Helena Almeida
Portugal
Beja
Coro Juvenil do Carmo – Portugal
Coro Juvenil do Carmo was founded in 1999 by its director, Helena Almeida, at the request of the parish priest at the time, Father Egídio Ferreira.
Since then, this group has had the main objective of singing in the liturgical celebrations of the Igreja do Carmo, specifically in the masses with the children of the parish of São João Baptista (Carmo), in Beja, and for this they repeat regularly on Saturdays after catechesis.
As a group made up of children and adolescents who attend parish catechism, the Choir undergoes elemental changes almost every year, as they grow in size and the voices also change.
Since 2001, he regularly participates in the Concerto de Reis do Coro do Carmo. He was invited to be the pilot choir of the celebrations of the national children’s pilgrimage to Fátima, in the years 2008 and 2009.
In April 2011, he participated in the III Meeting of Children’s Choirs organized by the Sanctuary of Fatima. As part of the City Festival, he was invited to participate in the Choir Meeting organized by the Beja Chamber Choir. Last May, he traveled to the monastery of Monserrat in Barcelona, where he gave a concert and sang at mass in the city’s cathedral.
The choir is often invited to participate in parties of social institutions such as hospitals, homes for the elderly, parishes and other church movements. Coro Juvenil do Carmo is a group that throughout its more than twenty years of existence has promoted choral and educational practice, offering this experience free of charge to more than a hundred children who have composed it.