project thistle

Projecto Cardo is an association whose main objective is to intervene artistically and pedagogically in today's society through music, focusing a large part of its work on the preservation, dissemination and promotion of traditional Portuguese music. It was born from the desire and need to create a team with the profile, sensitivity and generosity necessary to listen, observe and learn directly from the population and, finally, transform that information into an artistic object or pedagogical material. The raw material of Projecto Cardo's work is, therefore, the knowledge of each individual it crosses paths with and of each community with which it is involved.

Cardo Project works under the direction of Carmina Repas Gonçalves and Antony Fernandes, founders of Ensemble Cardo-Roxo and Cardo-Amarelo – Escola de Música Tradicional, with a very interesting and complete team, which makes it possible to carry out the most varied projects , in a specialized way.

Cardo-Amarelo – Escola de Música Tradicional (created in 2015) offers weekly classes in: percussion (Tiago Manuel Soares), bagpipes (Antony Fernandes), traditional dances (Joana Lopes) and Coro Cardo (directed by Carmina Repas Gonçalves).

In addition to the regular work of teaching traditional Portuguese music, Cardo-Amarelo has collaborated with several municipalities in order to preserve their respective traditional repertoires and help communities organize themselves by keeping the desire to sing and play their own music alive. A case in point is the collaboration with the project “Há Festa na Aldeia”, with which six choirs were created in small villages included in the “Aldeias de Portugal” network. In slightly different ways, he also created two choirs in the urban context of Vila Nova de Gaia, inserted in the FIGaia forum.

The Cardo-Roxo ensemble, created in 2012, also works with the aim of bringing to light the repertoire of Portuguese oral tradition, through concerts that, due to their popular character but of great delicacy, reach anyone, regardless of origin. or community to which you belong. Its sound results from the mix between traditional and old instruments with contemporary arrangements, which makes it possible to perform concerts in the most diverse contexts: churches, auditoriums, art galleries and even outdoors. Cardo-Roxo has already produced 4 author editions with the support of Antena2 (two of them also with the support of the GDA Foundation).

In the years of activity, the project also supported two music groups and a choir in the production of their records: “Hai que Beilar” with the female group “Las Çarandas” of Mirandese origin; “Barren Lands” with the Portuguese group The Tumble Reeds; and "À Borda d'Água", an album recorded by Coros de Gaia and by the ensemble Cardo-Roxo.

The Projecto Cardo team works daily for a greater appreciation of music, raising awareness, involving and teaching. Traditional music is a privileged musical expression in carrying out the different actions of the project, since aesthetically it is unifying. The identification and recognition of the repertoire are very important for multigenerational integration, for the use of the language and its oldest expressions, for the exploration and updating of the cultural heritage. 

Music can and should be (as it once was) an expression understood and mastered by all and a daily practice in the lives of families.