– CABILDO DE TENERIFE
SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE, 9 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Tenerife Symphony has presented its 2026/2027 season, titled ‘Liberty or Destiny’, an artistic proposal inviting reflection on one of the “great questions” of human experience: to what extent are we free to choose our path, or are we conditioned by forces that came before us?
Building on this concept, the orchestra has devised a schedule of eighteen subscription concerts covering major milestones in the symphonic repertoire, from Mahler and Beethoven to contemporary creations.
This new season was unveiled on Tuesday by the Vice-President of the Cabildo of Tenerife, Lope Afonso; the Island Councillor for Culture, Museums, and Sports, and President of the Insular Music Trust, José Carlos Acha; and the Managing Director of the Tenerife Symphony, Daniel Broncano. They highlighted a programme that combines great works from the repertoire, premieres, international artists, and collaborative projects that enhance the artistic, social, and territorial dimensions of the orchestra, according to a statement from the Cabildo.
‘Liberty or Destiny’ also showcases “the philosophical dilemma that evokes thoughts and sensations” of that “historical tension between will and the inevitable,” Afonso explained. “What is indisputable is that this season is presented with the aim of consolidating the Tenerife Symphony’s role,” stated the Cabildo Vice-President regarding the orchestra’s position in the cultural life of the island.
This concert cycle will take place from September 2026 to June 2027 and arrives at a pivotal moment for the Tenerife Symphony, following a sustained growth in audience numbers and subscriptions in recent years, enhancing its presence both within and outside of the Canary Islands.
Subscription and family concert attendance has risen from 23,805 in 2025 to 27,200 in 2026, an approximate increase of 15%, while subscriptions have grown by 38% this season.
REFERENCE WORKS
In this context, ‘Liberty or Destiny’ offers a journey through some of the works that have best addressed themes such as identity, memory, hope, fate, resilience, and the capacity to transform one’s own life.
In this respect, Daniel Broncano noted that ‘Liberty or Destiny’ “is not a closed opposition, but an open question that permeates the entire season.” According to the Managing Director, “music has the unique ability to inhabit that territory better than any other language: even a score, which seems predetermined, opens to freedom every time it is interpreted and played.”
The season will kick off on the 11th and 12th of September 2026 with Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, ‘Resurrection’, conducted by Pablo González, featuring soloists Berna Perles and Olesya Petrova along with the Tenerife Opera’s Titular Choir-Intermezzo. This will be the starting point for a season that will navigate between individual affirmation and collective destiny, between loss and hope.
A central theme of the season will be the figure of Ludwig van Beethoven, coinciding with the bicentennial of his death in 2027. Works such as the Fifth Symphony, the Eighth, the overtures Leonore No. 3 and Egmont, or ‘Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage’ will allow exploration of various facets of a composer whose music epitomises freedom as ethical, artistic, and human conquest.
Reflection on destiny will manifest in some of the most intense pages of the symphonic repertoire. The Fourth, Fifth, and Pathétique Symphonies by Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich’s Fifth and Symphony No. 12 ‘The Year 1917′, Brahms’ ‘A German Requiem’ and ‘The Song of Destiny’, Nielsen’s ‘The Inextinguishable’, Sibelius’ ‘Finlandia’, Elgar’s ‘Enigma Variations’, and Strauss’ ‘Also sprach Zarathustra’ constitute a journey through works that have profoundly explored the relationship between the individual and the forces that condition their existence.
NAMES AND CONTEMPORANEITY
Leading the programming will be Pablo González, the orchestra’s principal guest conductor, alongside Víctor Pablo Pérez, honorary conductor, and Delyana Lazarova, the season’s artistic collaborator. The podium will also feature Giancarlo Guerrero, Ariane Matiakh, Karl-Heinz Steffens, Jordi Francés, Manuel Hernández Silva, Antony Hermus, Ilan Volkov, Ana María Patiño-Osorio, Wilson Ng, and Thomas Dausgaard.
The season will also feature prominent international performers such as Isabelle Faust, Truls Mork, Seong-Jin Cho, Daniel Hope, Alexander Melnikov, Simon Trpceski, Ksenija Sidorova, Colin Currie, David Kadouch, and Francisco Fullana, alongside orchestra musicians Irina Peña and Ülker Tümer, who will take soloist roles in one of the season’s programmes.
Contemporary creation will also hold a significant place. The programme will include the world premiere of ‘In the Aftermath of Gravity’ by Helga Arias, commissioned with support from the SGAE Foundation, as well as works by Julia Wolfe, Frederic Rzewski, Andy Akiho, Brett Dean, Fazil Say, and Francisco Coll.
The vocal and choral dimension will be particularly prominent through the participation of artists such as Serena Sáenz, Olesya Petrova, José Antonio López, and Berna Perles, alongside the Tenerife Opera’s Titular Choir-Intermezzo and the Community Choir of Madrid.
OUTREACH
Beyond subscription concerts, the activities of the Tenerife Symphony will extend through family concerts, educational and social projects, performances in various municipalities across the island, mediation and accessibility initiatives, a chamber music cycle, and collaborations with other cultural and educational institutions.
The season will also include notable milestones for external outreach. The orchestra will return to the National Auditorium of Music in Madrid on the 10th of May 2027 to perform, under the direction of Pablo González, the programme ‘The Song of Destiny’ alongside the Community Choir of Madrid.
SUBSCRIPTIONS AND TICKETS
The subscription renewal campaign for the 2026/2027 season will run from the 9th to the 22nd of June. General sales for the Season Subscription and Young Subscription will be available from the 2nd of July to the 11th of September, while partial subscriptions will be on sale from the 14th of July to the 11th of September.
Sales for individual tickets will commence on the 23rd of July. In this regard, the orchestra continues to offer accessible pricing, with tickets starting from €12, young tickets at €5, special rates for unemployed individuals, and discounts for large families.
The Symphony will maintain its six subscription categories: season, young, sun, moon, autumn-winter, and spring, along with accessibility initiatives such as the ‘Sinfónica Shuttle’, a free transport service in collaboration with TITSA linking various points on the island to the Auditorium on concert days.
