The Schola Cantorum of Caracas emerged in 1967, founded and directed by Maestro Alberto Grau. Its extensive repertoire includes works from the Spanish, Italian, French and English Renaissance; from the German and Italian Baroque; by composers of our century, both Venezuelan and universal, a vast collection of Venezuelan popular music and Latin American music and numerous symphonic-choral works. Important international tours have taken it to stages in the United States, Yugoslavia, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, Belgium, Colombia, Holland, Mexico, Canada, Argentina, Portugal, England, Estonia, Denmark and Czechoslovakia, among others.
This important choir from the Latin American country will perform on Friday, February 13, at 8:30 p.m., at the Teatro de Arrecife, and on Saturday, February 14, at 8:30 p.m., at the Iglesia de la Graciosa. Their performance is part of the 25th Canary Islands Music Festival, organized by the Vice-Ministry of Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands and which comes to the island thanks to the sponsorship and collaboration of the Education and Culture area of the Cabildo de Lanzarote. The Teguise City Council also collaborates.
Tickets for the performance at the Teatro Insular cost 15 euros, while the one to be held in La Graciosa will be free. Tickets for the concert in Arrecife can be purchased at the ticket sales points enabled by the organization for all the performances of the XXV Canary Islands Music Festival, which are the CIC El Almacén, the Municipal Tourist Offices of Puerto del Carmen, Costa Teguise, in the Cueva de Los Verdes, and in the Culture Department of the Teguise City Council.
The Schola Cantorum of Caracas has an impeccable career built throughout its career. In 1974 he won the First Prize in Polyphony in the "XXII Guido D'Arezzo International Polyphonic Competition". Likewise, and in a recent incursion, it was selected for the premiere of the Passion according to San Marcos by Osvaldo Golijov, a work premiered at the European Music Festival in 2000 and sponsored by the Bachakademie of Stuttgart, Germany. The recording of this concert for the German label Hänsler obtained a Grammy nomination in 2002, in the best choral performance section, and the same distinction was achieved in the Latin Grammy awards, a new recording of the work was recently made by the German label Deutsche Grammophon. This work has been presented in important international stages, obtaining great praise from critics and the public.
In 2006 and under the direction of the composer himself and the staging of maestro Peter Sellars, the Schola premiered the opera "A Flowering Tree" by Johm Adams, within the framework of the New Crowned Hope Festival in the city of Vienna with which the Mozart Year was officially celebrated in the Austrian capital. The recording of this work for the Nonesuch Records label will be on the market in the coming months.
With different choral and symphonic choral programs, the Schola Cantorum of Venezuela has participated in the most important Music Festivals in the world as well as in relevant Concert Halls, among which are the José Felix Ribas and Rios Reyna Halls of the Teresa Carreño Theater (Caracas), Tanglewood Music Festival (Massachussets), The Ravinia Music Festival (Chicago), Orange County Eclectic Festival (Costa Mesa, California), musical programs of Expo Seville 92 and Hannover 2000, Foro de la Rábida (Huelva, Spain), Concertgebow and Royal Carré Theater (Amsterdam), Royal Festival Hall, (London), Sala Nexahualcoyotl of the UNAM (Mexico, D.F), Memorial Auditorium (Stanford University); Centennial Hall, (Tucson, University of Arizona); Foellinger Great Hall, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts (University of Illinois, Urbana); Howard Gilman Opera House of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (New York), Sydney Opera House (Sydney, Australia). Lincoln Center (New York), Barbican Theatre (London), Casa da Musica (Porto), Beethovenhalle (Stuttgart), Basilica Sant Ambroggio (Milan), Teatro Comunale (Ferrara) and Sala Santa Cecilia del Parcco de la Musica (Rome).
On its path as a specialized group identified with a particular way of assembling and interpreting a also selected repertoire, it has recorded 25 albums to date with its extensive repertoire. In the same way, under world-class directors, it has presented in Venezuela numerous symphonic-choral works and masterpieces of universal contemporary polyphonic music. Ana María Raga and María Guinand are its principal conductors. Since 2005 and with the aim of addressing new styles and repertoires, the Schola Cantorum of Venezuela was formed as a large choir of the Schola Cantorum Foundation.
More information on the Canary Islands Music Festival website
All the Cabildo's programming at www.cabildodelanzarote.com
