Interview with Filipe Veríssimo, Artistic Director of FIOMS

Porto holds centuries of organ tradition. Dozens of churches harbour historic instruments of rare complexity, part of a deep liturgical heritage that has shaped generations of musicians and communities. Yet how many people who pass through these doors truly know these organs? How many have genuine access to a repertoire woven into the city's collective memory? Filipe Veríssimo, organist and Choirmaster at Igreja da Lapa for over two decades and a pivotal figure in preserving Porto's organ heritage, recognised this gap with singular clarity. In 2021, he founded the International Festival of Organ and Sacred Music (FIOMS), a venture that would reshape the relationship between Porto and its historic musical wealth. What vision drives the festival? How does an organist so deeply rooted in the city think on an international scale while making decentralisation a founding principle? We put these questions to Veríssimo and discovered answers that reveal much about Porto's cultural future.

What drove you to create this festival and why is it important for this repertoire to flourish in our region?

FIOMS was born from a very simple conviction: the organ heritage and sacred music associated with it are extraordinarily rich in our region, but they were scattered, underused and, in many cases, silenced. In 2021 I felt there was artistic maturity, institutional willingness and a potential audience ready to embrace a festival with this identity. Creating FIOMS was, above all, an act of cultural responsibility, to celebrate historic instruments, encourage their preservation and give back to the community a repertoire that's part of our collective memory, but which needs to be experienced in the present to remain meaningful.

FIOMS has chosen a decentralised approach, spreading across numerous municipalities. This not only promotes the vitality of more forgotten organs, but also takes audiences beyond the historic centre. Has the public responded to this invitation? What is the international audience representation in recent editions?

From the start we wanted to avoid a centripetal logic. Decentralisation isn't a side effect of FIOMS, it's a founding principle. Taking concerts to different municipalities means bringing rarely heard organs to life and inviting audiences to discover other territories, other churches, other communities. The response has been very encouraging: there's a loyal audience that follows us from town to town, and at the same time local audiences encountering this world for the first time. As for international audiences, they've been growing steadily, especially performers, music students and enthusiasts who plan their visits around the festival.

This is a special year with two FIOMS seasons. The second season is just around the corner. Why this model? Are there any new developments in this second half?

The two season model addresses both artistic and practical realities. On one hand, it lets us spread the programme over time, giving concerts greater visibility and avoiding excessive concentration. On the other, it creates two distinct moments of connection with audiences, almost like two chapters of the same story. That said, this split resulted from very specific circumstances, including important but delayed support from CCDR-N, as well as local elections that brought changes to municipal administrations and decision making timelines in some areas. This two season model shouldn't, in principle, be repeated in future editions.

Free admission to all concerts is a statement of principle. What convictions drive you in this commitment to democratic access to sacred music?

Free admission is, genuinely, a statement of principle. Sacred music was historically created for the community, not for an exclusive audience. Championing democratic access means believing that artistic quality and free entry aren't incompatible. Quite the opposite: it's an invitation to curiosity, to open listening, without economic or symbolic barriers. If we want to build audiences and create lasting connections with this repertoire, we have to make it truly accessible.

The striking façade of one of the region's peripheral organs, at Igreja Matriz de Valongo. ©Bruno Oliveira

You have been Organist and Choirmaster at Igreja da Lapa since 2002. Is Lapa more than an organ, is it a character in your musical biography?

Lapa is absolutely inseparable from my journey. It's not just where I've worked for over two decades, it's a space that shaped my musical identity, my relationship with the organ and with liturgy. The Lapa organ has personality, character, almost a will of its own. I grew up artistically with it, through its silences and its sonic fullness. Yes, it's a true character in my musical biography.

The Lapa organ was silenced at the festival's launch, an irony laden with emotion. But that beginning had its beauty: a major choral concert revealed from the outset that this is not just an organ festival, but one of sacred music too, as the name suggests. How does this duality coexist in the programming? And what symbolism did the moment carry when the monumental organ returned after restoration? PortoBestCity readers may recall our coverage of that premiere by Olivier Latry.

Beginning FIOMS with the Lapa organ silenced was emotionally paradoxical. There was absence, but also anticipation. The inaugural choral concert made clear from the outset that the festival isn't limited to the organ as an instrument, but embraces sacred music in all its diversity. That duality is always present in our programming: the organ as anchor, but in constant dialogue with voices, ensembles and liturgical spaces. The return of the monumental organ after restoration was deeply symbolic, a rebirth. Not just of an instrument, but of a historic voice given back to the city. It was a moment of immense emotional and artistic significance that will forever be tied to FIOMS's history.

Each edition brings hundreds of national and international artists. How do you select so many performers and what is the logistical and artistic challenge of integrating them into a coherent programme?

Curating hundreds of artists requires a delicate balance between artistic vision and logistical pragmatism. Selection begins with musical affinity, interpretive excellence and each performer's suitability to the available instruments and spaces. Then comes the enormous task of coordinating schedules, travel and rehearsals. The challenge is ensuring aesthetic coherence without losing diversity, that each concert stands alone, but together they tell a unified story.

Among so many artists, some stand out for their track record and international standing. What value do these established names bring to FIOMS?

Established names bring international visibility and act as draws, but also as artistic touchstones for younger musicians and audiences. Their presence raises the festival's overall standard and creates truly memorable moments. The payoff isn't just in media coverage, it's primarily artistic and educational, because these performers bring a tradition, a school of thought, a way of understanding music that enriches FIOMS.

What future do you imagine for FIOMS in the coming years? Are there obstacles you would like to see removed? How do you want the festival to evolve as a cultural institution in the region?

I imagine FIOMS as an increasingly solid cultural institution, recognised nationally and internationally, but always faithful to its mission of community connection. I'd like to see certain structural obstacles removed, particularly around funding and the bureaucracy tied to heritage preservation. The future means strengthening partnerships, investing in education and contemporary creation, and establishing the festival as a cornerstone of the region's cultural life.

To close, a musical composition that has marked you most in your long career.

Choosing just one piece is nearly impossible, but if I must, I'd say the Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582, by Johann Sebastian Bach. It's a work that's been with me forever, for its architecture, its spiritual depth and the way it captures everything the organ can be.

The interview with Filipe Veríssimo took place in January 2026. FIOMS's second season opened yesterday in Maia at the Parish Church of Gueifães. Three further concerts follow across Maia through 8 February, with the centrepiece being a performance by Olivier Latry, at the Church of Nossa Senhora da Maia on 23 January. The season concludes on 13 February with a special concert at Fundação Engenheiro António de Almeida in Porto. Full programme available at fioms.pt.