The programme, which also includes works by Debussy and Mussorgsky, will be conducted by Joseph Swensen, who is making his début with the orchestra

 

The Tenerife Symphony Orchestra is offering a new concert that will be the début of the American Joseph Swensen conducting the island orchestra, which on this occasion will involve the presence of the clarinettist Maximiliano Martín, as guest soloist to perform Gnarly Buttons, by John Adams, a piece that the orchestra is tackling for the first time. The event will take place on Friday [24th], at 7:30 p.m., in the Auditorio de Tenerife, and will be completed with works by Debussy and Mussorgsky.

Prélude à “L’après-midi d’un faune”, the dreamlike symphonic poem created by Claude Debussy in 1894, opens the evening of music. This piece, which premièred in the twilight of nineteenth century Paris, marked a break from the compositional trends of the era and it is considered as the start of modern orchestral writing.

Then, it will be the turn of the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra to perform the début in its repertoire of Gnarly Buttons, by the American John Adams. This clarinet concert, written in 1996, pays tribute, through its three movements, to the composer’s own life experiences, alongside his father and this musical instrument, which will be performed by Maximiliano Martín from Tenerife.

After the break, the orchestra will perform the piece that gives its name to the concert, Pictures at an Exhibition, by Modest Mussorgsky in the version orchestrated by Maurice Ravel. This piano suite originally written in 1874 after the death of his friend, Viktor Hartmann, was adapted for orchestra in 1922 and entails a conversational stroll through the work of the renowned architect, and fellow member of The Five group.

The current artistic director of the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra of Wroclaw, the conductor emeritus of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and principal guest conductor of the City of Granada Orchestra, Joseph Swensen, is conducting the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra for the first time. 

Swensen began his musical career as a solo violinist, playing with the world’s main orchestras and conductors.  In terms of conducting work he has been the main guest conductor and artistic advisor of the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, main conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and main conductor of the Malmö Opera. 

The American maestro enjoys a special relationship with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, where he is the longest serving guest conductor. In addition to being a renowned musical pedagogue, he is a guest lecturer in conducting, violin and chamber music at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, in Glasgow.

Maximiliano Martín is one of the most renowned musicians of his generation.  He combines his role as a clarinettist in the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with different commitments such as soloist at the BBC Proms and Wigmore Hall in London, the Library of Congress in Washington, the Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, the Radio Hall of Slovenia in Ljubljana and the Hall in Durban.

Martín is making his début this season with the National Orchestra of Estonia, as well as in a series of performances in Vancouver, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and residencies at the University of St Andrews and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Wales.

His past experience includes performances with renowned international groups such as the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Principality of Asturias Symphony Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Galicia and the Philharmonic of Macedonia, among others.

ATADEM, the Tenerife Association for Friends of Music, is restarting its talks before the concerts.   An activity organised to promote, in greater detail, an analysis and contextualisation of the works performed at the concert, which on this occasion will be provided by Carmen Celia Cabañas García, at 6:30 p.m. in the Sala Avenida, in the hall of the Auditorio de Tenerife.

The tickets for this new event can be purchased until the day of the concert on the website www.sinfonicadetenerife.es, at the auditorium's box office and by dialling the phone number 902 317 327 from Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.