The Master Organ Builder

The Restoration of the Organ in the Church of Santa Maria, Lagos

Manuel Dinarte Machado Borges, more commonly known as Dinarte Machado, is an exceptional man, born with a unique talent that has earned him the single most prestigious Portuguese title. He was decorated by the President of the Portuguese Republic with the rank of Commander of the Order of Merit. There have been many other distinctions and accolades over the decades.

Dinarte was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, US to Portuguese parents. His formative years were spent in the Azores town of Ponta Delgada on the island of São Miguel. Dinarte was later employed by Sinaga, a sugar industry business, whose educational facility allowed him to study as an instrumentalist. In his capacity as a self-taught organist, he repaired two pipe organs in his spare time, the success of which led him to take up organ restoration as a profession.

In 1987, he set up a workshop dedicated to the construction, conservation and restoration of pipe organs. To complement his knowledge, he made contact with several organ builders throughout Europe, mainly in countries with significant organ heritage, namely Spain, Italy, France, Germany and England. Similarly, he visited the United States of America several times, particularly the city of Boston, where he became acquainted with the great organs built in Europe, mainly those from the 19th century, which are preserved there.

In 1992, to consolidate his knowledge, he completed an internship with Gerhard Grenzing, the famous German organ builder, participating in the restoration of the great historic organ of the Royal Palace of Madrid.  

In 1995, at the request of the Ministry of Culture, he agreed to restore the organ of the Basilica da Estrela in Lisbon. Then, in 1998, he began restoration work on the six organs of the Basilica of the Mafra National Palace, which was completed in May 2010. For this purpose, he opened a branch of his studio in Mafra, where he lives today. This restoration work was awarded the Europa Nostra Prize in 2012.

 Dinarte Machado has restored and built more than 80 organs on the Portuguese mainland and in the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira. He has written or collaborated in the production of several books on organ building and restoration. His ambition is to prepare future organ builders to maintain this important Portuguese heritage.  

The Organ at the Church of Santa Maria, Lagos

The pipe organ in the Church of Santa Maria has recently been fully restored with a large subsidy from the municipality of Lagos in its efforts to preserve the cultural and musical identity of the church. The organ was built in 1893 by a renowned German company.

The restoration work on the organ, a dream of 20 years, was carried out by Dinarte Machado in time for the Organ Festival of the Algarve, which took place from 14  November. There were eight contributing locales including Lagos, Faro, Boliqueime, Loulé and Tavira. The great organ in the cathedral of Faro is especially renowned. The concert at the Church of Santa Maria took place on 29  November. 

If you would like to experience a concert in this beautiful church, the Coral Group of Lagos will perform a benefit concert on 15 December.

Main image: © Copyright Carlos Afonso \ Câmara Municipal de Lagos

Christmas Benefit Concert

15 December, 9 pm

Church of Santa Maria

Organised by: Associação Grupo Coral de Lagos

Duration: 60 mins

Free entry with donation of non-perishable food

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