The summer tour will take place from July 21 to 29, with concerts in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, and La Palma.
The training is presented in chamber format, under the direction of Víctor Pablo Pérez and with the musician and comedian Víctor Lemes as narrator
There will be a sign interpreter on stage, as well as special devices at the service of people with hearing disabilities free of charge.
The Young Orchestra of the Canary Islands (JOCAN) will carry out a Summer Tour 2018 through the islands, in which you'll visit five locations, including July 21 and 29. It will be in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, and La Palma with a chamber music program designed to be accessible to all types of audiences. The star of the show will be the famous piece ‘The Carnival of the Animals, by Camille Saint-Saëns, performed by a selection of eleven of its musicians, under the baton of Victor Pablo Perez, and in a staged performance with a script and narration by the musician and comedian Víctor Lemes.
As a prelude, they will offer some excerpts from the Puerto Rican version of this work, ‘"The Carnival of the Canarian Animals," composed by Celia Rivero and Sergio Rodríguez which is conceived as a continuation of the French composer's work by incorporating real and mythical animals from the Canary Islands. The piece was produced last year at the request of the Auditorio de Tenerife, and part of it can now be heard live in other parts of the archipelago. The score not only gives a voice to animals but also features melodies and rhythms from the islands, thus encouraging us to take care of our natural environment.
The details of these concerts were presented today by Minister of Culture of the Government of the Canary Islands, Migdalia Machín, and theArtistic Director of the JOCAN, Víctor Pablo Pérez, accompanied by the director of DISA Foundation, Sara Mateosand to theyoung director who will stand in front of the ensemble during the performance of one of the pieces, Santiago Padilla.
The tour organized by Cultura del Government of the Canary Islands will begin Monday, July 21 in the La Granja Space, in Tenerife; and will continue the 23rd at the Guiniguada Theater, in Gran Canaria; Thursday 24 at the Municipal Theater of San Bartolomé, in Lanzarote; the next day, Friday 25thn the Training and Congress Palace of Fuerteventura; and the sunday 27 in the Auditorium of La Gomera. The closing concert will be Tuesday 29 at the Teatro Circo de Marte, in The Palm. All concerts start at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are on sale on the usual ticketing platforms for these venues at PRICE: 10 euros..
the presentation.Migdalia Machín, pointed out that the JOCAN “It is a clear example that, when youth and talent come together, projects as extraordinary and of such quality as this one arise, where performers and composers become protagonists of good musical work. I encourage everyone to enjoy the concerts that will be held on different islands, fulfilling one of the commitments of this Government: bringing culture to every corner of the archipelago. A unique opportunity to witness the present and promising cultural future of Canariayes.”
For his part, the teacher Victor Pablo He pointed out that on this occasion they have a really “very descriptive, very beautiful, with a reflection on the carnival. On the one hand, the work of Canarian animals, with eleven truly beautiful short pieces that describe some native species; and also with the very famous work of Saint-Saens, narrated here by Víctor Lemes with a series of current, ironic, funny and sarcastic realitiesyes.”
Program
'The carnival of the animals' is a piece of Camille Saint-Saens composed in 1886, a suite in fourteen movements that he performed during a vacation in Austria as a kind of musical joke to entertain his friends.
In fact, Saint Saëns prohibited it from being published or performed during his lifetime, with the exception of the 'The Swan' movement, which he considered serious and beautiful. So the work was publicly released after his death in 1922 and it became very popular since then, since, although it is a humorous work, it is composed with great mastery and deep knowledge of instrumental color.
In each of these movements an animal or scene is represented with a humorous and parody touch. For example, in the 'Fossils' movement, Saint-Saëns parodies himself and other colleagues such as Rossini and Offenbach.
As the common thread of the piece, and as a novelty at JOCAN, it will feature Víctor Lemes, musician and comedian canary, who has made a script to accompany the orchestra and act as narrator in the concert.
The canarian adaptation This work will occupy the first part of the concert and will be performed under the baton of the young director Santiago Padilla. In it, the composers of the islands, Celia Rivero and Sergio Rodríguez, they have played music to several animals that are linked to the archipelago, of which several have been selected for interpretation by JOCAN. They will be those of volume I, which refer to the giant lizard of El Hierro, the long-eared bat, the great woodpecker, the blind crab of Lanzarote and the blue whale; and those of volume II on the aguaviva, the tiger butterfly, the Canary camel, the grouper, the Tenerife giant tortoise and the sardine.
With pianists for the first time
One of the new things this year is that, for the first time, they will participate in the JOCAN two young pianists, specifically Gabriel Álvarez Doreste and Natalia Dionis Rodríguez, chosen in a recent public call. Along with them will be on stage a selection of musicians chosen from the pool of instrumentalists of the Young Orchestra: Unai Marrero Simón (clarinet); Érika Gutiérrez Castillo (double bass), Sara Lorenzo González (flute); Raúl Fernández Morales (percussion); Liz Flor González Durán (viola); Marie Cooper Aube (violin); Inés Ruiz Ortiz de Antiñano (violin) and Aurora Fibla Tejedas (cello).
Young musicians who come from the different islands of the Canary archipelago, who are currently studying the last year of their academic musical training in centers around the world, or who have recently graduated. For this tour, JOCAN will once again have the young director, Santiago Padilla, who accompanied the orchestra in its formative part during last year's tour, three were selected in a specific public call. On this occasion he will also be responsible for directing one of the pieces in the program, 'The Carnival of the Canarian Animals'.
Inclusive concerts
Given the good reception it had on its last tour, JOCAN once again provides its concerts with some initiatives that will make them inclusive and accessible to everyone, including hearing impaired people. For this, and in collaboration with DISA Foundation, which assumes this sponsorship, makes available to the public some sensory backpacks with which people with hearing problems will be able to enjoy this experience more completely.
There will be ten of these devices, which will be provided free of charge upon request, starting on July 14, by email to jocan@icdcultural.org and invitations will be managed in order of arrival. Likewise, and as 'The Carnival of the Animals' by Saint-Saëns incorporates the figure of narrator, there will also be in the stage an interpreter of Spanish Sign Language LSE.
Almost a decade on stage
JOCAN is a project of the Government of the Canary Islands launched in 2016 as a tool for the training and orchestral practice of young musicians from the islands. A program that materializes with the organization of the so-called Meetings, which several times a year bring together members of the orchestra to prepare a wide diversity of repertoires that they then perform on tours. All of this with the help of a select team of professors and teachers, in addition to being able to work alongside great international soloists.
This meeting will now be number 23 since the launch of JOCAN. A week before the start of the tour, those who make up these concerts will meet in Tenerife in seven sessions dedicated to training, study, coexistence, rehearsals and preparations.
JOCAN Summer Tour (July 2025)
- Monday 21st: La Granja Space, in Tenerife
- Wednesday the 23rd: Guiniguada Theater, in Gran Canaria
- Thursday 24th: Municipal Theater of San Bartolomé, in Lanzarote
- Friday the 25th: Training and Congress Palace, in Fuerteventura
- Monday 27th: Insular Auditorium, in La Gomera
- Wednesday 29: Circo de Marte Theater, in The Palm
All concerts start at 8:00 p.m.
+ Info and tickets: https://www.icdcultural.org/jocan
