Festival to Open European Classical Season
The International Festival of Music of Canarias (FIMC), which will be held between 8 January and 7 February 2026, will open the European classical music season with a programme featuring major international stars and some of the finest orchestras on the current scene. Under the slogan ‘Let the Music Captivate You’, the festival will offer over 60 performances spread across some twenty venues on the archipelago’s eight islands, cementing its role as one of the most significant European winter cultural events, organisers announced on Thursday.
Inauguration and Major International Orchestras
The Orchestra and Choir of Spanish Radio Television (RTVE) will be responsible for inaugurating this 42nd edition with two concerts dedicated to Manuel de Falla, marking the 150th anniversary of his birth. Conducted by Christoph König, they will include works such as Nights in the Gardens of Spain and La vida breve, with the participation of Canarian artists like pianist Iván Martín and soprano Raquel Lojendio.
The festival will host prominent international ensembles, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart. The host orchestras, the Gran Canaria Philharmonic and the Tenerife Symphony, will also give several concerts, including tributes to Falla and Ravel.
Star Artists and Premieres
Among the guest artists are pianist Yuja Wang, who returns to the FIMC after fifteen years, accompanied by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra; pianist Arcadi Volodos, who will give the closing recital; cellist Sol Gabetta, performing with the Bamberg Symphony; and conductors Jakub Hrůša and Paavo Järvi. Also featured are the principal flautist of the Berlin Philharmonic, Emmanuel Pahud; pianist Martin Helmchen; and violinist and conductor Stefan Plewniak, who will undertake a tour of five islands.
The festival maintains its commitment to highlighting contemporary composers and local talent, and will feature the premiere of works commissioned from Canarian composers Gonzalo Díaz Yerro and Cecilia Díaz Pestano. Over the event’s more than four decades, more than 52 new works have been created by commission for the festival.
Island-Wide Productions and Parallel Festival
For years, FIMC concerts have been held simultaneously on all eight islands, requiring complex production work to coordinate the movement of hundreds of musicians and their instruments across the archipelago. “The result is a complete musical experience of the highest excellence with performances of all kinds and for all audiences: from concerts in large auditoriums like those in Santa Cruz de Tenerife or Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, to others in intimate, magical, and remote locations such as historic churches or cultural centres on La Graciosa or El Hierro,” explained the FIMC organisers.
Furthermore, within its programme, the FIMC organises the ‘Parallel Festival’ every year to showcase other types of ensembles and formats spanning classical, folk, jazz, blues, and even other artistic disciplines like dance.
A Four-Decade Legacy
With over four decades of history, the FIMC has established itself as an international benchmark and one of the archipelago’s main cultural engines. Since its inauguration on 11 January 1985, the FIMC has featured the participation of distinguished personalities from the classical music world, including Rostropovich, Kleiber, Barenboim, Muti, Larrocha, Mehta, Bartoli, Mutter, and Argerich.
Promoted by the Government of the Canary Islands, the festival aims to contribute to positioning the archipelago as one of the Spanish territories with a top-tier cultural offering.
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