Music | Last performance held at Pin-to Musica

François Girouard (left) and Rita Cerqueira Portela

Last night marked the end of the weekend-long “Pin-to Musica Festival”, held at the record store in Senado Square.
Performed by François Girouard, the intimate set was the 14th of the festival, concluding three consecutive days of local artists joining together to “celebrate the life of Pin-to Musica.”
Unlike other festivals, the impending closure of Pin-to Musica loomed over the weekend, making for a slightly somber affair.
Yet guest Penny Lam, who attended multiple sets across the weekend, disagreed. “It has been quite fun,” he said. “I don’t think anyone felt sad during the event even if we know the shop is closing.”
Girouard – a Canadian composer, guitarist, drummer and videographer –performed earlier in the evening with Portuguese singer Rita Cerqueira Portela, who described the partnership as a “recently formed duet.”
Cerqueira Portela explained that they wanted their performance to “celebrate the life of Pin-to Musica,” which both artists have supported in the past.
The two played a mix of jazz, bossa nova and fado music, which Rita described as a “very chilled but very diverse set.” They performed English and Portuguese renditions of songs such as Fiona Apple’s “Why Try to Change Me Now” and Tom Waits’ “Blue Valentine”, as well as hits from Frank Sinatra.
Solo artist KIRSTEN performed yesterday evening in Mandarin and English, accompanied by her guitar. She told the small audience that she had written the final song of her set only hours before, admitting that the piece was not yet finished and was lacking lyrics.
Nevertheless, one English word was clearly discernible, heard multiple times throughout the two-minute track: “good-bye.”