Sintra hosts 3rd edition of Jazz at Monserrate in September

From 6 to 28 September, the sounds of jazz will once again merge with the exotic surroundings of the Park of Monserrate, offering unique experiences brimming with artistic exchange and enjoyment. The programme for the 3rd edition of the festival, which focuses on the dialogue between music, heritage and nature, will be presented on Saturday 8 June with a concert by the acclaimed Spanish saxophonist Perico Sambeat, at 7.30pm on the lawn in the Park of Monserrate. The event, whose tickets cost a nominal €1, will be an opportunity to witness first-hand all the new features of Jazz at Monserrate in 2024, a year in which, while preserving a high-quality programme, now under the artistic direction of Inês Laginha, the festival will also be crossing borders for the first time.

Indeed, the first guest in this new edition of Jazz at Monserrate, Perico Sambeat, hails from across the border in neighbouring Spain. The acclaimed saxophonist is a regular on the international scene, with more than twenty albums to his name and several collaborations on records by some of today's most prominent musicians, including Dave Douglas, Ron Carter, Michael Brecker and Bernardo Sassetti.

He will be accompanied by a trio of Portuguese musicians at the opening concert for this edition of the festival: João Pedro Coelho (piano), Romeu Tristão (double bass) and Bruno Pedroso (drums). Alongside them, on this special evening on the Monserrate lawn, he will explore music entirely his own, giving it a new lease of life and offering the audience a sound with a perfect balance between energy and melodic clarity.

Tickets for the concert cost a nominal €1 and are sold exclusively on the Parques de Sintra website. Doors open at 7pm, half an hour before the show starts.

To make access to the evening concerts more convenient, Parques de Sintra is offering a special free shuttle service during the festival, which will be up and running for the Perico Sambeat concert on 8 June.

The shuttle service will start at 6pm from Portela railway station (south side) and will then pick up at Sintra station, before dropping passengers off at the main entrance to the Park of Monserrate.

After the concerts, the return journey will depart from the Park of Monserrate and run until the last visitor has been transported.

To use this service, simply show your ticket for that evening's concert.

Inês Laginha is the new artistic director of Jazz at Monserrate

Before the concert, at 6.30pm, the full Jazz at Monserrate programme will be presented to the press in the Music Room at the Palace of Monserrate. Inês Laginha, the festival's new artistic director, will reveal all about this third edition, followed by a discussion on the theme ‘What is jazz?’ with participation from some of the musicians featuring in the programme.

A composer and teacher at the National Conservatory Artistic Music School, Inês Laginha has been the artistic director of Casa Bernardo Sassetti since the end of 2017. During her time at the latter, she has organised and produced multiple cultural initiatives, most notably the Bernardo Sassetti Jazz Festival, an annual travelling festival that seeks to take jazz music all over Portugal. Now she is also embracing the Jazz at Monserrate project.

This festival was born in 2022 from an overwhelming desire to see the public enjoy one of the most beautiful and contemplative places in the world. Once there, visitors can let themselves be captivated by the emotions that only music can stir, something that is complemented by a relaxing ambience and contact with nature, thereby allowing unique shared memories to be made.

Combining the beauty of Monserrate with a top-class programme that has thus far encompassed various currents of contemporary Portuguese jazz and generated dialogue with other arts such as cinema and the spoken word, the success of the first two editions has shown that Jazz at Monserrate is filling a hitherto neglected niche. The festival's stage has already welcomed the likes of Mário Laginha, Afonso Pais, Maria João, Carlos Bica, Filipe Raposo and Rita Maria.

In this third edition, it opens up to the world by featuring both national and international artists, in a confluence of backgrounds and cultures that reflects the fusion of architectural styles characterising the palace that presides over the great lawn, as well as the exotic garden that hosts the experience itself.

Jazz at Monserrate is organised by Parques de Sintra, sponsored by BPI and the ‘la Caixa’ Foundation and supported by Sintra Municipal Council. Smooth FM is the festival's official radio station.