Peace Chords · DIM/NEM 2026

MMP in Unison on International Museum Day

26 concerts, 35 choirs
May 17, 4:00 pm

The theme proposed by ICOM for 2026, “Museums Uniting a Divided World”, provides the conceptual framework for the celebrations, calling on museums to affirm themselves as spaces for encounter, dialogue, inclusion, and collective creation. In this context, a symbolic and simultaneous inaugural moment is proposed across the entire MMP network, to take place on Sunday, 17 May, at 4:00 pm, marking the start of the International Museum Day celebrations.

This inaugural moment is based on a simple idea with strong symbolic impact: each museum, monument, or palace will host a performance by a local choir, following a shared programme that begins with “Acordai” by Fernando Lopes-Graça and concludes with “Ode to Joy” by Ludwig van Beethoven. In addition to these works, each choir will present its own programme, reinforcing artistic diversity and local rootedness. Music thus emerges as a universal language, conveying a message of unity, peace, and participation, fully aligned with the global theme of International Museum Day and with the MMP’s public service mission.

This inaugural moment also takes on a truly national and plural dimension, materialised through the simultaneous presentation of 26 concerts, involving 35 choral groups across the entire MMP network. The proposals presented by the MMP network reflect a wide diversity of musical practices and human trajectories, bringing together amateur and professional groups, ensembles with children, young people or senior members, projects created specifically for this occasion, and others with a long-standing history. Diverse voices and expressions converge - from Mirandese singing to classical approaches, including instruments and international repertoires and community-based practices - presented in equally varied contexts, with performances outdoors, inside museums and monuments, or in alternative spaces, reinforcing the idea of living, accessible, and shared heritage.

List of Concerts

MUSEU ABADE DE BAÇAL

BriChoirT, from the Bragança Conservatory of Music and Dance

MUSEU TERRAS DE MIRANDA

Omnis Cantus
Ensemble formed especially for the occasion – Arrangements for Mirandese voices and bagpipes

MUSEU ALBERTO SAMPAIO

TetrAcord'Ensemble

PAÇO DOS DUQUES

Orquestra do Norte and Coro Audivi Vocem

MUSEU DE ARQUEOLOGIA D. DIOGO DE SOUSA

“Secondary School Students’ Choir of the Calouste Gulbenkian Conservatory of Braga”, conducted by Ana Rute Rei

MUSEU DOS BISCAINHOS

Grupo Coral de Guadalupe
Maximinos Primary School pupils – Articulated Music Education

MUSEU NACIONAL SOARES DOS REIS

Choir of the Hospital de Magalhães Lemos (ULSSA)

MUSEU DE LAMEGO

Banda Marcial de Cambres
V Império – School of Music
Rancho Regional de Fafel
Real Tertúlia Académica Tunukacerta

MUSEU NACIONAL GRÃO VASCO

Conservatory of Viseu

MUSEU NACIONAL MACHADO DE CASTRO

Grupo Vocal AdLibitum

MUSEU NACIONAL DE CONÍMBRIGA

Quartet of the Orquestra Clássica do Centro

MOSTEIRO DA BATALHA

Grupo Coral Calçada Romana, Porto de Mós

MOSTEIRO DE ALCOBAÇA

Choir of the Banda de Alcobaça
Musical direction: Vera Santos
Piano: Sara Marcelino

CONVENTO DE CRISTO

Chorus Auris of Ourém

MUSEU JOSÉ MALHOA

Coro Social do Bairro

MUSEU NACIONAL RESISTÊNCIA E LIBERDADE

Choir of the Municipality of Lourinhã

MUSEU NACIONAL DA MÚSICA

Chamber Choir Outros Cantos
SOLinSI Choir
Direction: Alexandra Fortes

PALÁCIO NACIONAL DE MAFRA
Abel Chaves
Carillon Concert at 5:00 pm

CASA-MUSEU ANASTÁCIO GONÇALVES

Nilson Dourado (Brazil)
Musical Direction, viola, Brazilian viola, clarinet, percussion and voice: Katerina L’Dokova (Belarus)
Piano and voice: Ruca Rebordão (Angola)
Percussion and voice: Midori Jaeger (United Kingdom/Japan)
Cello and voice: Gulami Yesildal (Turkey)
Strings, percussion and voice

MOSTEIRO DOS JERÓNIMOS AND NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY MUSEUM