Auditorio de Tenerife presents the shows scheduled for the second half of the year in the wake of the changes brought about by the health crisis and after network collaboration with local professionals to support them.  All in all, upcoming activity now includes 65 performances of 61 music, dance, theatre, and opera shows; in addition to 217 performances in some twenty municipalities across the island, which are part of the Tenerife Artes Escénicas scheme, managed by Auditorio de Tenerife. The councillor of Culture, Education, Youth, Museums and Sport of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Concepción Rivero, declared that “we won’t allow the coronavirus to put an end to culture, we’ll get through it and adapt”.

“This situation has changed everything and we want to be cautious”, admitted Rivero, who said that “we’re presenting these shows which are to be performed in the Auditorio and in other municipalities on the island, after having worked as a network since the health crisis started, and having been in constant contact with national and international networks of similar venues that manage and produce live art”.

As for Auditorio de Tenerife’s artistic director, José Luis Rivero, “there’s been a lot of online activity and it’s time to return to live performances as the contact between audience and artists on the stage is fundamental”. “No Canarian company without performances” has been a motto for this new phase, Rivero said.

So, after the reopening of the Auditorio with Sinfónica de Tenerife’s extraordinary series, we’re presenting FAM and MEI 2020 special festivals, the Sinfónica and Ópera de Tenerife seasons, and an adapted programme including a new Auditorio de Tenerife’s Ciclo de Cámara [Chamber Series], organ, jazz and electronic music concerts. There will be other shows as the situation allows.

The way tickets will be put on sale is different, as they will be made available closer to the date of the event, so that we can meet the needs and guidelines established by the health authorities. Also, a system called efecto sanitario [health effect]  has been implemented that allows people who live together to buy a number of seats while it automatically cancels the seats around, so that we make sure the safe distance is kept. Face masks during performances are still compulsory.

Auditorio de Tenerife guarantees the safety and hygiene of all its shows through its Contingency Plan against covid-19, being the first auditorium in Spain to be AENOR-certified. The same external company also certifies the Safe Tourism label for Auditorio. This label was created by the Instituto para la Calidad Turística Española (ICTE) [Office for Spanish Tourist Quality]. “These certifications guarantee safety and health both for workers and audience”, the councillor added.

To put the programme together, which is backed by the Government of the Canary Islands, the need to support the local performing arts professionals has also been considered.  This sector has been hugely affected by the situation, so we have coordinated with other festivals and cultural initiatives of the islands, joining forces for the benefit of Canarian creators and companies.

Music will lead the return to activity with the Festival Canarias Jazz & Más, which on 6 August is bringing Sumrrá to the Auditorio de Tenerife. A jazz trio that was scheduled to play at the Auditorio in April but had to be cancelled. Tickets are now on sale. Also, on the 7th and 8th different groups will play live at Plaza Alisios. Next comes Lina & Raül Refree’s electronic fado (8 October); Canarias Jazz Showroom concerts (9 & 10 October), Alexis Alonso Quartet (30 October) plus North American Uri Caine (8 December) are some of the other options in this music style.

The new Ciclo de Cámara de Auditorio de Tenerife [Chamber series] includes classical music concerts with ensembles like Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife (17 September), Ensemble Hespérides (1 and 29 October), MUSIca ALcheMIca & Lina Tur Bonet (19 November), Creativa Música Panhispánica (25 October) and Quantum Ensemble (17 December). Also, on 13 September there will be an organ concert by Loreto Aramendi, main organist of the Cavaillé Coll organ (1863) at the Basílica de Santa María del Coro de San Sebastián and international soloist.

From 18 September to 18 December Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife will give six concerts with works by composers like Strauss, Mahler, Schumann, Shostakovich, Mozart and Brahms, plus a concert to suit all the family: Suena… ¡El circo! (14 November).

The Auditorio will also welcome two concerts of the Festival Internacional de Música de Cine de Tenerife, Fimucité, that on 25 and 26 September is performing Somos la resistencia: La casa de papel en concierto, premiering live the soundtrack of successful Netflix series’ Money Heist, the first Spanish series to receive an Emmy Award.

Other music shows include El Mesías participativo (22 December) in collaboration with Fundación “la Caixa”.

As for the performing arts, the Special 2020 MEI Muestra Escénica Iberoamericana [Latin America stage showcase] is scheduled for 13 to 30 September at 8:30 pm in Teatro El Sauzal. The programme, that has been coordinated with Canarian festivals Temudas and Mueca, has been adapted to the circumstances, and has kept Nuria Espert’s Romancero gitano, and Siete hombres buenos by 2RC Teatro, which are rounded off with these shows: El crimen de la calle Fuencarral and Todo el cielo, by Unahoramenos; ¡Valientes!, by Burka Teatro; Informe Lope, by Morfema Teatro; Fábula del topo, el murciélago y la musaraña, by Delirium Teatro; and San Juan, by Teatro La República in co-production with Teatro Cuyás. Many of these performances are either premieres or first performances by Canarian companies. Tickets will be on sale soon on www.meitenerife.com, where you’ll find all the information.

Regarding the Festival de las Artes del Movimiento, FAM [Movement Arts Festival], most of the performances in this 2020 Special will take place from 12 to 31 October at the Auditorio de Tenerife, including national shows onstage and on the street. There will also be shows on other dates, like Dance, no goal, which is the result of Carlota Mantecón’s residency in collaboration with Luz Prado Codina and Tamara Ascanio, a coproduction with Slovenia you can enjoy at 8:30 pm on Friday, 31 July at Espacio La Granja. The same Government venue, which collaborates with FAM, welcomes Ígnea, by Colectivo Lamajara at 8:00 pm on 20 September. Tickets for both events are now on sale. December brings the new show by Lava Compañía de Danza: Kick the bucket, a choreography by Iván Pérez. The network Acieloabierto and Danza a Escena, both INAEM members collaborate with FAM. This festival has the European Union EFFE label (Europe for Festivals. Festivals for Europe).

Special care has been taken with artist residencies work in harmony with creators who benefited from Cabildo de Tenerife’s grants for stage production. Carlota Mantecón, Paloma Hurtado, Paula Quintana, Élida Dorta, Rebeca Píriz, Nikka XxX, Daniel Abreu and others who were invited by Numa Circuit 2020 are some of the artists who will carry out residency programmes at the Auditorio and in collaboration with Espacio La Granja. “To perform something, it must first be researched”, Auditorio’s artistic director explained.

The Tenerife Artes Escénicas y Música Project (TAEM) is also back to boost the sector with 217 theatre, dance, circus, music, and street art performances. The last time it was on, 86 companies, 27 Tenerife town councils, and 3 private venues took part.

Ópera de Tenerife comes back with Donizetti’s Requiem on 24 October, a tribute to the victims of this health crisis, under the baton of Alessandro Palumbo. Lucrezia Borgia by Donizetti, that had to be cancelled at the last minute due to the pandemic, will meet the audience on 24, 26 and 28 November, with Andriy Yurkevych as music director and the voice of soprano Yolanda Auyanet. Finally, on 12 December Ópera de Tenerife will give an opera gala featuring renowned singers like international soprano Olga Peretyatko, and Sesto Quatrini as music director. The three performances will take place at the Auditorio de Tenerife with a reduced version of the Sinfónica de Tenerife.

Auditorio de Tenerife’s Educational and Social department has also resumed work with projects like Teatro en la Escuela, Danza en Comunidad or Coro Juvenil. All the schemes are carried out in close collaboration with the education and social centres on the island in line with the guidelines established by the Department for Education of the Government of the Canary Islands. On 19, 20 and 21 November, Auditorio de Tenerife welcomes ROCE’s gathering “Encuentro 2020”. Auditorio is a member of ROCE, which stands for Educational Concert Organizers Network.

All the information on health measures, shows, and ticket sale is available on www.auditoriodetenerife.com. You need to make an appointment on www.auditoriodetenerife.com/contactar before coming to the box office, which is open Monday to Friday from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. The telephone number 902 31 73 27 to buy tickets is also available in the same office hours.