subtle movements that oscillate between lyricism and irony, passion and invention, devotion and laughter.
Between May 23 and June 24, Almada once again becomes the stage for one of the country’s most important cultural events. The concerts will take place at the Convento dos Capuchos, the spiritual home of the Festival, as well as in other venues across the city, such as the Teatro Municipal Joaquim Benite, the Auditório Fernando Lopes-Graça, and the Parque da Paz, where an open-air opera gala will be held for the first time.
This edition features several international highlights: the return of the outstanding Paris Orchestra “Consuelo”, performing in the opening concert; the 30th-anniversary show of the acclaimed Austrian septet Mnozil Brass, often described as the “Monty Python of classical music”; concerts by the Leipzig Quartet, regarded as one of the world’s finest string quartets, and by the award-winning vocal group SLIXS, making their debut in Portugal. The Festival will also welcome world-renowned soloists such as the singers Anna Samuil, Peter Sonn and Mandy Fredrich, the violinists Viviane Hagner and Diana Tishchenko, the cellists Christian Poltéra, Victor Julien-Laferrière and Kyril Zlotnikov, the clarinetist Pascal Moraguès, and the pianist Eldar Nebolsin.
National participation is represented by leading names such as the Metropolitan Orchestra of Lisbon, conducted by Pedro Neves, DSCH Shostakovich Ensemble, in collaboration with the actress Maria Rueff, the Officium Ensemble, conducted by Pedro Teixeira, the pianist Nuno Vieira de Almeida and the actress Rita Blanco, among others. Also noteworthy are two concerts bringing together jazz and fado, featuring the award-winning singer Maria Mendes, who has been based in the Netherlands for several years, as well as the return to the Festival of pianist Júlio Resende and guitarist Bruno Chaveiro. True to its vocation, the Festival continues to be a platform for emerging talents, including in this edition the flutist Sónia Pais, the singer Raquel Mendes, the harpsichordist Rafaela Salgado, and the Almada-born theorbist Mariana Santos.
In 2026, the now emblematic Capuchos Talks, curated by Carlos Vaz Marques, are dedicated to the centenary of the death of Camilo Pessanha, the 300th anniversary of the publication of “Gulliver’s Travels”, and to a literary reflection on the Festival’s theme.
Other parallel activities enrich the programme, such as the pre-concert talks, entitled Capuchos Preludes; the Capuchos Walk, in the Protected Landscape of the Fossil Cliff of Costa da Caparica; the Guided Visit to the historical heritage of the Convento dos Capuchos; and the Capuchos Masterclasses, intended for music students.
Com especial entusiasmo, apresentamos, pelo segundo ano consecutivo, a iniciativa Opera for Children, desta feita com a The Magic Flute, de Mozart, numa produção dirigida por António Wagner Diniz.
The Capuchos Festival 2026 is made possible thanks to the support, first and foremost, of the Almada City Council, the patron “la Caixa” Foundation, in collaboration with BPI, and the Directorate-General for the Arts. Our thanks also go to the partners Almada Theatre Company, El Corte Inglés Cultural Department and RTP Antena 2.
The Capuchos Festival 2026 spans eras and borders, between the sacred and the profane, the classical and the popular, the Baroque and jazz, Romanticism and contemporary music. “Amores & Humores” is, ultimately, a portrait of the human condition: we love, suffer, dream, ironize, celebrate. Music – perhaps the subtlest of the arts – can convey all these states with a truth that transcends words and returns us to the essence of feeling.
We invite you to join us on this journey of emotions at the Capuchos Festival 2026 – where love and humor intertwine, and art leads us to the depth and beauty of life.
Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro
Artistic Director of Capuchos Fetsival
PROGRAM
23 MAY Saturday
9:00 pm Teatro Municipal Joaquim Benite
Opening Concert
Loves & Humours – Brahms & Schumann
Orchestre Symphonique de Paris “Consuelo”
Victor Julien-Laferrière
Robert Schumann - Cello Concerto Op. 129
Johannes Brahms - Symphony No. 3 Op. 90
24 MAY Sunday
6:00 pm Chapel of Convento dos Capuchos
Divine Love - Veni Sponsa Christi
Renaissance European Polyphony
Officium Ensemble
Pedro Teixeira Musical Direction
Works by Giovanni P. da Palestrina, Manuel Cardoso, Tomás Luis de Victoria, Alonso Lobo, Estêvão de Brito, Francisco Guerrero, Manuel de Tavares
28 MAY Thursday
9:00 pm Auditório Fernando Lopes-Graça
Saudade, Colour of Love
Maria Mendes Duo
Maria Mendes Voice
Cédric Hanriot Piano
30 MAY Saturday
9:00 pm Teatro Municipal Joaquim Benite
DSCH - Schostakovich Ensemble & Maria Rueff
The Carnival of the Animals
Maria Rueff Narration
DSCH - Schostakovich Ensemble
Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro e Rosa Maria Barrantes Pianos
Pascal Moraguès Clarinet
Sónia Pais Flute
Viviane Hagner e Alfonso Pinto-Ribeiro Violins
Lars Anders Tomter Viola
Christian Poltéra Cello
Tiago Pinto-Ribeiro Double Bass
Sofia Costa Percussion
Franz Schubert - Quintet D. 667, “The Trout”
Camille Saint-Saëns - The Carnival of the Animals
31 MAY Sunday
6:00 pm Convento dos Capuchos
Poet’s Love
Voice and Piano Recital
Mandy Fredrich Soprano
Matthias Samuil Piano
Robert Schumann - "Dichterliebe", (Poet’s Love), Opus 48
Richard Strauss -“Vier letzte Lieder” (Four Last Songs)
And works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , Clara Schumann and Dora Pejačević
3 JUNE Wednesday
9:00 pm Teatro Municipal Joaquim Benite
Jubilee – Mnozil Brass 30th Anniversary
Mnozil Brass
Thomas Gansch Trumpet
Robert Rother Trumpet
Roman Rindberger Trumpet
Leonhard Paul Trombone e bass trombone
Gerhard Füßl Trombone
Zoltan Kiss Trombone
Wilfried Brandstötter Tuba
6 JUNE Saturday
9:00 pm Auditório Fernando Lopes-Graça
Piano Português Namora Guitarra Portuguesa
Júlio Resende Piano
Bruno Chaveiro Portuguese Guitar
7 JUNE Sunday
6:00 pm Convento dos Capuchos
Love and Farewell – Romantic Triptych
Leipzig Quartet
Stefan Arzberger Violin
Tilman Büning Violin
Ivo Bauer Viola
Peter Bruns Cello
Niels Gade - String Quartet "Welcome and Farewell”
Felix Mendelssohn - String Quartet N.º 4, Opus 44 N.º 2
Johannes Brahms - String Quartet N.º 2, Opus 51 N.º 2
10 JUNE Wednesday
9:00 pm Convento dos Capuchos
Chopin & Schumann - Fantasia & Carnaval
Piano Recital
Eldar Nebolsin Piano
Frédéric Chopin - Nocturne, Preludes, Fantasia
Robert Schumann - Carnaval, Opus 9
13 JUNE Saturday
6:00 pm Convento dos Capuchos
Capuchos Promenade
DesConcerto
Clarinetes Ad Libitum
Nuno Pinto Clarinet, percussion and voice
José Ricardo Freitas Clarinet, percussion and voice
Luís Filipe Santos Clarinet, percussion and voice
Tiago Abrantes Clarinet, percussion and voice
Luís Filipe Santiago Percussion and voice
13 JUNE Saturday
9:00 pm Convento dos Capuchos
Richard Strauss - Enoch Arden
Rita Blanco Narration
Nuno Vieira de Almeida Piano
Richard Strauss “Enoch Arden” – melodrama for narrator and piano, based on a poem by Tennyson
14 JUNE Sunday
6:00 pm Capela do Convento dos Capuchos
Loves and Unloves of the Italian Baroque
Ensemble Amoureux Empire
Raquel Mendes Soprano
Marina Cabello del Castillo Viola da gamba
Mariana Santos Theorbo
Rafaela Salgado Harpsichord
Works by Barbara Strozzi, Antonia Bembo, Sigismondo d’India, Luigi Rossi, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Claudio Monteverdi
18 JUNE Thursday
9:00 pm Auditório Fernando Lopes-Graça
From Bach to Prince – Groove Vocal
SLIXS a cappella Ensemble
Katharina Debus Mezzo soprano
Michael Eimann Tenor
Leon Glauning Tenor
Thomas Piontek Tenor
Konrad Zeiner Baritone
Karsten Müller Bass
20 JUNE Saturday
9:00 pm Parque da Paz
Closing Concert
Opera Gala
Anna Samuil Soprano
Peter Sonn Tenor
Pedro Neves Musical Direction
Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa
Works by George Bizet, Jules Massenet, Giacomo Puccini, Antonín Dvořák, Emmerich Kálmán, Franz Lehár, Umberto Giordano and Pietro Mascagni
24 JUNE Wednesday
9:00 pm Convento dos Capuchos
Capuchos Postlude
Chamber Moods
Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro Piano
Diana Tishchenko Violin
Kyril Zlotnikov Cello
Joseph Haydn - Piano Trio N.º 39, Hob. XV:25
Rodion Shchedrin - Three Funny Pieces
Carlos Azevedo - Trois Poires en Forme de Satie
Felix Mendelssohn - Piano Trio N.º 1, Opus 49
ACTIVITIES
CAPUCHOS TALKS
Curation by Carlos Vaz Marques
5 May Tuesday
6:30 pm Âmbito Cultural El Corte Inglés Lisboa
CAPUCHOS TALK 1
Laughter and Tears in Literature
With Rui Cardoso Martins, Ana Bárbara Pedrosa and Carlos Vaz Marques
12 May Tuesday
6:30 pm Âmbito Cultural El Corte Inglés Lisboa
CAPUCHOS TALK 2
Marking 300 Years of Gulliver’s Travels, by Jonathan Swift
With Jorge Vaz de Carvalho, Miguel Portela and Carlos Vaz Marques
19 May Tuesday
6:30 pm Âmbito Cultural El Corte Inglés Lisboa
CAPUCHOS TALK 3
100 Years Since the Death of Camilo Pessanha
With Gustavo Rubim, Catarina Nunes de Almeida and Carlos Vaz Marques
OPERA FOR CHILDREN
4 June Thursday
5:00 pm Convento dos Capuchos
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart The Magic Flute, KV 260
António Wagner Diniz Musical Direction
With António Geraldo, Laura Martins, Catarina Mouro, Afonso Cardoso, João Oliveira and Susana Gomes
CAPUCHOS PRELUDES
23 May Saturday
6:00 pm Teatro Municipal Joaquim Benite
CAPUCHOS PRELUDE 1
Loves & Humors: About the Capuchos Festival 2026
Pre-concert talk with Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro
30 Maio Saturday
6:00 pm Teatro Municipal Joaquim Benite
CAPUCHOS PRELUDE 2
On Music and Humor
Pre-concert talk with Maria Rueff
6 June Saturday
6:00 pm Auditório Fernando Lopes-Graça
CAPUCHOS PRELUDE 3
About Fado Jazz
Pre-concert talk with Júlio Resende
CAPUCHOS WALK
31 May Sunday 10:00 am
Protected Landscape of the Fossil Cliff of Costa da Caparica
CAPUCHOS VISIT
7 June Sunday 3:00 pm
Convento dos Capuchos
Guided tour of the Historical heritage of Convento dos Capuchos
CAPUCHOS MASTERCLASSES
23 June Tuesday 11:00 am
Convento dos Capuchos
Piano with Filipe Pinto-Ribeiro
Violin with Diana Tishchenko
Cello with Kyril Zlotnikov
All information at: FESTIVALCAPUCHOS.COM