Articles > Berço de Melodias – I Festival de Música para a Primeira Infância

From July 15 to 20, Quinta dos Cónegos, in Maia, was home to several constellations from the Companhia de Música Teatral at the Berço de Melodias – I Festival de Música para a Infância.

The Festival Berço de Melodias brought together a series of art initiatives for children, educators, and families and was promoted by the Música a Partir do Berço project of the Fundação Conservatório de Música da Maia, with the program being the responsibility of Companhia de Música Teatral (CMT).

The program included training courses (BebéPlimPlim, Supersonics, Colos de Música and Mil Pássaros), workshops and visits to Inventário dos Frutos and the Porcelain and Cristal Gamelan and the presentation of performances from the Portable Play to Play Cycle (PaPI Opus 7, PaPI Opus 8 and PaPI Opus 10).

For six days, caregivers, babies and educators had the opportunity to enter the world of CMT. The Gamelinho (Porcelain and Crystal Gamelan for the little ones) was the reception for everyone who entered Quinta dos Cónegos during the Festival. It was the dozens of colorful sound bowls and cork drumsticks that awakened caregivers and children to the sound experience of this Festival. Then, further up, there was the Porcelain and Crystal Gamelan, a “collective musical instrument” made up of hundreds of pieces of porcelain, earthenware, stoneware, glass and crystal that enveloped each visitor in an immersive sound experience. The Fruit Inventory was the next installation — a room full of sound objects that could be explored by each child or caregiver.

The Porcelain and Crystal Gamelan and the Fruit Inventory were also home to daily workshops — led by CMT artists — which allowed participants to make music together, with and for their babies.

Each new day also brought with it the presentation of a PaPI (Portable Play-to-Play for babies, caregivers and educators. The week began with PaPI Opus 7, the sound flower garden with a very special gardener. The weekend received the presentation of PaPI Opus 8 — which took children flying through the world of birds, and PaPI Opus 10 — the play that celebrates the freedom to break the rules.

Echoes of Berço de Melodias Festival here