NEW YEAR'S CONCERT

The Youth Orchestra of the Canary Islands (JOCAN) returns in all its glory to celebrate 2025 with a series of New Year's concerts. Under the leadership of conductor Víctor Pablo Pérez, nearly 80 young musicians shall take the stage to interpret Anton Bruckner's Symphony No. 6 and to celebrate the bicentennial of his birth (1824–2024).

Although Bruckner is better known today for his symphonies and sacred music, he transformed the symphonic tradition established by Beethoven and Schubert. He influenced younger composers, including Mahler, Sibelius and Richard Strauss. During the more significant part of his life, Bruckner was acclaimed as a virtuoso organist, gaining recognition as a composer only during the 1880s. His compositional language is considered unique for its juxtaposition of mystery and spirituality and his music's analytical and rational focus. His ability to adapt his mystical and ecstatic music to the rigorously formal demands of the symphonic format is a testimony to his lasting legacy as a composer. In addition, the JOCAN's programme includes a Bruckner-inspired symphonic work created by the young Canarian composer Álvaro Lorente that shall premier at these concerts.

The JOCAN project was launched in 2016 by the Government of the Canary Islands as a means of training and practising orchestral music for young musicians from the islands. The project consists of organizing Encuentros (Gatherings) several times a year, where orchestra members come together and prepare a diverse range of repertoire to be performed on tours. The gatherings are led by a select group of teachers and maestros, and the musicians can work with renowned international soloists.

This Encuentro will be the 22nd since the launch of JOCAN. The orchestra will perform concerts in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, and Fuerteventura from 1 to 3 January, after a week of training, studying together, rehearsals and preparations. On this 22nd event, the Musicology Department of the Higher Conservatory of Music of the Canary Island collaborates with the Youth Orchestra of the Canary Islands in a series of introductory lectures to be held before the concerts in the same venues as a means of familiarising the public with the issues and details of the composers and of the works to be performed afterwards.

Furthermore, JOCAN will offer inclusive concerts for the first time, at which spectators with hearing impairments will be provided with sensory backpacks and sign-language interpreters so that they may fully enjoy the experience of a classical music concert. Up to 10 of the devices will be provided, and the said spectators may attend the concert free of charge.