The Gym

The Espinho Music Academy can be proud of its work in favor of Music, both as an educational establishment and as a diffuser of musical culture in the City and the Region. This bivalence of action is responsible for the formation of some current national music values ​​and for the musical component of the training of thousands of young people who, unlike our education system, do not see in music practice a simple luxury, but an integral and fundamental part. in the education of the individual, and also, for the dynamization of the Espinhense population for the enjoyment of musical activity in its various facets.

Founded by Professor Mário Neves in 1961, with the exemplary and enthusiastic support of the then Mayor of Eng. Manuel Baptista, at a time of musical pioneering at the provincial level, the Academy, starting with a few dozen students and some teachers, has gone developing in the teaching of musical disciplines within the framework of the official programs of the Conservatories of Music and simultaneously promoting concerts and auditions. In this context, since 1964, the Summer Music Festivals brought to Espinho, for the first time, renowned artists and national and foreign groups, an initiative that has since evolved and which today constitutes the International Music Festival of Espinho, a of the most renowned classical music festivals in Portugal.

In 1989, as a promoter, he created the Professional School of Music in Espinho, which started to offer two courses that had practically nonexistent until then – Orchestral Practice and Percussion – having ensured a very important role in the training of instrumentalists in Portugal.

Since 1988 he has been pedagogically responsible for the “Expression and Musical Education in Primary Schools in the Municipality of Espinho” program, which he promotes in collaboration with the Municipality of Espinho, a pioneering initiative at national level and which allows all children in the 1st Basic Education cycle access to musical activities at the school they attend.
In developing its activities, the Espinho Music Academy receives annual support from the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture and the Municipality of Espinho. In 2007, he was given pedagogical autonomy.