News

Círculo de la Amistad XII de Enero in Santa Cruz de Tenerife is host to the second Encuentro de Coros [Choir Gathering] on Friday, 26 October at 8:30 pm. Participating choirs include Coro Carpe Diem, Coro de Cámara de Garachico, Coral Universitaria de La Laguna and Coro Juvenil de Auditorio de Tenerife, who have the honour of closing this choir gathering in Santa Cruz.

Coro Juvenil de Auditorio de Tenerife, directed by Roxana Schmunk, will be performing a repertoire that has strengthen their position after two years since setting up: ‘Yo no quiero morirme’, arranged by Dante Andreo and texts by Elsa López; ‘All of me’, theme by John Legend arranged by José Herrero; ‘And so it goes’, theme by Billy Joel and arrangements by Bob Chilcott plus the classic ‘Hallellujah’ by Leonard Cohen, arranged by the vocal group Pentatonix. In Ms. Schmunk’s opinion, “this gathering is a chance to share the stage with renowned choirs from the Island who have wide experience in performing”.

Círculo de la Amistad XII de Enero holds this II Encuentro de Canto Coral with the aim of supporting this activity in the city and offering their members and friends the chance to spend a pleasant musical evening with the Island’s choirs. It will be held at their social theatre and admission is free.

Ópera de Tenerife Choir faces the new productions in the 2018-2019 season, which is starting this week with Rossini’s The Italian in Algiers. The group, founded in 2004 by Carmen Cruz, who is also its director, plays their role in these productions. To reinforce the choir, a call has been opened to take part in a selection process to recruit new voices. The audition will take place at Sala de Cámara del Auditorio de Tenerife Adán Martín on 9 November at 5:00 pm.

The call is opened to people over 18 who must send their full name, date of birth, telephone number, CV and a pdf digital copy of the score they will be performing at the audition to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. before 12:00 noon on 8 November.

People interested in taking part in the audition must choose one piece in the following styles: opera aria, zarzuela, chamber, oratory or bien ‘Italian songs’ (old arias).

The Coro de Ópera de Tenerife, who has fifty members, was presented in El elixir de amor, by Donizetti, conducted by Víctor Pablo Pérez. They have sung in more than 35 productions in the Ópera de Tenerife seasons.

Auditorio de Tenerife is hosting the Marketing & Communication Forum, a meeting place for professionals of European opera companies where different topics are discussed, in addition to sharing good practice experiences regarding audience communication.

Opera Europa holds forums specialising in different areas: artistic administration, production and technical production, fundraising and patronage, business and finance, costume, hairdressing and make up…these groups get together once or twice a year and act as an advice and support network for opera professionals. Opera Europa is the European association of opera companies and festivals and has 195 members from 43 countries.

On Friday, 19 October, Cabildo de Tenerife presented the opera The Italian in Algiers, to be performed at Sala Sinfónica in Auditorio de Tenerife from 25 to 28 October with students from the 6^th Opera (e)Studio. The details of the production were revealed by the Island Director for Culture and Education, José Luis Rivero, the artistic director of Opera (e)Studio, Giulio Zappa; the stage manager Giorgia Guerra; and musical director, Nikolas Nägele.

This new show by Ópera de Tenerife pays tribute to the composer Gioachino Rossini, on the 150^th anniversary of his death. This opera opens the new season on the Island and narrates, in a beautiful climate full of lovely and complex musical tessituras, how Isabella makes the most of her charm and intelligence to free her boyfriend, Lindoro, a prisoner of the King of Algiers.

José Luis Rivero said that “it is a pleasure to present the sixth Opera (e)Studio, the star project in the Ópera de Tenerife season” and added that “it’s very important for us to see what happens in the process; we have young professionals who are extraordinarily trained, who can perform an opera like this”.

Rivero pointed out that The Italian in Algiers is a co-production of Auditorio de Tenerife and Teatro Comunale di Bologna, which will be put on in Italy in June next year. Although this is the first time Giorgia Guerra directs an Opera (e)Studio show, this is actually her fourth production with Ópera de Tenerife. Ópera de Tenerife’s co-productions show the power, capability and scope of the project, which is possible thanks to the great team behind it.

On his part, Giulio Zappa was “very grateful to my production and music staff who help us to improve every year, to be better”. Opera (e)Studio director also stated that “we’re very happy to have been chosen by Creative Europe because it means they acknowledge our opera”. Zappa points out that “rather than being a violent language, opera joins us together, and proof of this is the different nationalities we have at Opera (e)Studio this year, they come from nearly all the continents in the world”.

Finally, Zappa highlighted that “this year marks the 150^th anniversary of Rossini’s death and I’m honoured to have Opera (e)Studio paying tribute to him with The Italian in Algiers, followed by The Journey to Reims on 15 December where the cast is made up of former Opera (e)Studio students. Rossini is very useful for young singers in musical terms. Every year I try to teach them things but the truth is I also learn a lot from them”. “This is a wonderful thing in our job, you feel like a student your whole life, you’re always learning”, Giulio Zappa concluded.

Giorgia Guerra said that “it’s my first experience with Opera (e)Studio” and “we’re celebrating the 150^th anniversary of Rossini’s death with this perfect gift: The Italian in Algiers.” “Rossini helped me a great deal to put together the stage management: listening to him made me close my eyes and let the music flow… This is how the concept for this opera came about. Being loyal to what the music demands, produced this little crazy thing as a result. The setting is a great hammam, which is like a wellness centre or a spa”.

“Sometimes the staging is surreal and it can even look like a musical, but we’ve always followed what Rossini’s music suggested. The costumes are very colourful but coherent with the Arab world, as for the Italian side, we got our inspiration from the 1990s fashion”, Guerra explained.

Musical director Nikolas Nägele -his first time in Tenerife- said that “we’ve been working with this wonderful team for three weeks now, including Sinfónica de Tenerife, the Choir and the thirteen young singers. Dealing with a great masterpiece is complicated as this is a great composition”.

The opera, along with the unmistakable Rossini style with energetic, dizzy melodies, is about a rescue mission led by Isabella. The Italian heroine manages to trick his captors and devices an escape plan in addition to leaving her imprint in this Mediterranean city.  The libretto deals with current and universal issues like interculturality or gender conflicts. The Italian in Algiers is one of the most difficult of Rossini’s operas to sing, especially the roles of Isabella and Mustafa.

The thirteen members of Opera (e)Studio were selected at auditions held last May in Bologna, Madrid and Tenerife. 113 artists from different cities in Europe, America or Asia competed for the roles. The singers are grouped in twos, so that two of them play the same role on alternate performances, on 25th and 27th, and 26th and 28th.

The singers performing in this production are the following: Maria Ostroukhova (mezzosoprano); Vittoria Vimercati (mezzosoprano); Milos Bulajic (tenor); Biao Li (tenor); Matías Moncada (bass); Aleksandr Utkin (bass); Gianni Giuga (baritone); Jorge Eleazar Álvarez (baritone); Francesco Samuele Venuti (bass/baritone); Esteban Baltazar (bass/baritone); Inés Lorans (soprano); Anna Kabrera (soprano) and Sophie Burns (mezzosoprano), who is present in all 4 performances.

The costumes, designed by Lorena Marin, have an amusing style in tune with the period, are brightly colourful intermixing European and north-African styles. Marin returns to work in Ópera de Tenerife, after participating in Werther in 2016. The Italian designer has worked in such well-known shows as Un ballo in maschera (Verdi) which opened the Festival dell'Opera dell'Arena in Verona; the Tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi trilogy (Puccini) at the Festival Puccini de Torre del Lago Nabucco (Verdi) or Nabucco (Verdi) at Shangai Opera House.

Opera (e)Studio is an Ópera de Tenerife project whose goal is to train singers by providing them with a comprehensive artistic improvement process, which started last September.

One of the main features of this initiative is its versatility as singers work on different aspects, from different music and stage performing techniques to style, diction, body language and drama combined with rehearsals at the pace set by professional theatre: costume fitting, make up, rehearsing with the orchestra.

Performances on Thursday, 25, Friday 26 and Saturday 27 start at 7:30 pm. The one on Sunday, 28 is at 6:00 pm at Sala Sinfónica in Auditorio de Tenerife.

Tickets can be purchased via the usual sale channels of Auditorio de Tenerife, at the box office from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm, Monday to Saturday; on the website here or by phone on 902 317 327.

El Auditorio de Tenerife recibe una jornada doble de danza este domingo 21 con la programación del Festival Internacional de las Artes del Movimiento (FAM) y la Extensión Tenerife de Masdanza, el Festival Internacional de Danza Contemporánea de Canarias. Los espectáculos comenzarán en el hall a las 20:30 horas con Business world, de la compañía Montón de Paja y Trigo, para luego, a partir de las 21:00 horas, presenciar la programación de Masdanza en la Sala de Cámara con las piezas D’MES, Unanswered Question, Relationships y Face à Face.

Business world, perteneciente al circuito nacional Acieloabierto, es una pieza para dos intérpretes que nace del cine mudo, consistente solo en imágenes. Este es el punto de partida de un espectáculo donde las relaciones comienzan a tejer de manera casual hasta acabar relacionándose de una manera mucho más directa. El movimiento se trabaja de forma abstracta, vacío de significado, en un juego donde el texto, la danza y la palabra se ponen al servicio y la creación de diferentes imágenes que recuerdan varios lugares aislados, influenciados por los patrones del cine mudo y absurdo.

D’MES es una pieza de danza proveniente de Turín (Italia), cuyos creadores e intérpretes son Daniele Salvitto y Federica Francese, quienes parten de la premisa de que vivimos un momento en el que la soledad y el aislamiento están secando al ser humano, dando lugar a hijos de la globalización y esclavos de la tecnología.

Unanswered Question llega desde Corea del Sur de la mano de su creador, Jonghyun Cha, quien también la interpretará junto a Wubin Lim. La pieza pregunta continuamente a la audiencia, a través de los movimientos de los bailarines, alentando al público a encontrar sus propias respuestas.

Desde China aterriza en el Auditorio Relationships, junto a sus creadores, Zhiren Xiao y Ran Sun. Esta obra, que interpreta Xiao junto a Mengbo Li, cuenta con la canción Lili’s Death de Alexandre Desplat. Este trabajo reflexiona sobre las relaciones, que son el proceso de transferir emociones, actitudes, hechos, creencias e ideas de una persona a otra.

Face à Face llega a la isla desde la República Democrática del Congo bajo la firma de Pepe Naswa Raison, David Bakonese y André Bakambay, estos dos últimos intérpretes de la misma. Esta pieza parte de la danza al diálogo, busca promover la paz a través de la danza, promover la cultura del diálogo y la reconciliación a través de encuentros cara a cara.

Las entradas se pueden adquirir en los canales habituales del Auditorio de Tenerife, en taquilla de 10:00 a 19:30 horas de lunes a sábado, por internet a través aquí o por teléfono en el 902 317 327.

On Sunday, 21st Auditorio de Tenerife welcomes two dance shows: Festival Internacional de las Artes del Movimiento (FAM) and Extensión Tenerife de Masdanza, the Festival Internacional de Danza Contemporánea de Canarias [Canaries Contemporary Dance International Festival]. The shows start at the hall at 8:30 pm with Business World, by the Montón de Paja y Trigo company. At 9:00 pm, we can enjoy the Masdanza programme at Sala de Cámara with the pieces D’MES, Unanswered Question, Relationships and Face à Face.

Business World, is part of the Acieloabierto national tour. Inspired by silent films, it is a two-dancer piece and consists mainly of images. This is the starting point of a show in which relationships are made by chance to then develop into more direct exchanges. Movement is dealt with in an abstract way, empty of meaning, a game where the text, dance and words serve to create different images that recall isolated places, influenced by silent and absurd films.

D’MES is from Torino (Italy), and was created and performed by Daniele Salvitto and Federica Francese, who start from the premise that in our current life loneliness and isolation are drying up human beings, producing as a result, children of globalization and technology slaves.

Unanswered Question comes all the way from South Korea and was created by Jonghyun Cha, who also dances with Wubin Lim. The piece is permanently asking the audience through the movements of the dancers, encouraging viewers to find their own answers.

From China Relationships lands on the Auditorio, together with its creators Zhiren Xiao and Ran Sun. This piece, performed by Xiao and Mengbo Li, includes the song Lili’s Death by Alexandre Desplat. It is a reflection on relationships, which are the process of conveying emotions, attitudes, facts, beliefs, and ideas from one person to another.

Face à Face arrives on the island from the Congo Democratic Republic. It is signed by Pepe Naswa Raison, David Bakonese and André Bakambay, the latter also perform it. This piece uses dance as dialogue, it seeks to promote peace through dance, promote the culture of dialogue and reconciliation through face to face encounters.

Tickets can be purchased via the usual sale channels of Auditorio de Tenerife, at the box office from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm, Monday to Saturday; on the website here or by phone on 902 317 327.

The  Cabildo presented the sixth season of Quantum Ensemble on Monday, 15 October at a press conference. The new season of this Auditorio de Tenerife resident ensemble includes seven concerts, the first of which - Apocalipsis - is to take place on Wednesday, 17^th at 7:30 pm at Sala de Cámara. The Island Director for Culture, José Luis Rivero, and the Quantum Ensemble musicians, Cristo Barrios, Gustavo Díaz-Jerez and David Ballesteros, explained the new programme which, in addition to the concerts, includes talks, master classes for Conservatory students and rehearsals opened to groups at risk of social exclusion.

José Luis Rivero stated that “Auditorio de Tenerife is very proud of Quantum Ensemble, a catalyst for following projects, like Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife and Lava dance company”. “Since it was set up in 2013, Quantum Ensemble has always been a quality collaborating group that approaches classical music in a more flexible, friendly manner”, Rivero explained, to then add that “Quantum is a great musical reality in our country and abroad, which has an influence on our community where they teach but also learn”.

Pianist Gustavo Díaz-Jerez, who was recently awarded the Composición Musical award by Fundación Martín Chirino, said that “we, as Canarian people, are proud to be able to offer our art to the audience this way”, and pointed out that “we’re one of the few ensembles in Spain to carry out community activities”.

Clarinet player Cristo Barrios went over the season concerts and highlighted that “we’ve followed our own taste in the programme and have included contemporary music from the 20^th and 21^st centuries, premieres and Canarian composers”.

Finally, violinist David Ballesteros admitted that “Quantum Ensemble’s concerts are a good opportunity for people who are not familiar with this type of music”. “We’ve got a big responsibility when we invite groups who don’t usually have access to music or whose education has not put them in touch with it. Both these groups and us benefit from this relationship”, he explained.

In their first season concert, Apocalipsis, they will play Quartet for the End of Time, by Olivier Messiaen, which was composed during the 2^nd World War at a concentration camp and premiered in one of the barracks. The three founding members of Quantum Ensemble plus the cellist Ángel Luis Quintana will use a rare instrument, the theremin, to be played by Lydia Kavina, granddaughter of Léon Theremin’s first cousin.

The second concert, Despedida [Farewell], will take place on 22 November at Paraninfo of Universidad de La Laguna and will include pieces by Schubert and Penderecki. The last show in the year is on 20 December, Ecos, a map of Scandinavian music that includes the performance of mezzosoprano Marta Fontanals-Simmons and the Coro Juvenil de Auditorio de Tenerife. Shéhérazade, a homage to the narrator and heroine of One thousand and one nights, opens 2019 on 21 February. We can enjoy Artes on 21 March, a programme designed to highlight how different works of art and different art forms relate to one another. On 11 April Retrato [Portrait] includes the chamber music by composer Leonard Bernstein along with the Spanish Brass Luur Metalls. The season closes on 9 May with Claroscuro, that includes Vienna quartet Minetti and will focus on great masters in the history of music: Mozart and Shostakovich. Each concert has guest musicians and singers invited by the members of the Ensemble to suit the needs of the repertoire.

In addition to the season concerts, Quantum Ensemble also performs outside Tenerife and takes part in the Festival de Música de Canarias with two shows. Quantum Ensemble’s main differentiating feature is their modern approach to classical music, turning it into a more friendly and flexible art form. In addition to master classes, sessions for groups and before-the-show talks, this ensemble offers close contact between the audience and the musicians, sharing their views before the concert starts and at the interval.

Musicians Cristo Barrios, Gustavo Díaz-Jerez and David Ballesteros are not only the funding members of the ensemble but they are also the core of the group. The community activity of Quantum Ensemble consists of sensory sessions that help to approach music in a different way and as a tool of musical expression to groups who are at risk of social exclusion, physically and intellectually-disabled people, the elderly, prison users, etc. These activities are part of the Learning and Community areas of Auditorio de Tenerife, which enjoy the cooperation of Fundación Cepsa and Obra Social “la Caixa” that also offer their volunteer service in these sessions.

Every Friday, after the concert, Quantum Ensemble gives a Performance Class, designed for instrumentalists and singers, students of Conservatorio Profesional y Superior de Música de Santa Cruz de Tenerife and collaborating companies and institutions. Cristo Barrios leads the workshop in which he seeks to reflect on the role of the interpreter in the creative musical process, as well as develop the creative abilities in students. José Luis Rivero also mentioned that the season brings a new feature: the QB Package, which offers an additional 15 per cent discount for the 2018 concerts by Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife and Quantum Ensemble. Tickets and packages can be bought at the Auditorio de Tenerife box office from 10:00 am to 7:30 pm Monday to Saturday, via the internet on www.auditoriodetenerife.com or calling 902 317 327.

Opera (e)Studio singers are offering an opera recital at Paraninfo in Universidad de La Laguna on Tuesday, 9^th October at 7:30 pm. Seventeen arias by different composers are to be sung by the members of the 6^th learning academy fostered by Ópera de Tenerife. This recital is part of the collaboration agreement between Auditorio de Tenerife and Universidad de La Laguna. The singers are also giving a recital at Auditorio de Arafo on Thursday, 11th at 7:30 pm. Admission to both recitals is free.

The programme includes interpreting six arias from Rossini’s The Italian in Algiers. From 25 to 28 October, this opera will be put on at Sala Sinfónica of Auditorio de Tenerife to open the new Ópera de Tenerife season. At the Paraninfo recital, eleven more arias from different operas will be interpreted too, including Anna Boleyn, Don Giovanni, Romeo and Juliet.

Hana Lee is accompanying pianist in both programmes which include the following singers: Maria Ostroukhova, Milos Bulajic, Matías Moncada, Gianni Giuga, Francesco Samuele Venuti, Inés Lorans, Sophie Burns, Vittoria Vimercati, Biao Li, Aleksandr Utkin, Esteban Baltazar, Anna Kabrera and Jorge Eleazar Álvarez.

The Opera (e)Studio singers arrived on the Island in early September and they have attended training sessions on different aspects in addition to master classes by the artistic director of Opera (e)Studio, Giulio Zappa; by soprano Mariella Devia; by musical director, Nikolas Nagele, and by Ópera de Tenerife’s intendant, Alejandro Abrante.

The Festival Internacional de las Artes del Movimiento de Tenerife (FAM), [Tenerife Movement Arts International Festival] through their  FAM Kids programme, is taking the family dance show Drakaina Draco y las 7 semillas mágicas [Drakaina Draco and the 7 magic seeds] to four municipalities on the Island. It is a show for Pre-school and Primary School children to be performed in October in the towns of Guía de Isora, Los Cristianos, El Sauzal and Tacoronte.

The show by Unidad Didáctica de Tenerife Danza, directed by Helena Berthelius, can be seen at Auditorio de Guía de Isora on Tuesday, 9th at 11:00 am. It will then be put on at Auditorio Infanta Leonor in Arona on 16th October at 10:00 am. In the last week of the month, Drakaina Draco’s adventures can be enjoyed in Pirámide El Sauzal, on 23rd at 11:00 am and the following day at Auditorio Capitol in Tacoronte at 10:00 am. The play is about three friends, Drakaina Draco (played by Guacimara Gil), Arbustus Robustus (Mathías Pérez) and Stelli Maris (Irene Álvarez), who are determined to find the original dragon tree seeds on the seven islands. They want to recover an old dragon tree farm, an endangered thermophile forest.

The play is for the youngest in the family and it aims to encourage environmental awareness through dancing, singing and a funny performance that is sure to attract their attention. Drakaina Draco and the 7 magic seeds was first performed in April at Auditorio de Tenerife for schools and the general public. It then went on to the eastern islands of Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gran Canaria. 

The Festival Internacional de las Artes del Movimiento de Tenerife (FAM) [Tenerife Movement Arts International Festival] opened on Sunday, 7 October with two shows in the street which were held at the harbour by Casa de la Aduana in Puerto de la Cruz. The two pieces performed were To be and Un poco de nadie. Different shows on the streets, venues and for families will be put on until 22 December.

To be, by Madrid company Physical Momentum, depicts memorable experiences in a shared moment. It reflects on the way we live, on what makes and shapes us, which is just our proposal to live in an ever-changing moment. After this show, Canarian Carmen Fumero and Miguel Ballabriga put on Un poco de nadie, which is about trying unsuccessfully, about anonymity, being a nobody, because someone was once a nobody who had a strong will and made it. The choreography does tell someone’s story.

On 21 October, FAM continues with Business World at the foyer of Auditorio de Tenerife 8:30 pm; 9 November with I U in Plaza Ireneo González in Santa Cruz de Tenerife; on 11 November with Labranza in Tegueste; on 18 November with Generation at Sala de Cámara in Auditorio de Tenerife; on 20 December with Allways at Caja Escénica in Auditorio de Tenerife; on 21 December at the same place with Ni contigo ni sin ti; and on 22 December with Noviembre at Caja Escénica in Auditorio.

In addition, FAM Kids will tour different municipalities of the Island in October. They are putting on the latest show by Unidad Didáctica de Tenerife Danza, Drakaina Draco y las 7 semillas mágicas. They will be in Guía de Isora on the 9^th, Arona on the 16^th, El Sauzal on 23^rd and on the 24^th they will be in Tacoronte

The Festival Canarias Jazz Showroom, directed by musician Kike Perdomo turns 10 and sets up CJS Reunion to mark the occasion. They are also publishing a record, offering seventeen concerts, four of which are held at Auditorio de Tenerife, and giving awards to the most outstanding jazz projects in the Canaries: the Premios Archipiélago al Jazz y la Música Moderna [Jazz & Modern Music Archipelago Awards].

The octet CJS Reunion was created as a tribute to the great jazz figures on the islands and is giving its first concert at 7:30 pm on Sunday at Sala de Cámara in Auditorio de Tenerife. The group is made up of seasoned musicians, leaders of jazz bands, like Kike Perdomo, Ramón Díaz, Idafe Pérez, David Quevedo, Tana Santana, Norberto Arteaga, Marcos Pérez, Yossi Itskovich and singer Esther Ovejero. Their repertoire includes pieces of the different bands members have been part of but they have also arranged songs from other Canarian jazz projects.

After the concert by CJS Reunion, awards will be given in four different categories: honorary prize for music career, prize for best original project, prize for best composition and prize for best soloist.  “Many projects have taken part in the festival throughout these ten years and we don’t want them to be forgotten, that’s why we thought of organising these awards”, Kike Perdomo explained.

On the other hand, the commemorative record will promote projects that have been at the festival. It will have 45 themes by different groups and in different styles, from classic to modern jazz, including Latin and fusion. “We’d like it to be a compilation, a catalogue of sorts so that when you listen to it, you get the idea of what jazz in the Canaries is like”, revealed the founder of Canarias Jazz Showroom, who is positive that “when you listen to it, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by its level”.

More than one hundred projects have been on the stages of the Canarias Jazz Showroom. Its organisers are happy with the number because “the festival was set up to defend the value of Canarian artists as opposed to other festivals and we are having more and more new projects which are doing really well in mainland Spain”, Perdomo explained.

The Sala de Cámara at Auditorio is welcoming on Saturday, 6th at 7:30 pm Barreiro Project, a quintet led by Aarón Barreiro, a Canarian musician living in Barcelona, who have just published their first record, Good vibes. After Barreiro’s concert, the foyer is hosting Atcheré, who are presenting their record Mestizo at 9:00 pm. The group, which is one of the best Latin jazz-fusion bands in the Canaries, have five records in the market.

The concerts on Sunday 7th start at Sala de Cámara at 7:30 pm with  CJS Reunion, a project that was set up to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Canarias Jazz Showroom. The last concert of the 10th Canarias Jazz Showroom at Auditorio de Tenerife will take place at the foyer at 9:00 pm by Nicotine Swing, a group of swing/gipsy jazz whose record Nuevo, presented at Canarias Jazz Showroom last year, was awarded best jazz record 2017 in the Canaries.

Tickets for the concert taking place at Sala de Cámara are available through Auditorio de Tenerife usual sale channels, at the box office from 10:00 am to  7:30 pm, Monday to Saturday; here or by phone on 902 317 327.

Festival de Tenerife started on Tuesday, 2 October with a presentation party held at Pescadería [Fishmonger’s] del Mercado de Nuestra Señora de África, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The event was attended by actors Josep María Pou and Isabel Ordaz, who play leading roles in the shows included in this second year of the festival.

Canarian comedians Abubukaka played master of ceremonies with an amusing show which tried to “sell the fish”, that is, the Festival programme. The event was also attended by the President of Cabildo, Carlos Alonso; the Island Director for Culture, José Luis Rivero, and the mayors of the cities of Santa Cruz and La Laguna: José Manuel Bermúdez and José Alberto Díaz, whose municipalities are host to all the shows this year. The festival starts on Thursday, 4^th October. 

Carlos Alonso stated that “at the Cabildo we have always been in favour of long-term culture and internationalization”. Cultural agents of the island were also present at the party. Josep Maria Pou recalled that precisely that day was the 50^th anniversary of his first stage performance and recognised that “I always have butterflies and that’s because we feel responsibility for the audience”. The Catalan actor will be in Tenerife in December to perform Moby Dick.

On her part, Isabel Ordaz also wanted to be at the opening of Festival de Tenerife. “I didn’t want to miss it, I wanted to give my support to the festival as a whole”, she pointed out. She’ll be back on the Island to perform He nacido para verte sonreír [I was born to see you smile] on 2 and 3 November at Teatro Guimerá.

The 2nd Festival de Tenerife has a wide and varied programme of theatre, dance, opera and circus, including street shows. Santa Cruz de Tenerife and La Laguna will enjoy 41 performances of 26 different national and international shows, including Canarian performers. In addition to Pou and Ordaz, the programme includes other great figures of the Spanish stage such as Toni Acosta, Pablo Derqui or Celso Albelo.

The first show is Luz de farol [Street Lamps] dance pieces created by Canarian dancers around street lamp lights. The show is starting in La Laguna On Thrusday, 4th at 9:00 pm with Flavio Miranda in Plaza Doctor Olivera; at 9:15 pm with Carlota Mantecón in Plaza de la Concepción and then Judith García Rojas and Juan Carlos Baeza at 9:30 pm in Calle Viana.

At the weekend, actor Albert Boadella will play himself in El sermón del bufón [The buffoon’s sermon] on 5 & 6 October at Teatro Guimerá. On Sunday, 7th La Laguna’s Teatro Leal welcomes Zenit, by Catalan company Els Joglars, a critical view of the path the media is going down. This is the programme of a festival that will close on 15 December.

El Cabildo presentó este martes 2 de octubre las instalaciones del Taller de formación y creación escénica del Auditorio de Tenerife, situadas en el Polígono el Mayorazgo de Santa Cruz de Tenerife. El presidente de la Corporación Insular, Carlos Alonso; el director insular de Cultura, José Luis Rivero; y el jefe de producción técnica de Auditorio de Tenerife, Jorge Cabrera, dieron los detalles del nuevo espacio de trabajo que se utilizará para impartir formación y para la construcción de escenografías y demás procesos asociados de la creación artística.

Carlos Alonso explicó que “el Auditorio de Tenerife es el principal centro de producción artística cuya actividad el año pasado implicó a más de mil empresas, el 75% de ellas canarias y Ópera de Tenerife es uno de los principales proyectos, que ha puesto en pie una veintena de producciones propias desde 2012, la mayoría con una gira tras su estreno” y adelantó que en este nuevo espacio “formación, producción y creación se darán la mano”.

Para el presidente, los trabajadores del taller “no solo son buenos sino que son entusiastas con los proyectos y eso es importante”. Sobre este equipo José Luis Rivero aseguró que “contamos con unos trabajadores sobrecualificados, de los mejores profesionales en Canarias y por eso podemos trabajar de tú a tú en Europa y América”. El director insular insistió en que “en el camino hacia el desarrollo de la industria la calidad de los técnicos es fundamental”.

Jorge Cabrera, responsable del equipo que trabaja en las instalaciones, aseguró que “hoy es un día importante para nosotros porque estamos acostumbrados a ruedas de prensa en las que se presenta el resultado final pero hoy mostramos lo que ocurre antes y el elenco no son cantantes sino nuestros pintores, carpinteros y metalúrgicos”. El jefe de producción técnica de Auditorio de Tenerife habló del proceso creativo de cada proyecto, que dista del de una carpintería al uso porque “sabemos a dónde queremos llegar con cada trozo de madera”.

Actualmente, el equipo de Auditorio de Tenerife, compuesto por una quincena de trabajadores de la madera, el metal y la pintura, trabaja en la escenografía de La italiana en Argel, el primer título de la temporada 2018/2019 de Ópera de Tenerife, que tendrá lugar del 25 al 28 de octubre en la Sala Sinfónica. Los trece cantantes de nueve nacionalidades de la sexta edición de Opera (e)Studio ofrecerán este título de Rossini bajo la dirección escénica de Giorgia Guerra. Los decorados, de arquitectura mozárabe, se encuentran muy avanzados y, tras su estreno en la isla, viajarán el año que viene al Teatro Comunale di Bologna, en Italia.

El progresivo incremento de producción que ha desarrollado el centro cultural en los últimos años ha dado lugar a la necesidad de un espacio nuevo para el correcto desarrollo de estos trabajos. Ya se han realizado en este nuevo espacio los decorados de La flauta mágica, La traviata y Luisa Fernanda.

La nave que alberga el taller, de 450 metros cuadrados de estructura de hormigón con techo de acero, se ha acondicionado para acoger este tipo de actividades instalando maquinaria pero también con otras mejoras como la apertura de una puerta para camiones, el refuerzo de la resistencia estructural y las instalaciones de ventilación. Así, la nave ha vivido una transformación por parte del equipo de Auditorio de Tenerife para dotarla de todas las necesidades para convertirse en un taller de creación escénica con equipamiento para carpintería, pintura y metal. Sus más de siete metros de altura resultan ideales para propiciar el correcto desarrollo de este tipo de actividad.

Este nuevo espacio cuenta con las condiciones óptimas para el personal técnico y de taller, además de sostener, consolidar y promover la capacidad del centro cultural de producción y la mejora en los procesos de trabajo. En consonancia con la estrategia Tenerife 2030 que promueve el Cabildo Insular, está previsto que el taller cumpla con otros objetivos transversales como la formación y la vinculación con los centros profesionales, fomento del empleo, investigación, etc.

El desarrollo de la actividad de producción propia desarrollada por el Auditorio de Tenerife en estos últimos años -sumando diez títulos desde 2014- se ha sostenido en gran parte en la fabricación de nuevas escenografías desarrolladas por el equipo técnico del Auditorio en sus instalaciones y que progresivamente han ido creciendo en complejidad y volumen. Estas producciones, además de ser representadas en las instalaciones del Auditorio, han viajado a numerosos teatros europeos, movimiento que se encuentra en crecimiento y con vistas a llegar hasta Sudamérica y Oriente Medio. Dado el rápido desarrollo actual de la actividad se hace indispensable disponer de un espacio alternativo a los del Auditorio.

Con este taller, Carlos Alonso explicó que “abrimos el telón para que pase a escena el Distrito de las Artes”, ya que, además de atender a los objetivos de Tenerife 2030, esta nave será parte de los espacios creativos del distrito, uno de los proyectos del programa Tenerife Creativa 2016-2021 del Marco Estratégico para el Desarrollo de Tenerife (MEDI). El Taller de formación y creación escénica cuenta con una subvención del Fondo de Desarrollo de Canarias (FDCAN) del Gobierno de Canarias.