CordaSonora
We write, play, design, produce and do many other things. It is difficult to label our work.
They are enjoyed by thousands though.
And this is just the beginning.
CONCERT NEWS
CordaSonora Productions and Quimeras & Gárgulas – Associação Cultural are proud to present the full program for the new Leiria Medieval Music Cycle 2025 (CMML2025)!
This year promises to be filled with medieval secular music and poetry from the Iberian Peninsula, with Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira and Ricardo Alves Pereira, CMML directors, inviting prominent figures in music: medievalist Eduardo Paniagua, lutenist Orlando Trindade, percussionist Paul Johnson, singers Jorge Luis Castro, Maria Bayley, Joana Godinho, and the singer, writer, and poet Fernando Ribeiro from MOONSPELL.
CMML2025 kicks off its second edition on January 7, 2025, with the opening concert, commemorating 700 years since the death of King Dinis, which occurred on the same day in 1325. Here, the audience will have the privilege of hearing music from the Sharrer Parchment, a precious document containing medieval musical notation for songs by King Dinis, discovered in 1990 in the Torre do Tombo. This manuscript provides a unique glimpse into the sound of secular music from that time and region.
Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira and Ricardo Alves Pereira, founders of the CMML and the hosting ensemble, The Wandering Bard (TWB Ensemble), are committed to exploring this heritage with precision and reverence, bringing to life the music and words of the Poet-King for the audience.
CMML2025 is promoted by the Municipality of Leiria and the Castle of Leiria.
Come join us!
Event NEWS
A psaltery is a medieval stringed instrument, typically featuring a flat, rectangular or trapezoidal wooden body with strings stretched across it. It was commonly used across Iberia and Europe. The psaltery played an important role in the cultural convivencia of medieval Iberia, where communities of each people and belief shared and influenced each other’s knowledge and art. It was used in both secular and sacred settings, accompanying vocals or performing in instrumental context in courtly and liturgical contexts. The instrument’s resonant sound made it integral to the rich, diverse musical traditions of medieval Iberia.
The psalteries of the Medieval Luthiery workshop will be constructed based on the depictions of the musician angel from the portal of the Batalha Monastery.
Who can participate?
Anyone! The workshop is designed to ensure that participants can complete the instrument, regardless of their prior experience with crafting or working with wood. All the theoretical and musical aspects of how the instrument works will be explained, so that participants can experience playing and hearing their own instrument at the end of its construction.
Over the course of 6 sessions, led by luthier Orlando Trindade, workshop participants will follow and carry out every step of the instrument’s construction, from selecting materials to building and completing it.
Contact: contact@cordasonora.com and/or 965642540 to register.
Limited spots available. Registration required.
Latest Release
RETROQUEST is an album that pairs up modern and ambiental harmonies of Ricardo Alves Pereira’s electric guitar with vintage and modern tones of synthesizers. Getting back to his roots in experimental music, in the constant company of an old vinyl, Ricardo Alves Pereira builds a musical story along the tracks that serves as a fine session of imagination for the audience to live their own RETROQUEST.
While Ricardo Alves Pereira is mainly known today for his various classical and early music works, his musical journey on stage had started out with experimental live electronic music performances. RETROQUEST brings together his past and present, blending his early influences with a fresh and mature sound.
PREMIUM CONTENT OF THE MONTH
Enjoy a story Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira wrote as a kiddo, translated to English. She did not alter a single thing during the translation process and delivered each phrase most accurately to the version written by her when she was 13.
Notícias de concerto/Concert news
O ensemble The Wandering Bard leva ao palco um repertório muito especial das Cantigas de Santa Maria, acentuando a ligação que o rei Alfonso X, o Sábio tinha com as canções, a música, os músicos, a santa e o próprio livro das Cantigas de Santa Maria.
The Wandering Bard brings to the stage a very special repertoire of the Cantigas de Santa Maria, accentuating the connection that King Alfonso X, the Wise had with the songs, the music, the musicians, the saint, and the book of Cantigas de Santa Maria itself.
Previous Albums
Contemporary music, early music, world music and classical music works. Click here to see all previous releases.
Tailored for D&D and RPG enthusiasts, this release packs a bunch: “Survivor’s Dance” kicks off with a fierce tune that’ll make the scariest monsters dance to their death, while “Bright is the Ring of Words”, a reflective ballad, captures the essence of heroic yet lament-like adventures, with a misty and nostalgic string section.
OUD is the lightest, most peaceful, and most hopeful album coming out of CordaSonora. It is the perfect introduction to Medieval music, presented as a solo collection of songs arranged for the oud.
The sixth album by the TWB Ensemble (The Wandering Bard) is an exhilarating journey through sound, a musical marvel that breathes new life into the medieval Cantigas de Santa Maria, attributed to Alfonso X, the Wise, a visionary Iberian king of the 13th century embellished by a legend from Leyriath.
Read the story related to the album here
CordaSonora's Journey
CordaSonora, found by Esin Yardimli Alves Pereira and Ricardo Alves Pereira, began with the purpose of providing artistic and promotional material for ensembles the two musicians were participating in, extending from early music to jazz. In years, the content creation grew into a record label and photography/video production tailored for each formation.
CordaSonora team believes in artistic independence. Ricardo reflected this on his solo classical guitar career through Musical Narratives, a technique to redefine the concept of concert repertoire and storytelling; and Esin expanded her career as a violinist from metal to jazz to world music and composing, aside from her international classical training. Their search for independence merged together in the first ensemble they became founding members of; the TWB ensemble (The Wandering Bard) recorded their first LP with the recording gear Esin obtained through winning the Outstanding Talent Award from the Keep An Eye Foundation for her participation as the concert-master of the Jong Metropole 2017 project that lead to her investment in music production and sound engineering. This became the beginning of a journey that is getting better by the minute.
The CordaSonora philosophy is about presenting the product from a 100% authentic and autonomous channel; which is why not only the audio production but the visual content presented in this page are provided by the musicians themselves.