Portugal Day is celebrated annually on the 10 June; the date commemorates the death of national literary icon Luís de Camões. On Saturday 9 June, Portuguese Organist, Célia Sousa Tavares will perform an organ recital, on the Stoller Organ which was built by Kenneth Tickell & Co.

Célia Sousa Tavares was born in 1983 and started playing organ aged 5. She did Music and Organ Studies at the Portuguese Conservatoire of Music in Lisbon while completing her secondary education and then obtained a Degree in Music Performance (Main Instrument, Organ) at the School of Music of the University of Lisbon.

She followed her studies with a Masters Degree in Music Performance, specializing on the Organ, at the University of Évora in Portugal. She also obtained a Masters Degree in Historical Interpretation for the Organ at the HFK Bremen, in Germany.

In her second year she was one of only three postgraduate students selected to spend a month at the prestigious Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. She also holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Music Teaching for the Organ from the School of Music of the University of Lisbon.

Célia has been an organ teacher and performer for several years and she regularly performs in a variety of venues. She is the Resident Organist at Igreja de São Sebastião da Pedreira in Lisbon.

The Very Reverend Rogers Govender, Dean of Manchester said:

“It is a great honour to be able to celebrate Portugal Day at Manchester Cathedral this year with our friends, the Consul General of Portugal and his colleagues. It is very fitting to mark this celebration with an organ recital on the Stoller Organ. This is a celebration of friendship between the Cathedral community and the city, with the people of Portugal.

I look forward to our choir trip to Portugal later this year. Gathering as friends around music is a wonderful way to celebrate and build relations between our two countries.

Happy Portugal Day to all our Portuguese brothers and sisters!”

The Consul General of Portugal in Manchester, Mr Jorge Cruz, said:

“I would like to thank the Dean of Manchester for welcoming so openheartedly my request to organize this recital at Manchester Cathedral. In line with this iconic institution’s ecumenical vocation, this cultural event is open to all and symbolizes our friendship with the people of this industrious and vibrant city.”

The recital will begin at 11.30am and is open to the public.

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