Barrocal Sound Brings World-Class Musicians and Earthy Tunes to Portugal’s Alentejo

By Amulya Hiremath on 04.12.22

At any given second, what do you hear? This invisible, always fleeting energy we call sound may well be truly older than atoms and even Earth itself. So it is no surprise that it also holds incredible power to move, shape, and awaken us.

At São Lourenço do Barrocal, a 200-year-old self-sustained estate and now a hotel in Portugal, nature expresses its innate creative abundance on every tree, rock, and birdsong — as model, actress, activist, and A Hotel Life contributor Lily Cole so beautifully describes in her review of the hotel.

And, come June, the property is set to unearth deeply hidden rhythms. Barrocal Sound is an intimate music festival fusing ancient sounds, the people who create them, and the magnificent scenery. With two days of music by six internationally renowned artists, the hotel will come alive and be the ground zero for all shades of Earth tones and tunes.

The line-up on day one includes electro-acoustic trio Islandman playing their intriguing mix of electronic music with Anatolian psychedelia and shamanic rhythms; one of Spain’s most extraordinary voices, Sílvia Pérez Cruz & Farsa Circus Band, presenting intimate versions of songs from their latest album as well as playing old favorites. Turkish DJ and producer Carlita will sweep the dance floor away with her sonic adventures at midnight. 

Joep Beving, the contemporary classical streaming legend, will play tunes from his latest work Hermetism, which explores finding the delicate balance between life and existence. Continuing to walk that elusive line, Anouar Brahem Quartet will bring forth Arabic and Islamic worlds, playing music rooted in highly sophisticated yet ancestral culture, evoking sensuality, nostalgia and contemplation, and anything else that seeks to surface in the audience. The festival will wrap in the soundscapes of Michael Mayer, renowned German DJ, producer, and mixer.

Barrocal Sound will bring the authenticity of small music festivals with two unique stages, the Barrocais, a granitic outcrop among the monumental natural landscapes of Alentejo, and Colmeal, a circular space with a history of beehives and traces of ancestry. There is an inevitable connection to nativity with music in open spaces, that not only resonates within humans but also holds power to unite them all as one community.