Mais Alto! (Louder!) is both the name of the crossplatform project as well as the musical group behind it. Initially a narrated concert from the LU.CA children’s theater in Lisbon in 2024, the project is aimed at children to spark imagination, engagement and voice (Louder!) through music into the world around us. The show traveled the country as an integral part of the 50-years anniversary of the Portuguese 1974 revolution. The concert consists of songs in Portuguese covered by the musical group Mais Alto! of the Lisbon-based studio Louva-A-Deus and is interspersed with commentary and context by Isabel Minhós Martins (writer and founder of children’s book publisher Planeta Tangerina) and cultural producer and radio host João Vaz Silva.
The project is clear in its statement and objective. Democracy is not a given, and to uphold it we must keep participating in it. It introduces, pedagogically and full of engagement, how music is a vehicle for dreams and protests, how the world influences it and, in turn, how music has the power to influence the world.
Mais Alto! (the project) has since been adapted further into a book-record and even a protest-song-writing workshop. This illustrated book-record introduced me to the project and is thus my main point of departure for my writing about the project, as I still have not seen the show. Yet! - it is still touring to this day.
The book is published by the studio Louva-A-Deus Edições, beautifully designed by and distributed through Planeta Tangerina, whose other co-founder Bernado P. Carvalho is also the illustrator of the book. Filled to the brim with playful, wonderfully weird and abstract figures, who, despite being printed onto the pages, almost seem to dance across them, ready to jump off and lead a colorful, animated revolution out here too.
The book is a small but tall format (16,5 x 24,5 cm) and its matte black cover shows in funky colorful letters Mais Alto!, conveniently serving both as the title and the author as well as a large dancing carnation flower-character, telling you not only about the theme of the book, but about the explosion of creativity at hand.
They call it a book-“record” because the book, in addition to the introduction and clear project statement by Minhós Martins and the illustrated song lyrics, also includes the album as a CD in the inner back cover. A two-in-one for enthusiasts of physical media and a fun and beautifully designed and illustrated song book for children in its own right. As opposed to the concert, where the context and introduction about each song in included in the interspersed commentary, the book presents these in writing (also by Minhós Martins) in the end. This, along with illustration, graphic design and the physicality of the book object is yet another example of thoughtful adaptation across formats. Mais Alto! have not tried to cram a concert experience into a book and the CD is not a live recording from the concert, but a studio recording. They have embraced the format of illustrated book fully and adapted their concept thereafter. Just like they adapted the concept to live concert, with everything this entails, dancing and audience participation etc.
Mais Alto! Is obviously inspiring because of its subject matter and objective, but also because it demonstrates the power of not just music but of performing arts, illustration and design, the power of multidisciplinary artists coming together to say something important. More people, more voices, more art, more participation. The project is proof that together we speak louder and reach further.
Oh, e o livro-disco é óptimo para a aprender português também - obrigado!
The musicians of Mais Alto! are Sergio Nascimento, Afonso Cabral, Francisca Corteção and Inês Sousa. Read more about the project on its website at www.concertomaisalto.pt.
Mais Alto! (Louder!) is both the name of the crossplatform project as well as the musical group behind it. Initially a narrated concert from the LU.CA children’s theater in Lisbon in 2024, the project is aimed at children to spark imagination, engagement and voice (Louder!) through music into the world around us. The show traveled the country as an integral part of the 50-years anniversary of the Portuguese 1974 revolution. The concert consists of songs in Portuguese covered by the musical group Mais Alto! of the Lisbon-based studio Louva-A-Deus and is interspersed with commentary and context by Isabel Minhós Martins (writer and founder of children’s book publisher Planeta Tangerina) and cultural producer and radio host João Vaz Silva.
The project is clear in its statement and objective. Democracy is not a given, and to uphold it we must keep participating in it. It introduces, pedagogically and full of engagement, how music is a vehicle for dreams and protests, how the world influences it and, in turn, how music has the power to influence the world.
Mais Alto! (the project) has since been adapted further into a book-record and even a protest-song-writing workshop. This illustrated book-record introduced me to the project and is thus my main point of departure for my writing about the project, as I still have not seen the show. Yet! - it is still touring to this day.
The book is published by the studio Louva-A-Deus Edições, beautifully designed by and distributed through Planeta Tangerina, whose other co-founder Bernado P. Carvalho is also the illustrator of the book. Filled to the brim with playful, wonderfully weird and abstract figures, who, despite being printed onto the pages, almost seem to dance across them, ready to jump off and lead a colorful, animated revolution out here too.
The book is a small but tall format (16,5 x 24,5 cm) and its matte black cover shows in funky colorful letters Mais Alto!, conveniently serving both as the title and the author as well as a large dancing carnation flower-character, telling you not only about the theme of the book, but about the explosion of creativity at hand.
They call it a book-“record” because the book, in addition to the introduction and clear project statement by Minhós Martins and the illustrated song lyrics, also includes the album as a CD in the inner back cover. A two-in-one for enthusiasts of physical media and a fun and beautifully designed and illustrated song book for children in its own right. As opposed to the concert, where the context and introduction about each song in included in the interspersed commentary, the book presents these in writing (also by Minhós Martins) in the end. This, along with illustration, graphic design and the physicality of the book object is yet another example of thoughtful adaptation across formats. Mais Alto! have not tried to cram a concert experience into a book and the CD is not a live recording from the concert, but a studio recording. They have embraced the format of illustrated book fully and adapted their concept thereafter. Just like they adapted the concept to live concert, with everything this entails, dancing and audience participation etc.
Mais Alto! Is obviously inspiring because of its subject matter and objective, but also because it demonstrates the power of not just music but of performing arts, illustration and design, the power of multidisciplinary artists coming together to say something important. More people, more voices, more art, more participation. The project is proof that together we speak louder and reach further.
Oh, e o livro-disco é óptimo para a aprender português também - obrigado!
The musicians of Mais Alto! are Sergio Nascimento, Afonso Cabral, Francisca Corteção and Inês Sousa. Read more about the project on its website at www.concertomaisalto.pt.
