Dates: From 09-01-2009 to 16-02-2009

Category: Music > Classical

Municipality: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Gran Canaria), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Tenerife), San Sebastián de la Gomera (La Gomera), Santa Cruz de La Palma (La Palma), Valverde (El Hierro), Arrecife (Lanzarote), Puerto del Rosario (Fuerteventura).

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Welcome to the 25th season of the Canary Islands Music Festival

The Canary Islands Music Festival represents the fulfilment of a long-standing ambition of several sectors of the Islands population. It first opened in 1985 the 'European Year of Music', commemorating the tercentenary of the birth of Bach, Haendel and Scarlatti thanks to the initiative of the then President of the Canary Islands, Jerónimo Saavedra.

The three main objectives pursued at the time of its creation included, first of all, enriching the cultural agenda of a region with a musical tradition dating back to the beginning of the 19th Century, when the Canaries were the port of call for European opera companies on their way to South America. During their stay, these companies would offer several performances which were to establish the base of an important musical heritage. Furthermore, it shouldn t be forgotten that Spain´s oldest private company specializing in concert organization is based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria : the Philharmonic Society of Las Palmas is over 150 years old and one of its presidents was the very same Camille Saint-Saëns.

The second objective focused on giving the Canary Islands an international status, away from `the traditional sun and beach´ cliché. This objective was to be central for the attainment of the third aim, namely promoting cultural tourism of a higher level compared to the one the Islands had been used to in the past.

As we are set to open the Festival' s 25th season, we are undoubtedly proud of the extent to which the objectives mentioned have so far been met. The third objective in particular can be seen as a brilliant achievement : through the opening of the Auditorium of Tenerife, which doubled the number of seats available for the Festival, it is expected that agreements with several tour operators for the promotion of the Canary Islands as a specifically cultural destination will be reached.

Given the guarantee offered by a perfect organization, the warm response of the public and, of course, our mild local climate -the Festival is the only one throughout Europe which takes place during the winter period- the Canary Islands occupy a special place on the agenda of any great musician.

The Festival has had the privilege of welcoming most of the world´s greatest musical performers, including conductors of the stature of : Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Colin Davis, John Eliot Gardiner, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sir Simon Rattle, Christian Thielemann, André Previn, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Riccardo Chailly, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons as well as the late Carlo María Giulini, Vaclav Neumann, Sergiu Celibidache and Sir Georg Solti.

The Festival has featured an equally impressive list of soloists such as - and to name but a few : Alfredo Kraus, Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Mstislav Rostropovich, Krystian Zimerman, Ivo Pogorelich, Cristina Gallardo-Domâs, Maria Joâo Pires, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Isaac Stern, Midori, Shlomo Mintz, Yo Yo Ma, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Radu Lupu, Henryk Szeryng, Cheryl Studer, Felicity Lott, Vladimir Spivakov.

A large part of the programme consists, since the Festival´s 6th year of existence, of unique debut performances, directly commissioned by the Festival. Since then, works by the following composers have been performed -or shall be in the near future : Tomás Marco, Luis de Pablo, Juan J. Falcón, Cristóbal Halffter, Sofía Gubaidulina, Wolfgang Rihm, José Ramón Encinar, Enrique Macías, Luciano Berio, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfredo Aracil, Arvo Pärt, Hans-Werner Henze, Joan Guinjoan, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Juan M. Marrero, Aribert Reimann, Emilio Coello, David del Puerto, Dori Díaz, Jose Mª Sánchez-Verdú, Pilar Jurado, Juan Manuel Ruiz, among others. This list is a clear sign that the Festival is an important contributor to contemporary musical creation.

The Festival takes place during the months of January and February, mainly in the archipelago´s two capital cities, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Several additional concert performances are organized on the smaller islands of the Canarian archipelago.

With its long and solid track record, the Festival should clearly be celebrated by the island´ population and by all the music lovers on this very special occasion of its 25th anniversary, enjoying once more the exceptional programme the organization has brought together.

More information:

• Festival Program (PDF, 147 Kb.)