The Vocal Ensemble Pro Musica (EVPM), with 33 years of history, has one of the highlights of its season at Christmas. Led since its foundation by conductor José Manuel Pinheiro, it is made up of around 100 members who come together twice a week to rehearse. On the day of the national team's match at the Dragão, work continues with the necessary attention to prepare for the four concerts that ‘are coming up’.

Friday night could mean going out with friends or family evenings, but for EVPM it's rehearsal day. Today's focus is the concert that will take place on 13 December in the church of São João Novo, at 10pm, at the invitation of the Centro Social e Paroquial de São Nicolau.

“Natal sem música é como um jardim sem flores”

In a large group like the EVPM, ‘it's very difficult to choose a repertoire that appeals to everyone,’ and when you can't prepare a symphonic choir, ‘you prepare a more diverse repertoire, which is still serious, but which reaches more audiences,’ explains the conductor. This is what this year's Christmas concerts will be like.

José Manuel's experience shows that this type of concert is always well attended, ‘which means that people like it’. And although in Portugal there isn't as strong a tradition as in England, where there's no Christmas without Christmas Carols, the EVPM has been working hard to make choral music at Christmas a reality.

“Nós juntamos pessoas pela música”

Tomás Franco is a choirboy and the president of the Pro Musica Vocal Ensemble Association. The young man believes that the mix of Christmas themes they are preparing ends up being ‘more receptive to the public’. The group is working on short pieces from all over the world, from the Portuguese Christmas songbook to Latin American themes and the English classics of the season. ‘We put it all together and put on a concert,’ Tomás tells us, as if he were reading us a cookery recipe.

As president of this association, he confesses that ‘choir members are more motivated when a large, musically more challenging piece is prepared’, but he is certain that ‘it is in these concerts, with shorter pieces, that people are more united and more available, not only to do the concerts, musically speaking, but to enrich them, with decorations for the space or gifts for the audience’, always with the aim of making that moment special for those who attend. At EVPM, ‘we bring people together through music,’ he concludes.

Joana Costa starts preparing for her Christmas in September and it's the construction process that is most important to her, because on the 25th it's like a chocapic, ‘poof, it's gone!’, she tells us, amusingly. As she's part of several musical projects, this is a time of a lot of vocal wear and tear, but it's also ‘warmer, with lighter, more engaging repertoires and more affection from the audience’. Joana's calendar is full in December, but she can't imagine a Christmas without the hustle and bustle of the season's rehearsals and concerts.

Pedro Valle has been with the EVPM for many years, almost since the beginning. And even after all this time, he tells us that ‘it's still good to do Christmas concerts, especially because you discover new music every year’. He tells us that what makes them different and special is mainly down to the audience.

At the headquarters of the Orfeão Universitário do Porto (OUP), created in 1912, we find a very young choir. ‘Welcoming’ and “integrating” are certainly in this group's dictionary: the way they welcome us into their space can only mean that.

The choir, currently directed by conductor António Sérgio Ferreira, is made up of around 45 university-age members. They do two rehearsals a week and will be on stage six times this Christmas. The most important (the University of Porto Christmas Concert) will be on 17 December at 7pm in the Clérigos Church.

The work for the Christmas concerts begins in September, ‘at the height of summer, and singing Christmas songs at that time is very out of context,’ confesses António Sérgio.

Um legado de gerações

Pedro Martins is 19 and studying Electrical Engineering. Ana Coelho is 20 and studying Communication Design. This is their second year in the choir. Without much musical experience, they joined the OUP Choir out of curiosity sparked by their parents' memories.

These two young people have the OUP in their blood: Pedro's mum and Ana's parents were part of the choir when they were students at the University of Porto. They grew up listening to the stories of the Orfeão and, they say, there was no other choice but to join this group, ‘at least to try it out’.

Salomé is 21 and this is her second year at OUP. She was ‘pushed’ by a friend and has no regrets. For her, this is a different community, since at OUP they have the chance to ‘learn from each other's successes and mistakes, while experiencing art in a very personal way’.

Inês, 21, left music to study electrical engineering. She's been at OUP for four years and also came through the hands of a friend. Although she didn't want to make music her life, she didn't want it to stop being part of her. ‘Coming to OUP was the best decision I ever made and I couldn't be more grateful for the experiences it has given me,’ she confesses.

Closer to Christmas Day, it's the turn of the Porto Cathedral Choir to ‘sing Christmas’. On 21 December, in the house that gives it its name, works by Zelenka and Homilius will be performed. The concert is scheduled for 9.30pm and admission is free.

Formed in 1971, Tiago Ferreira has been artistic director since 2015. With around 80 members, it holds two rehearsals a week, in addition to group rehearsals focussed on vocal technique.

We attended one of these rehearsals and, as soon as we arrived, still in Terreiro da Sé, we could hear the choir's voices. On this day, there are more than 50 people in the room (including choristers, conductor and a special guest: António Ferreira dos Santos, the choir's founder).

The Cathedral Choir was born out of the need for the city to ‘have quality sacred music’, explains Miguel Simões, the choir's president. After studying in Germany, Ferreira dos Santos returned to Portugal with this objective. He approached Dom António Ferreira Gomes, the bishop of Porto at the time, to explain to him what would be needed to fulfil this mission: to build a large organ in the cathedral, to have a large choir in residence and to have people composing music. And so, in 1971, the Porto Cathedral Choir began its history.

The Christmas concert has been a tradition for many years in this choir and in the city. The Saturday before Christmas Day is, as a rule, the day set aside for this event, which is also full of traditions: whatever the programme, the concert ends with the traditional Adeste Fidelis, with the participation of the audience.

João Paulo is 21 years old and has been in the choir for about a year. He is an organist in the parish where he lives and studied organ with conductor Tiago Ferreira, who challenged him several times to join the group. After attending two concerts at Easter, he couldn't turn down the invitation and joined the choir. The young man admits that the work is demanding and the repertoire difficult, but he guarantees that ‘it's worth it’.

Maria Urânia is 79 years old, has been in the choir for 35 years and is one of the oldest members. She discovered a taste for liturgical music in the parish of São Martinho de Cedofeita, but it was when she started attending concerts by the Cathedral Choir that she realised she needed other challenges. She joined the group and has never stopped since. ‘This is a very close-knit group and it's where I feel good,’ she says.

In a concert offered by the choir to the city, the tradition is of a ‘full church’. Tiago recalls the 2023 concert, which took place on a very cold night, so cold that the musicians couldn't go outside because of the risk of their instruments cracking. But despite the cold, ‘the Cathedral was full and there were people sitting on the floor, on the stone’.

For the young conductor, who believes that music can transform people, ‘it's a pleasure to direct this choir’. ‘Some rehearsals are easier than others, but usually people leave here feeling lighter,’ he concludes.