The 41st International Festival of Music from the Canary Islands is set to commence this Friday at 8:00 p.m. in the Alfredo Kraus auditorium located in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. The programme features a “surprise” presentation of Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s Violin Concerto in D major, op. 35, with a repeat performance scheduled for tomorrow at the Adán Martín Auditorium in Santa Cruz de Tenerife at the same time.
During the event, its director Jorge Perdigón emphasised the collaboration between the seasoned Philharmonia Orchestra and the youthful talent of 22-year-old Andalusian violinist María Dueñas, describing the piece as “very beautiful, yet extremely challenging to perform.” He lamented that it is “rarely programmed.” He also highlighted that the creator, Korngold, has “a very tragic story behind his work,” while his style shifts between “classical music and cinema,” promising that “it will be a revelation for the audience,” given that “it is one of the most esteemed violin works ever composed.”
Perdigón shared these insights at a gathering attended by the Minister of Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands, Migdalia Machín; the Deputy Minister of Culture and Cultural Heritage, Horacio Umpiérrez; and the director of the Disa Foundation, Sara Mateos, who sponsors several concerts.
Premiere
The programme will commence with Strum by Jessie Montgomery, which will be performed for the first time at this festival. Perdigón characterised it as a piece inspired by American folklore, infused with an inherent spirit of dance and movement.
The concert will conclude with a selection of suites from Romeo & Juliet. Ricardo Ducatenzeiler will provide a talk at 7:00 p.m. in the same venue about the three compositions. Perdigón underscored that the Philharmonia is regarded as “one of the finest British ensembles, oftentimes referred to as the great lady of London,” being the most recorded orchestra in history, with many of the leading musicians and renowned conductors like Karajan, Klemperer, Furtwängler, Toscanini, Muti, and Salonen passing through its ranks. The orchestra is additionally accompanied by the contemporary maestro Marin Alsop. He noted, “Experiencing the Philharmonia will be the premier way to commence this edition, celebrating the British ensemble’s 80 years of history in 2025.” Furthermore, with a cellist of Andalusian descent, who, despite her youth, is already celebrated as one of the best in the world, having won the first prize at the Menuhin Violin Competition in 2021 and the Princess of Girona Award for Arts and Letters in Spain in 2023.
The 41st Music Festival comprises a total of 61 concerts across eight islands, running until February 16. Over this initial weekend, seven concerts will be held, several of which have already been marked as “sold out,” including the Tenerife Symphony which will perform in Lanzarote this Friday and is nearing full capacity in Fuerteventura. The Nasmé Ensemble will visit La Palma, launching a “miraculous” tour that gathers five Palestinian musicians into one ensemble, who will present compositions by Western classical composers like Rossini, Mozart, and Dvořák, as well as contemporary American artist Kareem Roustom. Likewise, the Atlantic Jazz Lab Orchestra will perform in both capitals, alongside pianist Peter Beets.
This year’s subscription sales have exceeded last year’s record, achieving unprecedented figures with 1,075 subscribers—467 from Tenerife and 608 from Gran Canaria—a 15% increase, and satisfaction has also been noted in the non-capital islands with over 200 subscriptions.
The miracle of five Palestinian musicians
The term Nasmé translates to ‘breeze’ in Arabic, a fitting metaphor for the artists forming this new chamber music ensemble arriving this year at the Canary Islands Music Festival, with concerts scheduled across four islands. Their group consists of five musicians hailing from diverse regions of historic Palestine, fulfilling their aspiration to perform beloved classical selections to a European audience. This initiative is spearheaded by violinist Michael Barenboim, son of the iconic pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim. The Nasmé Ensemble will commence their tour this Saturday, January 11, at the Circo de Marte Theatre in La Palma. A few days later, on January 14, they will perform at the Pérez Galdós Theatre in Gran Canaria; on January 15, at the Leal Theatre in La Laguna, Tenerife; on January 16, at the Víctor Fernández Gopar El Salinero Theatre in Lanzarote; and on January 17, at the Fuerteventura Training and Congress Palace. It is indeed an accomplishment for a group like the Nasmé Ensemble to emerge amidst such a sensitive political landscape like that of Palestine. The ensemble includes Fadwa Qamhia (double bass), Hisham Khoury (violin), Katia Abdel Kader (viola), Soheil Kanaan (cello), and Ibrahim Alshaikh (clarinet), who have combined their talents from various regions of the country to present their interpretation of European classical music.
