On Sunday 29 September at 17:00, AHA hosts its first concert of the new season. This particular concert is called Virtuosismo e Emoção: Uma Viagem Musical do Romantismo à Paixão Latino-Americana. Our soloists will include our old friend Vasco Dantas, who has opened our last three concert seasons.

Vasco comes from Porto, and on this occasion he will be accompanied by clarinettist Joel Cardoso, who comes from the Minho in the very north of Portugal. Together they will perform works by Poulenc, Schumann, Bizet and Paquito d´Rivera. Each of them will also perform a solo, on the piano a piece by Rachmaninov; and on the clarinet one by Piazzolla.

More information and directions to Quintinha da Música may be had from Peter (peterbooker1347@gmail.com). Also available from Peter are reservations at €25 per person, covering the cost of the concert and interval snacks and drinks.

On Tuesday 24th September at 18:00 in Lagoa Municipal Library and on Friday 27th at 11:00 in Tavira Municipal Library, Peter Booker will discuss the reign of Dom João II, whose soubriquet in Portugal is The Perfect Prince.

This monarch spent a summer in Tavira; he sadly died in the Algarve at the early age of 40; and alone among Portuguese monarchs, during the dictatorship as a part of the national celebrations concerning the discoveries, he featured on a series of Portuguese banknotes. Yet for most people, if not completely unknown, he remains shrouded in mystery.

Why is he known as the Perfect Prince? What was his contribution to the discoveries? How is it that he died at Alvor in the Algarve? How do we unknowingly pay tribute to him, even today? Peter explains the crucial contribution of this king to the history of Portugal, and his continuing influence on the shape of world politics. Attendance is subject only to a voluntary contribution.