President of the Network of Houses and Museums of European Musicians received at the City Hall

The president of the Network of Houses and Museums of European Musicians, Jorge Chaminé, met with the Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira, at the City Hall last week with the aim of defining the future partnership to boost the Moreira de Sá e Costa House.

The topic for discussion was the future protocol/memorandum to be defined between the Porto City Hall and the Moreira de Sá e Costa House, for its integration into the Network of Houses and Museums of European Musicians.

The Municipality aims to acquire the Moreira de Sá e Costa House, all the while maintaining its integrity as a Museum House, which is why the children of the cellist Madalena Sá e Costa, Helena and Henrique Gomes de Araújo, and granddaughter, Mafalda Araújo, were also present at the meeting.

In a meeting that also counted on the presence of the municipal director of Culture and Heritage, Cristina Guimarães, the joint work already developed by the Moreira de Sá e Costa House and the Network of Houses and Museums of European Musicians was analysed and considered to be “extremely promising and exciting”.

“All these events and activities certainly give something back to the city and the music scene, as it makes it possible to contribute even more to a city fully emersed in the European scene, with a network of educational and cultural institutions working together; a European network”, says Cristina Guimaraes.

The Moreira de Sá e Costa House, which includes a Documentation Centre relevant for the history of music, prioritises the preservation, study, and dissemination of the Sá e Costa legacy. The preservation of the musical legacy meant creating conditions for its digitization, with a protocol being signed in the summer of 2018 between the Moreira de Sá e Costa Family and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the Casa da Música Foundation, and the Porto City Hall.

It is also the institution's aim to broaden its activity to the area of hospitality and short- and medium-term residence for artists from various geographical and disciplinary backgrounds, the dynamisation and cultural programming, and the continuity of partnerships with other institutions in the city of Porto, as well as national and international ones, never forgetting about pedagogical practices and artistic evenings.

Founded and chaired by Jorge Chaminé, the Network of Houses and Museums of European Musicians aims to organise cultural and artistic activities focused on the mobility of young musicians, foster research work, create thematic events shared by the network, and promote cooperation projects with the help of European funds, among many other purposes.

In Portugal, the network – created under the French Presidency of the Council of the EU – is part of the Amália Rodrigues House-Museum, the António Fragoso House, the Francisco de Lacerda House, and the Moreira de Sá e Costa House.