The doors of the museum at the Royal Building of Mafra open today at 2:30 PM, with Museus e Monumentos de Portugal (MMP) advising the purchase of tickets online.
This weekend, the public will have the opportunity to hear, for the first time in Mafra, the world’s largest traveling carillon at Terreiro D. João V.
Other highlights include concerts by bagpipe orchestras, Javanese gamelan, and baroque music. The program features collaborations with Músicos do Tejo, Orquestra XXI, the Choir of Universidade Nova, and Síntese Grupo de Música Contemporânea, as well as musicians like Iúri Oliveira, Fernando Miguel Jalôto, and historical harp specialist Mara Galassi, according to a statement from MMP.
When announcing the opening date in Mafra, the MMP revealed that the museum would feature an immersive multimedia hall. The inaugural program will include the debut of a work commissioned from illustrator Bernardo Carvalho and musician Ricardo Jacinto, and ‘Herb Harp,’ commissioned from composer Fátima Fonte and director Adriana Romero and developed based on interviews with various personalities such as Ana Salazar, Afonso Reis Cabral, Álvaro Siza Vieira, Capicua, Herman José, Rui Paula, Simone de Oliveira, and Vasco Palmeirim.
The new visitor circuit offers multisensory, tactile, and olfactory experiences for all audiences, allowing interaction with over 20 different musical instruments and instrument models, according to the MMP.
Additionally, “new solutions” have been prepared for accessibility. Blind visitors will benefit from tactile flooring, braille, and audio descriptions, while deaf individuals will have access to video guides in Portuguese Sign Language. Visitors on the autism spectrum or those with hypersensitivity will be able to enjoy specific hours for silent visits with reduced visual stimuli.
Since 1994, the National Museum of Music has been located at the Alto dos Moinhos metro station in Lisbon. It is now permanently relocating to the National Palace of Mafra after two years of construction, which delayed the museum’s reopening by approximately a year and involved an investment of nearly seven million euros through the Recovery and Resilience Plan.
“These new facilities have enabled the rehabilitation of 8,000 square meters of the Royal Building of Mafra, including reserve areas and common spaces like the ticket office, shop, and cafeteria. The number of specimens on display has doubled, now totaling 500 pieces in a 2,000 square meter exhibition area,” the MMP noted.
