Thank You – V FIPO 2022

The V Oeiras International Piano Festival (FIPO) closed last Sunday, July 31, 2022. For six consecutive weeks, since June 26, FIPO brought six pianists to the Municipality of Oeiras, starting with myself, Teresa da Palma Pereira, and continuing with Yoav Levanon, Olga Kern, Jan Michiels, António Rosado and Nikolai Lugansky.

The prestige of the guest pianists, the repertoires, which included composers such as Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Liszt, Balakirev, Mussorsky, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Satie, Scriabin, Rachmaninoff, Ravel, Medtner, Bartok, Poulenc or Gershwin and the enthusiastic and growing membership of the public, which exhausted the reserves and successively filled the Ruy de Carvalho Municipal Auditorium in Carnaxide, are inivisible signs of the success of the festival.

As Artistic Director, I note that FIPO has been affirming itself, year after year, as a great cultural event, with the particularity of being the only one dedicated exclusively to the piano in Portugal, with internationally renowned pianists. On the other hand, I am pleased to note that the masterclasses for young performers complement the recitals, attracting young performers who seek to perfect themselves to start an artistic career.

We also maintained the tradition of honoring a personality who distinguished himself in the field of classical music. This year’s unanimous choice fell to pianist Tania Achot, my late Teacher at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa, who died on January 6, 2022. Tania Achot was awarded several international competitions before settling in Portugal and acquiring Portuguese nationality. In addition to being a pianist of a unique quality, she contributed decisively to the emergence of a new and important piano school in Portugal.
The promotion of a Festival with this prestige and with free access to the public (only conditioned to the order of registrations) is only possible thanks to the dedication of the Flor da Murta Music Academy and the committed support of the Municipality of Oeiras and, in particular, its President, Dr. Isaltino Morais, provided directly and also through the company “Oeiras Viva”. Equally important are the support granted by the São Areeiro Senior Residences and Vila Galé hotels.

In this time of balance, I would like to reaffirm our commitment to the public and, in particular, to the citizens of Oeiras. We will continue, in 2023, to promote a festival with quality, to create a taste for great music, aware of. that solidarity progress also depends on cultural literacy and that fruition is a right of citizenship.

Teresa da Palma Pereira
(Artistic Director of FIPO)