Jazz at Monserrate – Day Pass | 13 September

Jazz at Monserrate – Day Pass | 13 September

The festival's final day reflects on jazz as a constantly evolving art form, bringing together two concerts that establish a dialogue between tradition and contemporaneity. From the earliest musical languages of jazz to today's most exploratory approaches, the programme closes the festival by celebrating creative freedom and jazz's enduring ability to reinvent itself while remaining connected to its roots.

Mateus Saldanha's appearance at Jazz at Monserrate reflects this year's theme, "Other Times", through an approach that engages closely with the jazz tradition. Rather than looking back with nostalgia, the guitarist draws on the music's essential heritage—its lyricism, melodic storytelling and the language of the jazz quartet—to shape a voice that is unmistakably contemporary.

Within the festival's artistic journey through time, his concert demonstrates how jazz's historical references continue to inspire new generations of musicians, revealing how the tradition remains a living source of creative renewal.

If Mateus Saldanha's concert looks towards the roots of jazz, João Barradas' performance represents the other end of the journey suggested by "Other Times". Deeply grounded in tradition, the Portuguese accordionist has built a career defined by the exploration of new sonic territories and the dialogue between different musical worlds.

Joined by his trio and American guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg—one of the leading figures in contemporary jazz guitar—Barradas presents a vision of jazz that looks firmly towards the present and the future, demonstrating how the music continues to reinvent itself through curiosity, creative freedom and the constant search for new forms of expression.

Biographies

• Mateus Saldanha is a Portuguese guitarist and composer who has established himself as one of the most promising voices of the new generation of Portuguese jazz. His music combines a deep connection to the jazz tradition with a personal and contemporary approach to composition and improvisation. A graduate in Jazz from the Lisbon School of Music, he is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Performance at Jazzcampus Basel, Switzerland.
• Over the course of his career, he has worked with internationally renowned jazz musicians including Larry Grenadier, Jorge Rossy, Kris Davis, Chris Cheek, Jeff Ballard, Lionel Loueke, Wolfgang Muthspiel and Brad Mehldau. He has received awards in two editions of the Jarek Śmietana International Jazz Guitar Competition and was a member of the ensemble that won Portugal's Young Musicians Award in 2023.
• As both leader and sideman, Mateus Saldanha has performed at leading festivals in Portugal and abroad, developing an international career between Portugal and Switzerland. In 2025, he released ‘Troubles’, his debut album as a bandleader, widely praised for the maturity of its writing and the strength of its artistic identity.
• João Barradas is one of Europe's most creative and acclaimed accordionists, renowned for the way he brings together the classical tradition, jazz and improvisation. He has performed in some of the world's leading concert halls and festivals, including the Wiener Konzerthaus, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, appearing as a soloist with major orchestras and conductors. In the jazz world, he has collaborated with many of today's leading improvisers, building an international career recognised in 2019 with the ECHO Rising Star award from the European Concert Hall Organisation.
• For Jazz at Monserrate, João Barradas joins forces with his trio and American guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg, one of the leading figures in contemporary jazz. The programme features Kreisberg's own compositions alongside music from ‘Aperture’, Barradas' latest recording project. Developed during his artistic residency at Casa da Música, ‘Aperture’ explores ideas of space, freedom and architecture to create a musical universe that is both meticulously crafted and open to improvisation. Acclaimed by critics, it was named one of the best jazz albums of 2025 by Jazz.pt and earned João Barradas the 2026 PLAY Award for Best Jazz Album.
• Balancing composition and improvisation, tradition and innovation, this collaboration brings together two musicians who share an open, adventurous and deeply creative vision of jazz.

What's Included

• Concerts at 6.00 pm and 8.00 pm
• Access to the Park of Monserrate from 5.00 pm
• General admission to the Palace of Monserrate Palace until 8.00 pm

Additional Information

• Recommended for audiences aged 6 and over.
• The audience sits on the lawn, which has a steep slope.
• For greater comfort, we recommend bringing a warm layer, comfortable footwear and a blanket.
• Late admission is not permitted.
• Tickets cannot be exchanged or refunded except in the event of a change of date or cancellation.
• Please plan your journey in advance according to your chosen means of transport to ensure you arrive on time.

Getting Here

• The entrance to the Park and Palace of Monserrate is located at the following coordinates: 38° 47′ 27.39″ N, 9° 24′ 40.24″ W.
• Public transport: Scotturb bus 435 and Carris Metropolitana bus 1253, both departing from Sintra railway station.
• By car: From the N247 road in Colares, follow the N375 to the Park and Palace of Monserrate.
• Parques de Sintra's responsibilities are limited to the parks and monuments under its management. The company cannot be held responsible for external circumstances, including access routes and transport services.

Credits

• Artistic Director: Inês Laginha
• Promoter: Parques de Sintra
• Patron: BPI Fundação "La Caixa"
• Support: Sintra Municipality
• Official Radio Partner: Smooth FM