Abel Chaves

Abel Chaves was born in 1972 in Ponta Delgada on the Azore Islands, Portugal. In 1986 he won the 1st prize of the carillon competition sponsored by the Intitute of Portuguese Cultural Patrimony and was awarded a scholarship to study at the Royal Carillon School Jef Denyn in Mechelen, Belgium, where he received his diploma with “great distinction” in 1989. The following year he was awarded the prize of “laureate" at the school's Queen Fabiola International Carillon Competition. In 1993 he was appointed as the official carillonneur at the carillon at the National Palace of Mafra by the Portuguese Ministry of Culture. In 1994 he recorded a CD of the carillon in Mafra for the LVSITANIA MUSICA collection and in 1995 he played the dedication recital of the new carillon in Oporto, Portugal. He was a member of the international carillon organization „Eurocarillon“ from 1994 to 1998. He has performed at international carillon festivals in Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal and Spain, gives guest concerts in many European countries. In 2004 he was put in charge of the carillon of the Cathedral of Leiria, in 2005 he founded the first Portuguese Carillon School in Pousos, Leiria and in 2008 he was appointed resident carillonneur at the Igreja das pastorinhos church in Alverca.
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Abel Chaves at the keyboard of the carillon of the National Palace, Mafra, Portugal.
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The two carillon towers of the National Palace in Mafra, Portugal.

Guest concert on August 13, 2023 at 3 p.m.
Abel Chaves and Jeffrey Bossin perform The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi four hands.
Download the program here.

Click here to listen to an excerpt from the violin concerto Summer from the Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi, performed four hands by Abel Chaves and Jeffrey Bossin on the Carillon in Berlin-Tiergarten.

Abel Chaves on YouTube
Click here to listen to a carillon concert played by Abel Chaves on the carillon of the National Palace in Mafra, Portugal.