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The 35 Festival Internacional de Música de Canarias (FIMC) [35^th International Music Festival of the Canary Islands] opens with a concert opera on Thursday, 10 January at 8:00 pm in Auditorio de Tenerife Adán Martín. The concert will be performed again on Saturday, 12 January at the same time in Auditorio Alfredo Kraus in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.  The piece chosen is none other than Richard Strauss’s "Ariadne auf Naxos", to be performed by  Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife under the baton of its conductor Antonio Méndez, and a cast of voices featuring sopranos Ricarda Merbeth and Brenda Rae, tenors Roberto Saccá plus the Canarian singers Juan Antonio Sanabria, Anelio Gibrán, Elisandra Melián and Manuel Gómez Ruiz, among others.

The opening concert was presented today in an informative event that included the participation of the local minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport of the Government of the Canary Islands, Isaac Castellano; the island director for Culture of Tenerife Cabildo, José Luis Rivero; the event’s director, Jorge Perdigón; the conductor of Sinfónica, Antonio Méndez; and Belén Machado, head of Fundación Cepsa in the Canarias, which contributes to the concert and the introductory talks programmed in the festival.

Regarded as one of the most beautiful operas of the German repertoire, the concert is an opportunity to look into the world created by Strauss – a satire of high society, an insight into Renaissance’s patronage and opera itself, breaking of social hierarchies which are radically opposed as the outlandish characters of commedia dell’arte mingle with the famous and dazzling opera stars.  Because "Ariadne auf Naxos" is an opera within an opera, a unique case with impressive music.

It is produced by the festival, organized by the Government of the Canary Islands with  the collaboration of Fundación Cepsa, which also contributes to the introductory talks scheduled which are by musician and speaker Ricardo Ducantenzeiler. Those who wish to learn more about this production can come to the talk that is taking place an hour before the concert (7:00 pm) at the Auditorios.

Sinfónica de Tenerife, committed to the Festival as ever, is in charge of opening the event. For the first time, Antonio Méndez will be conducting his orchestra and a spectacular cast of ten singers. Ariadne and Zerbinetta will be performed by Ricarda Merbeth and Brenda Rae; Bacchus is played by Roberto Saccá; tenor Juan Antonio Sanabria has the role of Brighella; baritone Anelio Gibrán plays Harlekin; tenor Manuel Gómez Ruiz is Scaramuccio; bass José Coca plays Truffaldino; and the three nymphs, Dryad, Naiade and Echo are played by Mª Luisa Corbacho (mezzo), Elisandra Melián (soprano) and Svetla Krasteva (soprano).

Tickets are available at www.festivaldecanarias.comand the usual platforms of both Auditorios.

About 'Ariadne auf Naxos'

"Ariadne auf  Naxos", with score by Strauss and libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, was initially written in one single act, which came after the performance of Molière’s play "Le Bourgeois gentilhomme" ("The Bourgeois Gentleman"), for which Strauss wrote the incidental music, a divertimento. This is how it was premiered in the German city of Stuttgart in 1912, as well as in other cities.

Ariadne feels abandoned by Theseus in Naxos, after she helped him out of the labyrinth when he killed the Minotaur in Crete. Some nymphs watch her sleep and feel sorry for her fate. When Ariadne realises Theseus has deserted her, she evokes him and wishes he was dead. In the meantime, the comedians unsuccessfully try to entertain her to help her stop thinking about such disturbing issues, but she gets angry and leaves. Suddenly, the nymphs announce the arrival of a ship that brings the god Bacchus, who has managed to flee from Circe. Ariadne mistakes him for death and is ready to let herself be taken by her fatal fate. Then, she thinks it is Theseus who has come back for her until Bacchus shows his divine nature and carries her to heaven.

The fact is audiences were confused by this game that mixed commedia dell’arte and the classic myth of Ariadne, banished by Theseus to the isle of Naxos, where she curses her unhappy fate. This reaction finally convinced the writer who decided to prepare a prologue to explain the game that followed. Strauss did it reluctantly and also had long arguments with Hofmannsthal, but eventually they both agreed to add the prologue and Molière’s play was definitely ruled out. This new version of Ariadne was premiered in Vienna in 1916 and was hugely successful. This is how it has been performed ever since.

The two Viennese creators explore the definition of loneliness in female characters as well as fate, something already dealt with by Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte, another legendary key pair in the history of music as musician and librettist with titles like "Le nozze di Figaro" and "Così fan tutte".

Stage manager Christof Loy, who also took care of it at London’s Covent Garden, points out the relationship with the prologue as it “has to do with a philosophical art manifesto, about how it should be done and under which circumstances, which different influences artists use. However, the single act after the prologue has to be something else, it is about how we grow, how our feelings and outlook on the world change, and they don’t talk about it using the sarcastic resources of the prologue ".

Secrets of the success of this opera

The secrets of the success of this opera may be related to the treatment of music, so subtle, so modern and at the same time, so classic. "The structure is completely classic but this is an opera for virtuosos, for musicians to enjoy themselves in the pit”, the late Spanish conductor Jesús López Cobos said. In his opinion, Strauss did away with that Wagnerian obsession for a huge orchestra, which he shared in other works like "Elektra" and other titles. "He made the best of chamber music. It is a wonderful demonstration of balance between 37 musicians and 17 singers", the conductor stated.

One more good decision was to give the role of composer -a male role- to a woman, an idea of the musician which he included in the prologue. "Strauss believed that the genuine sensitive dimension of the creative effort was given by women rather than men, and among women, by mezzo sopranos, who could express mockery, power and tragedy much better than tenors, for instance", Loy says.

The experiment by this fascinating fruitful pair made up by Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal puts forward a fascinating review of classicism through this opera.  What is most outstanding in "Ariadne auf Naxos" is its surprising freshness, detached from its period. It is a game the creative pair suggested to make classicism even more everlasting and reconfirm Haydn and Mozart as the fathers of modernity.

Thus, half-way between comedy and simplicity, they manage to go deep into what interests them most: defining humankind through music and poetry, in a world that was coming out of the 19^th century full of high and utopic expectations: women’s liberation, freedom for humanity, workers, in a plentiful progressive society that eventually succumbed to the Great War.

Other concerts

This is the first event in an ambitious programme that includes 44 concerts to be performed in some twenty different venues across all eight Canary Islands between 10 January and 10 February.  The programme includes great symphony orchestras and camera music groups that will interpret repertoires raging from the 15^th century to the present day, including two works commissioned by the Festival.

This year, FIMC includes the participation of pianist María Joao Pires, Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, with the festival production of Verdi’s 'Requiem'; Hamburg Philharmonic conducted by  Kent Nagano and violinist Veronika Eberle;  St. Petersburg  Philharmonic conducted by  Temirkanov, with pianist George Li;  Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, conducted by David Afkham , Orchestra of Cadaqués, with conductor Anu Tali and pianist Joaquín Achúcarro; Cuarteto Quiroga, the prestigious pianist Martha Argerich;  London Conchord Ensemble;  Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife;  Minsk Chamber Philharmonic, Quantum Ensemble and Jordi Savall with Orquesta Hespérion XXI with the closing concert “The Routes of Slavery, 1444-1888”.

The call is open to take part in Ópera de Tenerife’s audition for the children’s choir that will take part in Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot  this season. The opera will be performed on 19, 21 and 23 March at Sala Sinfónica in Auditorio de Tenerife.

Children aged 6 to 13 can do the audition, which is taking place at Sala Puerto in Auditorio de Tenerife on 12 January at 11:00 am. Access to this room is through reception in the car park level. Candidates do not need to prepare any musical piece.

Parents or legal guardians of children wishing to participate need to send an e-mail before Friday, 11 January at 12:00 noon to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. stating in the subject “Coro Turandot”. You must also specify the child’s full name, his/her date of birth, his/her telephone number (if they have one) and the telephone number of his/her father, mother or legal guardian.

El Festival Internacional de Música Antigua de Tenerife (Fimante) se despide de 2018 con el concierto ‘Cantatas italianas’, que será interpretado mañana [día 22] a las 19:00 horas en la Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de La Luz de Los Silos. La entrada para disfrutar de este tipo de composiciones de Claudio Monteverdi, Georg Friedrich Händel y Johann Christian Bach de la mano de Morimoto Barroque Ensemble es libre hasta completar aforo.

La cantata tiene su origen a principios del siglo XVII, de forma simultánea a la ópera y al oratorio. El tipo más antiguo de cantata, conocido como cantata da camera, fue compuesto para voz solista sobre un texto secular. Contenía varias secciones en formas vocales contrapuestas, como son los recitativos y las arias. Entre los compositores italianos que escribieron estas obras se incluyen Giulio Caccini, Claudio Monteverdi y Jacopo Peri.

Hacia finales del siglo XVII, la cantata da camera se convirtió en una composición para dos o tres voces. El director artístico de Fimante, Conrado Álvarez, explica que “Händel compuso cantatas que eran como pequeñas óperas, eran cantatas líricas de alto contenido dramático, algunas concebidas para voz y bajo continuo, otras para voz, bajo continuo y orquesta; entre ellas, cabe destacar Acis, Galatea y Polifemo y Apolo y Dafne”.

Esta formación trabaja desde la interpretación historicista de la música antigua. El ensemble está compuesto por tres músicos residentes en Canarias: Satomi Morimoto, Raquel García Cabrera y Tomás López-Perea Cruz, y en esta ocasión cuenta con la participación de Emiko Morimoto. Cada uno de los componentes tiene una dilatada experiencia musical y en concreto un bagaje amplio en la música antigua. La pasión común por la música de estos siglos es la razón por la cual estos tres músicos decidieron juntarse para conformar este ensamble.

El hecho de encontrar un ensamble de esta naturaleza en Canarias tiene un valor que va relacionado a la dificultad que conlleva la formación académica del género en las islas y la complicación de encontrar músicos que hayan tenido la oportunidad de formarse correctamente siendo capaces de defender un programa de estas características. Morimoto Baroque Ensamble es una formación con una motivación y un objetivo común: el estudio y la búsqueda de la satisfacción al realizar un trabajo tan especializado como maravilloso.

Auditorio de Tenerife box office will be closed on 24, 25 and 31 December, including the telephone booking system. Special opening hours apply on 5 January: from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. You can always purchase your tickets at any time on www.auditoriodetenerife.com. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Auditorio de Tenerife sale channels are: box office from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm, Monday to Saturday, the website www.auditoriodetenerife.com   or by telephone on 902 317 327.

El Auditorio de Tenerife recibe el domingo [día 23] un concierto de la formación estadounidense Charleston Gospel Voices. La Sala Sinfónica acogerá a partir de las 20:00 horas el espectáculo que propone este grupo musical, pensado para la Navidad y que recrea en Europa la música de las iglesias negras de Carolina del Sur.

Charleston Gospel Voices presenta en Tenerife de la mano de la productora Makaron un proyecto coordinado y dirigido por Mildred Daniels, excomponente de la formación Dr. Bobby Jones & The Nashville Super Choir, y Tony Washington, director y solista del coro de la iglesia baptista The Abundant Life Tabernacle.

Los Charleston Gospel Voices, revelación de las iglesias afroamericanas, se cuentan entre los pioneros del Gospel & Rhythm, uno de los estilos que, dentro del canon del góspel americano, tiene una mayor proyección en los Estados Unidos. Es una fusión de las tradiciones de los himnos cantados a capela por las congregaciones con una poderosa base rítmica. Este estilo es una de las expresiones artísticas más originales y creativas del sur de los Estados Unidos, un movimiento muy vital y en continua evolución influenciado por las tendencias más novedosas de la Black Music, del R&B al Rap.

El góspel de los Charleston Gospel Voices, formación con cantantes muy comunicativos, promete ser emotivo y refinado, capaz de entusiasmar a cualquier público del mundo. Sus integrantes pueden despertar la pasión de un auditorio gracias a su experiencia en las iglesias negras de Carolina del Sur, circuito en el que se han forjado una sólida reputación.

El grupo, después de una intensa actividad concertística en los Estados Unidos, hizo su primera gira europea en el año 1992 para participar en el  Festival Lugano Blues To Bop de Suiza. Después de esa fecha, son una presencia habitual en el  circuito alemán, francés e italiano, donde son acogidos con entusiasmo.

Las entradas para este concierto de góspel pueden adquirirse en los canales habituales de Auditorio de Tenerife, en taquilla de 10:00 a 19:30 horas, de lunes a sábado, a través de www.auditoriodetenerife.com  o por teléfono en el 902 317 327.

Festival Internacional de las Artes del Movimiento de Tenerife (FAM) 2018 reaches its closing stage with three shows. The proposals from Sharon Fridman, Natalia Medina and Roser López Espinosa can be seen on 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd December respectively at Caja Escénica in Auditorio de Tenerife’s Sala Sinfónica at 8:30 pm

From Madrid, Israeli dancer Sharon Fridman’s company is bringing the piece All ways. Suitable for all ages, this choreography puts forward the freedom to perceive all the possible paths and follow the one you are destined to. This project marks the tenth anniversary of the company with a feeling of being at the end of a cycle which started off with early intuitions, early passions. Melania Olcina, Diego Arconada, Tania Garrido, Freddy Houndekindo, Richard Mascherin, Lucía Montes and Juan Carlos Toledo will be dancing to the live music of Idan Shimoni Danski and the screening of Ofer Smilansky.

From Gran Canaria Natalia Medina’s company presents See you, see yourself on Friday.  Their show deals with the look in one’s eye -the same in humans- so the other’s reflection is the only way of getting to know oneself.  Created by Vanessa Medina and Ángeles Padilla, this choreography will be executed by Ádex Alonso, Sergio Pérez, Alba Rodríguez, Ángeles Perea and Daniela Arzarello. We will also listen to music by Olafur Arnalds, Alva Noto, Antonio Vivaldi, Alva Noto and Luo Ni Piano Tiles.

Roser López Espinosa’s Barcelona company is landing on Auditorio on Saturday with their show Noviembre, which depicts a playfield where three dancers aim to build a common landscape. It is greatly physical and the performers accurately blend playing and intertwining, speed and acrobatics. It is a structure with bundles of bodies which talks about groups and collaboration, about one’s own space and the shared space, about the pleasure of playing and imagination. Getting involved and adding strengths come together in a refined poetics concept of life with a touch of humour. With the original score by Ilia Mayer, “Noviembre” comes on stage with Diego Sinniger de Salas, Nora Baylach and Roser López Espinosa.

Tickets for these shows can be purchased at Auditorio de Tenerife box office from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm, Monday to Saturday, on www.auditoriodetenerife.com  or calling 902 317 327.

On 18 December 2016 Coro Juvenil de Auditorio de Tenerife [Auditorio de Tenerife Young Choir] gave its first concert, at home and before nearly 500 choral friends who enjoyed their premiere.

It all started with a proposition José Luis Rivero, Island Director for Culture, put to Roxana Schmunk, who had been working for years in very successful educational projects at Auditorio de Tenerife, like ‘Musical IES’ and ‘Manos a la Ópera’. Roxana’s early career was related to choral work so she accepted the challenge, although it was a long time since she had last worked in this branch of music. Calls for the auditions were a great success: “we were surprised at the number of people who applied. We found that there were many potential good choir singers eager to take part in a project like this”, Schmunk recalls.

In the first season we focused on preparing the concert -a touching moment that celebrated its second anniversary yesterday- with the support of Camerata Lacunensis, a choir we’ve been closely related to since, as they were our first step for the choir to become the great family it is today. The broad and well-worked repertoire was proof of the variety and versatility the new Choir was capable of, as they went from classical music to choral adaptations of contemporary pieces by John Legend or Queen.

“I believe we’ve been a surprise from then on” Roxana Schumnk highlights. Her statement is supported by the many prizes they have won: two distinction awards at Festival Coros de Verão in Lisbon in June 2017; winner of Concurso de Canto Coral de Canarias in November 2017 and awarded three prizes at the VII Summer Choir Festival in Lisbon 2018 in the under 25 section, Jazz, Gospel and Pop. Cristian Bartolomé took the best soloist singer award for his performance of Someone like you. Their next event is in Gotemburg (Sweden), where the European Choral Games will be held next August.

On Thursday, 20 December, Coro Juvenil de Auditorio de Tenerife is returning to the venue where it all started to take part in a very special concert, Ecos, where they are sharing the stage with the quartet Quantum Ensemble.

El Festival Internacional de Música de Cine de Tenerife (Fimucité) celebrará entre el 20 y el 29 de septiembre de 2019 su decimotercera edición, que estará dedicada a los clásicos del cine de terror. Los datos de la nueva edición, que lleva tres de sus principales conciertos al Auditorio de Tenerife, fueron detallados hoy [martes 18] en rueda de prensa por el director insular de Cultura, José Luis Rivero, el viceconsejero de Cultura del Gobierno de Canarias, Aurelio González, el director del festival, Diego Navarro, y la directora del Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Canarias, Cristina Vargas.

José Luis Rivero recordó que Fimucité es uno de los tres festivales nominales para el Cabildo y destacó la internacionalización de sus proyectos. “Estamos muy contentos con la Fimucité Film Scoring Academy, la Academia Fimucité para Compositores Audiovisuales, porque aborda una rama de la producción musical que nos parece fundamental desde Tenerife 2030”, destacó el director insular.

Por su parte, Aurelio González compartió el orgullo que este festival produce en el Gobierno de Canarias. “Reconocemos los esfuerzos que el equipo del festival hace año tras año y destacamos especialmente su vertiente didáctica”, aseguró el viceconsejero de Canarias.

Cristina Vargas contó que, con los años, los alumnos del Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Canarias y también del Conservatorio de Música de Tenerife han ido colaborando más estrechamente. “Fimucité ofrece a nuestros alumnos una oportunidad única de poder viajar a Cracovia con el intercambio de jóvenes músicos, los talleres y clases magistrales y ahora con el concierto en la Sala Sinfónica del Auditorio de Tenerife”, declaró la responsable del Conservatorio Profesional.

El director de Fimucité, el compositor Diego Navarro, fue el encargado de ahondar en la programación. “Como ya es tradición, adelantamos en diciembre las fechas de la siguiente edición pensando sobre todo en nuestros seguidores internacionales para que se puedan organizar”, apuntó el director. Para Navarro “era obvio que la edición número 13 tenía que girar en torno a lo que este número significa sobre todo para el cine de terror”.

El director destacó el hermanamiento del festival con Televisión Española, que emite sus espectáculos. “Esta posibilidad le da una proyección internacional a nuestros conciertos, pudiendo llegar a una audiencia mucho mayor, por eso agradezco su compromiso a Domingo Álvarez, director del Centro de Producción de RTVE en Canarias”, añadió el director, quien proyectó en exclusiva durante la rueda de prensa el primer vídeo oficial del 13º Fimucité, realizado por Vasni Ramos con música del propio Navarro.

El viernes 27 de septiembre, a las 20:00 horas, dará comienzo en la Sala Sinfónica del Auditorio de Tenerife el concierto Mis terrores favoritos, que será interpretado por la Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife y el Tenerife Film Choir y contará con Christian Schumann como director invitado. El programa previsto abarcará un recorrido por la música cinematográfica de grandes títulos del cine de terror como Viernes 13, de Harry Manfredini, Hellraiser, de Christopher Young, o La semilla del diablo, de Krzysztof Komeda. Manfredini y Young ya han confirmado su presencia en el Festival como invitados.

La Gala de Clausura oficial se celebrará el sábado 28 de septiembre, a las 19:00 horas, y consistirá en la interpretación live-to-picture de la banda sonora compuesta por Wojciech Kilar para Drácula de Bram Stoker, el clásico de Francis Ford Coppola. Se trata de un espectáculo original realizado en coproducción con el Festival de Música de Cine (FMF) de Cracovia, siendo la primera vez que los dos festivales de música de cine más importantes se unen para la creación conjunta de un espectáculo de tal magnitud.

En el proyecto, que se lleva a cabo en total coordinación con Sony Pictures, también está involucrado el reputado productor discográfico Robert Townson. Se trata de una gran apuesta de Fimucité tras el éxito que tuvo este formato en la pasada edición, con el concierto de Encuentros en la Tercera Fase. La reconocida música de Drácula de Bram Stoker será interpretada por la Sinfónica de Tenerife y el Tenerife Film Choir dirigidos por Diego Navarro, de manera sincronizada con las imágenes de esta icónica película.

Como novedad, este año el concierto de la Joven Orquesta Sinfónica de Fimucité, conformada por alumnos del Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Santa Cruz de Tenerife y del Conservatorio Superior de Música de Canarias, se desarrollará también en la Sala Sinfónica del Auditorio de Tenerife. El recital titulado Campeones de la Gran Pantalla tendrá lugar el domingo 29 de septiembre, a las 19:00 horas, y versará sobre el cine de temática deportiva, con la interpretación de un repertorio con las mejores bandas sonoras del género, entre las que se encuentra la oscarizada Carros de Fuego (Vangelis) y otras piezas indispensables como Rocky, de Bill Conti, o Rudy. Reto a la gloria y Hoosiers: Más que ídolos, obra de Jerry Goldsmith, entre otras.

Asimismo, en esta nueva edición se repetirá el acuerdo de intercambio entre músicos de las Jóvenes Orquestas de Fimucité y del Festival de Música de Cine de Cracovia (FMF). De esta manera, un grupo de estudiantes de Tenerife viajará a Polonia para actuar en el FMF, mientras que otro grupo de jóvenes músicos de Cracovia acudirá a Tenerife para unirse a la Joven Orquesta Fimucité. 

Este año, el Festival lanza dos tipos de abono para los conciertos que tendrán lugar en el Auditorio de Tenerife. El primer tipo aglutina las entradas para los tres días de concierto y cuentan con un 7% de descuento sobre el total, mientras que el otro abono es para los dos conciertos sinfónicos, del 27 y 28 de septiembre, que cuenta con un 5% de descuento. Sendos abonos solo se pueden adquirir en la taquilla del Auditorio.

Las entradas para los tres conciertos pueden adquirirse en los canales habituales de Auditorio de Tenerife, en taquilla de 10:00 a 19:30 horas, de lunes a sábado, a través de www.auditoriodetenerife.com  o por teléfono en el 902 317 327.

En el marco del Festival, se pondrá en marcha la séptima edición de la sección competitiva Fimucinema, que próximamente abrirá la convocatoria a concurso de largometrajes de ficción, cortometrajes y documentales con el objetivo de reconocer el apartado de composición musical de las producciones participantes. Asimismo, durante la semana del Festival se desarrollará una nueva entrega de la Fimucité Film Scoring Academy, la Academia Fimucité para Compositores Audiovisuales, actividad de carácter gratuito que forma parte del programa educativo del festival y está dirigida a estudiantes y profesionales interesados en formación especializada de manos de grandes profesionales del sector.

Próximamente se darán a conocer nuevos contenidos del resto de la programación de conciertos de la decimotercera edición de Fimucité, así como los nombres de nuevos invitados y de los profesionales que serán homenajeados. Este festival cuenta para su celebración con el apoyo del Cabildo de Tenerife, el Gobierno de Canarias y el Ayuntamiento de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Audi Canarias, Dorada Especial y Teleférico del Teide, y con la colaboración de la Fundación SGAE, entre otras entidades.

Auditorio de Tenerife Adán Martín is hosting Händel’s Messiahon Wednesday, 19th at 7:30 pm, a participative concert fostered by Obra Social “la Caixa”. Conducted by Daniel Reuss, Sala Sinfónica welcomes the show by Orquesta del Siglo XVIII, Cappella Amsterdam plus 160 non-professional singers from six Tenerife choirs along with soloists soprano Ruby Hughes, counter- tenor Luciana Mancini, tenor Stuart Jackson, and bass James Newby.

For 23 years Obra Social “la Caixa” has offered music lovers the chance to take part in a major pedagogic project with renowned professional musicians and performers in one of the most emblematic works in the world: Messiah. This is the fourth time the institution holds a participative concert in Tenerife, bringing together stage and audience.

Under the baton of the prestigious British conductor, Orquesta del Siglo XVIII and Cappella Amsterdam, plus a group of soloists will be on the stage.  Non-professional singers from six different choirs will join them from their seats: Coral Reyes Barlet, Coral Universitaria de la Laguna, Coro Carpe Diem, Coro de la Escuela Municipal de Música y Danza Villa de la Orotava, Coro Juvenil David Goldsmith and Coro Polifónico de la Universidad de la Laguna.

The experience for local singers participating in a concert of this kind started with choir individual work and then went on with rehearsals together which began in October. The intense work to prepare for the rehearsals which total more than 30 hours, has been led by Félix Redondo and Jordi Casas Bayer so that the goals set by Reuss are achieved.

Participative Messiah includes a wide range of participants: different ages, knowledge level, and origin make up a mosaic of citizens with a common interest in choral music.

Tickets for both performances can be purchased at Auditorio de Tenerife box office from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm, Monday to Saturday, on www.auditoriodetenerife.com on this link  or calling  902 317 327.

Quantum Ensemble, Auditorio de Tenerife resident group, says goodbye to 2018 with Ecos, a concert that includes, among others, the Coro Juvenil de Auditorio de Tenerife [Auditorio de Tenerife Young Choir] and mezzo soprano Marta Fontanals-Simmons. The event is on Thursday, 20^th at 7:30 pm, and it includes the chamber work of four composers: Grieg’s and Berge’s choir music, music for soloist singers by Sibelius and Nielsen’s music for wind quintet.

Víctor Durà-Vilà, lecturer at the University of Leeds, will explore the repertoire in a talk to take place one hour before the concert at the Sala de Cámara. Admission to the talk is free.

Ecos discloses the chamber music by composers who are better-known for their symphonic work. Cristo Barrios, founding member of Quantum Ensemble, explains that “Sibelius’s songs are very well-known and we have selected his op. 90 for mezzo-soprano and piano. Grieg’s choral compositions are highly appreciated and we’ve chosen to include his op. 61 for choir -a collection of children’s songs which can be usually heard in Norwegian homes”.

For his part, Nielsen loved wind instruments and so Quantum Ensemble has chosen one of his best-known chamber music pieces: Wind Quintet, op. 43.

Finally, they have included a 20th century composer who will provide a wider view of Scandinavian music Norwegian composer Sigurd Berge with Illuxit.

In addition to the mezzo soprano and the choir directed by Roxana Schmunk, the concert features pianists Gustavo Díaz-Jerez and Samuel Labrador and a wind quintet made up of Diego Aceña with the flute, oboe Roberto Baltar, clarinet player Cristo Barrios, Óscar Sala with the horn and Miguel Ángel Mesa playing the bassoon.

As part of the social outreach activities carried out by Quantum Ensemble, on Wednesday, 19^th there will be a session to approach music from a sensory perspective with 25 children at risk from the Asociación Justicia y Paz, where volunteers from “la Caixa” are collaborating too. It starts at 5:00 pm.

One day after the concert, Friday, 21^st, Cristo Barrios, Quantum Ensemble founder musician -together with Gustavo Díaz-Jerez and David Ballesteros- is giving a Performance class for students from Conservatorio Profesional and Superior de Música de Santa Cruz de Tenerife at 9:30 am. Both these institutions collaborate in this activity.

Tickets for the concert can be purchased at Auditorio de Tenerife box office from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm, Monday to Saturday; on the website  www.auditoriodetenerife.com in this link or calling 902 317 327.

This weekend Festival Internacional de Música Antigua de Tenerife (Fimante) [Tenerife Early Music International Festival] is offering two concerts by Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife in Granadilla and Buenavista del Norte. Noël a la francesa is the Christmas programme of the group resident at Auditorio de Tenerife. It is devoted to the French 17^th and 18^th century concertante style. The show features harpsichord and guest conductor Bruno Procopio, and Israeli recorder player Tamar Lalo.

The first concert takes place on Saturday, 15^th in Nuestra Señora de la Merced Church in  El Médano, Granadilla, at 8:00 pm. On Sunday, 16^th Nuestra Señora de los Remedios Church in Buenavista del Norte, is hosting the Baroque show at 5:00 pm. Admission to both concerts is free.

The group’s artistic director, Conrado Álvarez, explains that “Their peculiar way to ornament with trille tremblement, cadence, and pincé renversé is a distinguishing feature of French Baroque music. The concert Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife is offering is a good example of this, but especially the end of the Chaconne by Dauvergne”.

“The polarization of the textures towards extreme voices and the distinctive unequal rhythm, with the emphasis on French-style decorum is present in all the scores of this “Noël a la francesa” [French-style Noël], which starts with the first theme exposition in Noël pour les instruments -a popular Christmas dance typical of the Seine valley since Medieval times- which has come down from generation to generation and was raised to court music by Marc Antoine Charpentier. It was then retaken again and again by Daquin in his Deuxieme Noel en dialogue a 2 et 3, Lalande in Simphonies des Nöels, and by Correte in Quatrième Symphonies des Noël. We will therefore perceive variations on themes that have celebrated, since the Baroque, sound creation to glorify the mystery of nativity”, Mr. Alvarez explained.

As counterpoint, we will listen to Ballet de Village by Boismortier as a sample of fantasy and short-lived earthly happiness; La Flore de Rebel as a reflection on human unimportance and the joy of carpe diem to end with Les Barricades Mystérieuses by Couperin, an example of French brisé style, a metaphor of the erratic and uncertain life of the existential path, typical of the Siècle des Lumières.

From 27 December to 4 January Auditorio de Tenerife is host to ten performances of Dirty Dancing, the theatre version of the great 1980s film classic. In the presentation of the show the details of the musical were revealed by the leading actor Laura Enrech, who plays Baby Houseman, the tour coordinator Carlos Alexandre, and Auditorio de Tenerife manager, Daniel Cerezo. Twenty-four actors and musicians make up the cast of Dirty Dancing, translated from the big screen into the stage under the direction of Federico Bellone and the production of LetsGo Company.

The protagonist said she was delighted to be on the Island again and perform at the Sala Sinfónica in Auditorio de Tenerife, “which is magical”. “In this show, you’ll see exactly the same as in the film, which apart from being a universal love story deals with current social issues”, the actor revealed. She has performed on the island in other musicals like Mamma Mia! and The Miserables.

Carlos Alexandre admitted that “we’re very proud of this production, which has had an average 80% attendance during the tour that has already included 36 cities and more than 600,000 viewers”.

Daniel Cerezo emphasized that Auditorio de Tenerife likes to reserve a space for musicals at Christmas time. “Last year we had an in-house production, Sunset Boulevard and this year, Dirty Dancing which has been across the country. We always end the year with a musical”, explained the manager.

The stage has three revolving sets to take the audience to the different settings where the action takes place, like Kellerman’s Hotel where Baby is staying with her parents in a seemingly boring holidays; the hall, the dining-room, the staff quarters, the garden, the guest rooms, and the basement where the staff practice the "dirty dancing".

Costumes take the audience some decades back: dozens of wigs and hundreds of garments showcase the style of the period. The play finally hits the stage full of passion and romance and with music that speeds hearts up and spectacularly sensual dances. The show includes the original soundtrack of the great and unforgettable songs of the film including Hungry Eyes, ¡Hey! Baby, Do you Love Me? And the Oscar-winning theme (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life.

The author of the film herself, Eleanor Bergstein, has taken care of the theatrical adaptation of the musical. The film re-invented the dance genre through a new style and an incredible story that gripped viewers back in 1987 when it was first released. The theatre version, also record-breaking worldwide, manages to convey to the stage the nostalgia of the 1980s with all the feelings aroused by Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze on the silver screen. 

In the summer of 1963, young Frances Baby Houseman’s life is about to change. While on holiday with her parents and her older sister at the luxurious Kellerman’s in New York’s Catskill Mountains, Baby accidentally comes across a wild party full of music and dance in the staff area. Fascinated by the provocative dance steps and the mesmerizing music rhythms, she cannot help plunging into that world, especially after meeting Johnny Castle, the hotel’s dance instructor. Baby becomes his dance partner both on and off stage: two young spirits get together in what is to become the most challenging summer in their lives.

Tickets can be purchased at Auditorio de Tenerife box office from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm, Monday to Saturday; on www.auditoriodetenerife.com, here or calling 902 317 327