This Christmas, the Friends of the National Conservatory Choir (CACN) brings you four magnificent free concerts and our first CD, recorded live in December 2025!
In the two previous years, "An Austrian Christmas in Lisbon" and "A Christmas with Bach" brought more than 5000 people to our free concerts; it brought us many friends (some of whom went on to sing with us!), and memories for a lifetime. CACN has taken great strides in its evolution, and this Christmas 2026, we have an incredible program for you, and a unique reward.
Beyond the concerts, this is the year in which CACN releases its first live album, recorded in December 2025 at the Sacred Heart of Jesus church. Recorded by the award-winning Hugo Romano Guimarães, this album captures the essence of our journey, in over an hour of music in which conductor Luís Lopes Cardoso leads the 65-member choir, 20 musicians and four professional soloists through the mysteries of Bach, Caldara and Zelenka.
And for all these reasons, we want to repeat the experience with a new program that will once again feature Johann Sebastian Bach as the guiding figure, and with which we will make our third journey: we will once again join forces with the Ensemble Efémero and a group of talented soloists to present one of Bach's great works: the Magnificat in D major, BWV 243, and the cantata Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland , BWV 61.
Why is your help essential?
The Friends of the National Conservatory Choir (CACN) needs partial funding to hire instrumentalists and soloists so that we can offer these works to the city of Lisbon this Christmas. We are a choir entirely supported by the monthly fees of the choristers and, without this contribution, we will not be able to stage these four concerts.
The motivation that brings amateur singers together around a project is the desire and pleasure of singing works that they would otherwise not be able to perform individually. We want to provide the public with a close, neighborhood-level, and free experience of works that are only accessible through paid concerts in large concert halls.
The goal of CACN and its Maestro Luís Lopes Cardoso is to present to the public the result of many months of work by approximately 65 choristers – and, at a later stage, work with orchestra and soloists – so that classical music lovers can also enjoy concerts in their parish and church. The rehearsed and meticulously prepared works are offered to the city, helping to foster a spirit of community and conviviality during one of the most festive times of the year.
This is where your small contribution comes in. To bring these two pieces to the stage in four majestic concerts, we need to hire instrumentalists for a twenty-three-piece orchestra and five soloists. Your help is essential for us to create this program and bring it to you. And the reward – if you choose – is receiving our first live CD, professionally recorded and edited!
It's going to be a "Magnificat" Christmas!
About the author
Since 2014, the Choir of Friends of the National Conservatory (CACN), directed by conductor Luís Lopes Cardoso, has offered its choral and symphonic repertoire to the city of Lisbon, performing during celebrations in the various churches that host us - including (but not limited to) the Church of Our Lady of the Conception in Rato, the Basilica of Estrela, the Church of Santa Catarina, Santo Condestável, the Church of Campolide, the Church of São Domingos, the Chapel of Rato, the Church of São Francisco Xavier, the Lisbon Cathedral, and the Jerónimos Monastery.
Our concerts are free to the public, who fill the venues where we perform, rewarding us with their presence, attention, and applause.
Over the years, we have performed works by Byrd, Buxtehude, Schütz, Michael Haydn, Rheinberger, Vivaldi, Brahms, Handel, Bach, Zelenka, Caldara, Mozart, among others. The CACN includes choristers of various nationalities and has an eclectic repertoire, encompassing classical, religious, traditional, popular, and modern works.
In 2024 we "invented" an Austrian Christmas in Lisbon, with Mozart and Haydn; last year, "A Christmas with Bach" brought Bach, Caldara and Zekenka, plus four concerts in different churches in the city, always with sold-out shows. These events received news coverage on Lusa, SIC Notícias, Rádio Renascença, Observador, Time Out magazine and in all cultural agendas.
This year, we want to bring you a full dose of Bach, in four concerts that, in order to take place, require your small contribution.
All choir members contribute their monthly dues to keep the choir active throughout the year; however, hiring 23 musicians and 5 soloists, as well as renting instruments, incurs costs that we can only cover with your contribution. Help us bring music to you and make everyone's Christmas more beautiful, friendly, and compassionate.
Our conductor: Luís Lopes Cardoso holds a degree in Composition from the Lisbon Higher School of Music (ESML), where he studied with Professors Luís Tinoco, Christopher Bochmann, and António Pinho Vargas, and a Master's degree in Choral Conducting from ESML, under the guidance of Professor Paulo Vassalo Lourenço. He also studied with Professor João Lourenço and Eurico Carrapatoso. He also attended the Choral Conducting Course at the Aveiro International Vocal Music Course, and the Évora Choral Conducting Course, all led by Maestro Paulo Lourenço. He was conductor of the re:canto choral group, and since 2014 he has directed the Coro Amigos do Conservatório Nacional (Friends of the National Conservatory Choir), of which he is the musical director and principal conductor, and with which he regularly performs in concert conducting a cappella repertoire, with small instrumental groups and with orchestra.
Budget and due dates
The concerts will be free of charge, as are all CACN concerts, since our goal is to promote classical music to a wider audience.
The concerts will take place on December 5, 6, 12 and 13 in four churches in Lisbon.
We need €4,000 in partial funding , which will be used to pay for an orchestra of twenty-three musicians and five soloists, including:
6 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, 1 double bass, 1 bassoon, 2 flutes (Baroque transverse flutes), 2 oboes (also English horn), 3 trumpets, timpani, organ and harpsichord;
and 5 solo singers, 1 soprano, 1 mezzo-soprano, 1 alto, 1 tenor, 1 bass
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