The president of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Pedro Martín, and the councillor of Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, Concepción Rivero, presented today the programme of the first part of Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife season, to begin on 18 September at the Auditorio de Tenerife. The programme includes six concerts, taking part in different festivals, Ópera de Tenerife plus its outreach programme.

“Being able to do this presentation”, the president said, “is, in a way, the best demonstration of returning to normal, as there is no normal in a community with no cultural options” and added that “that’s why it’s so important that we can listen to Strauss, Mahler or Schumann at the Auditorio in the coming months, apart from making this music played by the Orquesta Sinfónica reach all the community”. In this regard, Pedro Martín said that in the next season “there will be some family concerts, to spark vocations, in addition to giving access to schools and bringing classical music to groups who cannot easily come to the Auditorio, like the elderly and those who are confined in prisons”.

Siempre Contigo [Always with you] is the motto chosen by the Cabildo’s Orchestra to set the basis of a season marked by social distancing but committed to being consistently close to people. During lockdown, many orchestra’s musicians built interactive links with Tenerife’s people by means of home-made videos that show how music brings people together when direct contact is impossible.  So, we’re only giving the green light to concerts to be held from September to December, as certain circumstances connected to Covid19 may arise. That’s why we try to work cautiously and just programme for the next four months”, the island’s councillor for Culture, Concepción Rivero pointed out.

Depending on how the current health situation evolves, Sinfónica de Tenerife’s programme will be adapted to the indications given by the appropriate authorities. That is why the season has been divided in two parts: from September to December 2020 and from January to July 2021, which will be presented later. The current programme can be seen and downloaded on http://sinfonicadetenerife.es.

Auditorio de Tenerife will continue to apply, at least for the first part of next season, the safety measures that have been certified by AENOR, which backs their effectiveness. This involves adapting the programme to the new requirements, including reduced seating capacity, no intermission, keeping physical distance both on the stage and in the stalls, compulsory use of face masks or temperature taking.

Seats will not be available until September and sales will be staggered. So, from the 2nd to the 8th, last season’s subscribers will have a priority period to buy their seats; from the 9th to the 11th users can buy a package for the first 6 concerts; finally, from 12 September on tickets will be available to those coming to any of the concerts in this first part.

Sinfónica de Tenerife principal conductor, Antonio Méndez, will lead the opening concerts, which includes Metamorphosen, TrV 290 by Richard Strauss and Symphony nº 4 in G major (arranged by Klaus Simon) by Gustav Mahler, featuring French-Danish soprano Elsa Dreisig.

The second programme will be played on Friday, 2 October under the baton of Juanjo Mena and cellist Pablo Fernández as soloist, who is also resident artist this season. The Cabildo’s orchestra has put together a programme that includes Cello Concerto in A minor, op. 129 by Robert Schumann, Chamber Symphony, op.110a by Dimitri Shostakovich Alberto Ginastera’s Variaciones concertantes, op.23.

October welcomes the third symphonic programme conducted by Anna Rakitina featuring trumpetist Manuel Blanco as guest soloist.  They will play The Magic Flute, overture K.620 by Wolfgang A. Mozart, Trumpet Concerto in E major by Johann N. Hummel and Symphony nº 5 in C minor, op. 67 de Ludwig Van Beethoven.

Lucas Macías will lead Sinfónica de Tenerife’s fourth concert on 6 November, featuring Tenerife clarinettist Maximiliano Martín Lechado as soloist. They will perform two scores by Aaron Copland, Quiet City Clarinet Concerto; to end with Ludwig Van Beethoven’s Symphony nº 4 in B flat major, op.60.

Two events are scheduled for December; the first is on Friday the 4th and features honorary conductor, Víctor Pablo Pérez and Serbian violinist Nemanja Radulovic as soloist. The programme includes Violin Concerto nº 3 in G major "Strassburg", K.216  by Wolfgang A. Mozart and Symphony nº 3 in E flat major "Heroic", op.55 by Ludwig Van Beethoven.

The second concert of the month, and last of the first part of the season, will take place on Friday, the 18th. The orchestra will be led by its principal conductor Antonio Méndez and will play Serenade nº 1 in D major, op. 11 by Johannes Brahms and Symphony nº 3 in E flat major "Renana", op.97 by Robert Schumann.

With Suena…¡El Circo!, the Cabildo’s orchestra refreshes the old concerts for schoolchildren and families. These will take place from 11 to 14 November. This programme is aimed at Primary School children and it includes the script and voice of storyteller Ana Hernández Sanchíz and juggler El Gran Rufus.

The island’s orchestra will also feature in Ópera de Tenerife productions to take place in the first part of the season. Once again, they will also play at FIMUCITÉ extraordinary concert. At the Auditorio de Tenerife on 25 and 26 September the festival is presenting a programme led by Tenerife conductor Diego Navarro and titled Somos la Resistencia: La Casa de Papel en Concierto. [Soundtrack of the Money Heist series]. The original music by Manel Santisteban and Iván Martínez Lacámara will be accompanied by the voices of Cecilia Krull, Fran León and Pedro Alonso.

On 10 October, El Sauzal will be host to another extraordinary programme of  Sinfónica de Tenerife conducted by Ignacio García Vidal, featuring the voice of narrator Enrique Lanz and Compañía de Títeres Etcétera, to perform the score of Peter and the Wolf, op.67 by Serguéi Prokofiev.

The outreach programme “Música Abierta” will start in November. This programme has been carried out in elderly people’s homes and prisons on the island in past years. The event includes works by Foster, Boccherini or Mozart plus the voice of narrator Ana Hernández Sanchíz.