For conductor Roberto Martins, the philharmonic band remains one of the most important cultural institutions in Azorean community life. At the Filarmónica Lira Nossa Senhora da Estrela in Candelária, that mission reaches from children taking their first musical steps to ambitious collaborations with Paulo de Carvalho, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits and Guns N’ Roses—proof that preserving tradition does not require standing still.

In many Azorean parishes, music has never been confined to the concert hall. It walks behind religious processions, accompanies festivals and pilgrimages, gathers generations into rehearsal rooms and gives communities a sound by which they recognize themselves. For Roberto Martins, conductor of the Filarmónica Lira Nossa Senhora da Estrela, this explains why the islands’ philharmonic bands remain so important, particularly outside the principal urban centers. “They function almost as the cultural, social and educational heart of these communities,” he told Correio dos Açores. In the same rehearsal room, children of six or seven can sit beside musicians over sixty, creating what Martins describes as an essential intergenerational exchange of experience, discipline and mutual respect.

That mixture of generations is also the secret of continuity. Martins considers the band’s music school perhaps its most important project because, as he emphasizes, musicians cannot be created overnight. In Candelária, training begins remarkably early. The “Melodia Mágica” program introduces children between two and six to rhythm, sound and sensory musical experiences; from six or seven onward, students can progress through musical initiation, solfège and instrumental instruction. Martins particularly credits Carolina Pacheco for coordinating the school and helping develop new projects. Its reach extends beyond Candelária, attracting children from neighboring parishes and reinforcing the idea of the philharmonic as a regional center of musical education.

The band’s importance, however, extends far beyond teaching music. Martins describes the filarmónica as a symbol carried beyond the boundaries of its parish, creating community pride while sustaining the popular festivals, processions and pilgrimages that remain essential to Azorean cultural life. It is, in his words, a “living heritage,” preserving traditional Portuguese philharmonic repertoire while helping define the musical history of the islands. In rural communities, he adds, bands also combat isolation: their headquarters become gathering places, concerts attract visitors, and their activities generate movement around local businesses and associations.

Yet Lira Nossa Senhora da Estrela is also demonstrating that safeguarding this inheritance can involve considerable artistic audacity. On September 5, the band joins one of the great voices of Portuguese popular music, Paulo de Carvalho, for the closing of Ponta Delgada’s Noites de Verão. Carvalho will appear with his trio alongside the philharmonic in arrangements of songs that have become landmarks of Portuguese music. Martins describes the collaboration as especially meaningful at this stage of Carvalho’s long career and credits support from the Municipality of Ponta Delgada as fundamental to making projects of this scale possible.

The concert follows last year’s successful collaboration with Quinta do Bill, but the band’s experimentation reaches considerably further. Recent projects have reimagined the music of Pink Floyd in “Comfortably Symphonic” and Dire Straits in “Walk of Life.” On November 30 at the Coliseu Micaelense, the trilogy will expand with “November Rain,” an ambitious Guns N’ Roses tribute combining the philharmonic with a rock band and, for the first time in the series, the Vox Cordis choir. Vocalist Sérgio Lucas, winner of the second edition of Portugal’s Ídolos in 2004, and guitarist Luís Sousa will travel from mainland Portugal to participate.

For Martins, these productions are not departures from the philharmonic mission but extensions of it. Younger audiences who might rarely attend a traditional band concert can discover the institution through music they already recognize. The musicians themselves are challenged by unfamiliar arrangements and the experience of performing beside electric guitars, rhythm sections and large choirs. Composer Hélder Bettencourt receives particular praise from Martins for transforming rock classics into scores capable of creating a genuine dialogue among these different musical worlds.

Such productions require substantial financial and institutional support. Martins acknowledges the Municipality of Ponta Delgada, Candelária Parish Council, Coliseu Micaelense, Crédito Agrícola dos Açores, Marques Brita and Quintal dos Açores among the supporters that have helped make them possible. He also notes, however, that projects submitted by the philharmonic to Azorean Government cultural-support programs have not received funding, and that “November Rain” was not selected for PDL26. Previous Pink Floyd and Dire Straits performances at the Coliseu Micaelense nevertheless sold out, which Martins sees as evidence of genuine public interest in this kind of musical experimentation.

Behind the spectacular productions, the traditional obligations continue. The band must still prepare for street performances, processions, parish concerts and festivities while rehearsing demanding new repertoire. That coexistence may be the clearest expression of what an Azorean filarmónica has always been: an institution capable of carrying yesterday without refusing tomorrow.

Martins ends with a simple appeal to the public: continue supporting the bands, attend their concerts and discover what they contribute to their communities. It is an invitation that reaches beyond Candelária. Across the Azores, philharmonic bands have survived because generations have entered the same rehearsal rooms, opened the same music stands and learned that belonging can also be practiced through sound. The repertoire may move from a procession march to Paulo de Carvalho, from traditional Portuguese music to Pink Floyd or Guns N’ Roses, but the deeper rhythm remains unchanged: a community gathering, listening to one another, and breathing together before the first note.

Based on an interview/story by jornalist Vasco Blayer for Correio dos Açores-Natalino Viveiros-director.

Photos from Correio dos Açores