PONS VAROLII

PONS VAROLII is a new work by pianist and composer Simão Costa, premiering at São Luiz Teatro Municipal in Lisbon. The piece creates a dialogue between piano, a 21st-century orchestra, and the sound of vehicles crossing the 25 de Abril Bridge.

The title references both the Latin word for bridge and the most ancient part of the human brain, the pons varolii, which connects basic survival instincts to higher cortical functions. The work celebrates freedom and marks the 60th anniversary of a bridge once named Salazar, now called 25 de Abril.

Simão Costa leads the artistic direction, composition, and piano, with video by Mário Melo Costa and Pedro Neves as conductor, joined by the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa.