Music in times of fury

The most effective way to bring different worlds and cultures closer is via music. Established by the Junta de Andalucía (Regional Government of Andalusia) in 2004, the Barenboim-Said Foundation reflects this spirit with its musical and humanistic educational projects. Among these is the Academia de Estudios Orquestales (Academy of Orchestral Studies) whose student body contributes to this youth orchestra and that includes visiting instrumentalists on the faculty from the most prestigious European orchestras.

Leading the orchestra is maestro Thomas Guggeis, Musical director of Oper Frankfurt, who a few months before his debut in Sevilla, will have conducted the Berlin Philharmonic. Having been assistant to Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin Staatsoper, he is one of today’s very promising young conductors. For his debut in front of the audience of the Maestranza, he will appear with mezzo soprano Corinna Scheurle, trained in the foremost opera companies in Germany, and with a brilliant international career since winning the Gasteig Musikpreis of Munich. In 2017. On the music stands: the most sensual of Ravel - Scheherazade - to celebrate his 150th anniversary, the demanding Variations on a Theme by Haydn by Brahms and, to close the programme, Symphony no. 5 by Shostakovich, an intense and forceful allegation against the repression of ideas, as well as an eloquent testimony about the liberating power of music.