Adriana de Vecchi was a Portuguese cellist, Montessori-trained educator and founder of a music school for children in Lisbon. Adriana de Vecchi was born in Viana do Castelo in the north of Portugal on 14 September 1896, of a Portuguese father and an Italian mother. The family moved to Italy when she was two years old and she received her education there. Her brothers became pianists, while her elder sister was a violinist. De Vecchi studied piano and cello at the Conservatory of Turin and also trained as a teacher, following the principles of Maria Montessori. Returning to the Portuguese capital of

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

in the early 1920s, De Vecchi met her future husband, Fernando Costa, who was also a cellist. Initially she worked as a journalist and as a translator of works from Portuguese to Italian. She also wrote short stories and gave lectures on music and teaching. In 1953 she lectured on "The Teaching of Music in Childhood and its Projection into the Future" at the

João de Deus João is the Portuguese equivalent of the given name John. The diminutive is Joãozinho and the feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking countries. Notable people with the name are enumerated in the sections below. Kings * Jo ...

Museum in Lisbon. After hearing the lecture, the philanthropist and patron of the arts Sofia Abecassis agreed to provide rooms in her residence for a music school. On 29 June of the same year, the Musical Foundation of Friends of Children (''Fundação Musical dos Amigos das Crianças'' - FMAC) was opened. The school started by offering cello lessons given by De Vecchi, piano lessons by Abreu Mota, violin lessons by and choral singing lessons by Jaime Silva. Classes were held three times a week and were for both girls and boys, which was somewhat innovative for the time in Portugal. De Vecchi also developed easy-to-assimilate materials to teach music to children of pre-school age. In 1954 the Foundation also started a Youth String Orchestra, conducted by Fernando Costa, which has released several records and played throughout Portugal and Europe and from which many players have graduated to join leading orchestras in Portugal. In 1959 De Vecchi also created, with the support of Lisbon City Council, what were known as Cultural Afternoons for Children. These were held in the '' Estufa Fria'' greenhouse. Financial and other support to the Foundation was provided by the banker

Ricardo Espírito Santo Ricardo Espírito Santo (1900–1955) was a Portuguese banker, economist, patron of the arts, and international athlete. A good friend of the Portuguese dictator, António de Oliveira Salazar, he turned the Banco Espírito Santo (BES) into one o ...

, the philanthropist , the musicologist , the conductor Manuel da Silva Dionísio, and the composer and pianist

António Victorino de Almeida António Victorino de Almeida (born 21 May 1940) is a Portuguese composer, music teacher, pianist and writer from Lisbon. He has also directed several films and television programmes about music. He is the father of actresses Maria de Medeiro ...

, among others. When her husband died in 1973, De Vecchi asked Leonardo de Barros, one of the first students at the School, to take on the vice-presidency of FMAC and become director of the orchestra, a position he held until 2009. De Barros also became president of the Foundation when De Vecchi died in 1995. With further financial assistance FMAC was able to open the

Guilhermina Suggia Guilhermina Augusta Xavier de Medim Suggia Carteado Mena, known as Guilhermina Suggia, (27 June 1885 – 30 July 1950) was a Portuguese cellist. She studied in Paris, France with Pablo Casals, and built an international reputation. She spent man ...

Music School (''Escola de Música Guilhermina Suggia'') in Porto and also purchase its own facilities in Lisbon. In 1978, as part of the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of FMAC, an exhibition was held at the

Calouste Gulbenkian Museum The Calouste Gulbenkian Museum houses one of the world's most important private art collections. It includes works from Ancient Egypt to the early 20th century, spanning the arts of the Islamic World, China and Japan, as well as the French decor ...

in Lisbon on the theme of “Two Lives, One Work” (''Duas Vidas, Uma Obra''), about De Vecchi and Costa. Adriana de Vecchi died in 1995 at the age of 99.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vecchi, Adriana de Portuguese classical cellists Portuguese educators School founders 1896 births People from Viana do Castelo 1995 deaths 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century philanthropists 20th-century cellists