At the Edge of the World (2024)

Program Note

At the Edge of the World was written in commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the birth of Luis Vaz de Camões, whose poetry , a cultural treasure, gifted the Portuguese world an identity that would form the bedrock of its ethos for generations to come. The piece takes great inspiration speci cally from Cabo da Roca, or Promontorium Magnum as named by the Romans, a 140m cape that stands overlooking the Atlantic Ocean at the westernmost point of continental Europe. In his “Os Lusíadas, Canto III," Camões described Cabo da Roca, writing:

Eis aqui, quase cume da cabeça
da Europa toda, o Reino Lusitano,
onde a terra se acaba e o mar começa

Here, near the top of the head
of all of Europe, the Lusitanian Kingdom,
where the land ends and the sea begins

Upon visiting Cabo da Roca and standing where Camões once stood, I envisioned a Camões who looked out onto that endless horizon unbridled by fear of the mystery of the unknown. Camões surveyed the seemingly interminable ocean from that same cape that for others was the edge of their world, as the beginning of his.

In honor of Camões and the signi cance of Cabo da Roca, a stone sits at the highest point, overlooking the ocean, and on it is inscribed:

AQUI…
ONDE A TERRA SE ACABA
E O MAR COMEÇA

HERE…
WHERE THE LAND ENDS
AND THE SEA BEGINS

Performances

Oct 17, 2025: 100 Caminhos, SERUL, Leceia, Portugal

Jun 14, 2025: 100 Caminhos, Convento dos Capuchos, Almada, Portugal

May 20, 2025: 100 Caminhos, Auditório Viana da Motta, Lisbon, Portugal

Apr 14, 2025: 100 Caminhos, Auditório do Solar da Música Nova, Loulé, Portugal