The piano festival returns to the city with a closing event that incorporates silent film
20 / 03 / 2024
Music

 The talent of professional pianists, students and spontaneous performers, together with other musicians, will be showcased to celebrate the sixth edition of “Happy Piano Day” this Saturday 23 March in different venues, on board a bus, and with an interactive keyboard

 The event kicks off at 11:30 on the steps of the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium with an opening session to mark, from 12:00 onwards, the start of the simultaneous programme in different parts of the city

 At 19:00, in San Telmo Park, a triple concert will bring the day to a close with silent film screenings

 The outdoor concerts can be enjoyed free of charge

Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, 20 March 2024. The steps of the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium, the Mercado del Puerto (Port Market), Plaza de España and Plaza Pilar Nuevo, Calle Mayor de Triana, San Telmo Park and Municipal Bus Line 17 are all places where Las Palmas de Gran Canaria will celebrate the sixth edition of “Happy Piano Day” this Saturday 23 March, a festival that will feature more than twenty sessions of piano music, from 11:30 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 22:00, depending on the location of these seven points. This special World Piano Day celebration of the 88 keys of this one-of-a-kind instrument will culminate in a triple concert in San Telmo Park, where live music will be combined with silent films.

 

The Councillor for Culture, Adrián Santana, together with the Director of Fundación Auditorio y Teatro (the Auditorium and Theatre Foundation), Tilman Kuttenkeuler, and the person in charge of the project, musician Jose Alberto Medina of Fábrica La Isleta, gave details this Wednesday morning, 20 March, on the programme for the sixth edition of “Happy Piano Day”. The councillor stressed the value of this initiative which “will once again this year allow both locals and visitors to enjoy, in different corners of the city, more than a dozen master pianists who will offer a diverse range of performances to showcase the versatility of the piano as both a solo and accompanying instrument, on various stages in the capital city of Gran Canaria”.

For the Director of Fábrica La Isleta, Jose Alberto Medina, “this is a pioneering international event in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, boosting the visibility of the city’s tourist sites through the celebration of International Piano Day with a popular festival in which students, amateurs and professional pianists all take part”.

Professionals of varying styles, ranging from classical and chamber music to jazz, blues and Latin music, will include: José María Curbelo, Oliver Curbelo, Héctor Matacherry, Levi Keyb, José Alberto Medina, Yoel Rojas, Ugo Arnoldo, Luis Sánchez, Alicia González de la Fé, Sergio Alonso, Federico Lechner and Víctor Naranjo. Likewise, more than 60 pianists are registered for Happy Piano Day from among professionals and students of the Conservatory and from Fábrica La Isleta, in addition to spontaneous performers and amateurs who will show off their skills at the “Happy Piano Moments” area.

The programme for this special day of celebration, held this year on 28 March, the 88th day of the year —88 is also the number of keys on the piano—, will begin at 11:30 on the steps of the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium with a classical performance by Víctor Naranjo, who will pay tribute to some of the great classical composers. This will continue until 12:00, when a Line 17 bus will host an electric piano performance by Juanfra Ramos, which is sure to delight riders on their way to the Pérez Galdós Theatre.

The rest of the day’s programme will for the first time include a stop at the Mercado del Puerto (Port Market) at Calle Tenerife from 12:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00 horas; at the Plaza de España from 16:00 to 20:00; at Plaza del Pilar Nuevo from 12:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00; and at Number 72 on Calle Triana with concerts, workshops, an interactive piano and a family-oriented show from 12:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 19:00.

To round off this day on which the piano takes to the streets, there will also be cinema. The closing event will take place at 19:00 in San Telmo Park, to consist of a concert with three 45-minute parts, headlined by Levi Keyb and Kisandra Pujol, who will transport the audience to old Cuba with boleros and other traditional songs. This will be followed by “Anda Jaleo”, a performance by Sergio Alonso and Magdalena Padilla which pays homage to the work of Federico García Lorca. To wrap up the evening, two silent films by Charles Chaplin will be screened with accompaniment by Argentine pianist Federico Lechner.

For the first time this year, on Friday 22 March, an event being called “Piano in Solidarity” will be held from 11:30 to 12:00 on the premises of the Hospital Insular, an initiative aimed at the patients from this hospital complex.

 

Programme

 

Opening

STEPS OF THE ALFREDO KRAUS AUDITORIUM

11:30 to 12:00 Víctor Naranjo (classical piano)

 

MOBILE VENUE

(Line 17) Municipal Bus: Auditorium-Theatre Route, 12:00 to 13:00, Juanfra Ramos vs Tina Turner, Elvis Presley (digital piano)

 

MERCADO DEL PUERTO (PORT MARKET) / CALLE TENERIFE

12:00 to 13:00 Joel Rojas (Cuban piano)

13:00 to 14:00 Open Piano (spontaneous piano performance)

16:00 to 17:00 Héctor Matacherry (Íntimo, pieces of his own creation)

17:00 to 18:00 Luis Sánchez (Historias Latentes)

18:00 to 19:00 Karina Infante and Ugo Arnoldo (voice and piano)

 

PLAZA DE ESPAÑA

16:00 to 17:00 Juan Mesa and Jose Alberto Medina (timple and piano)

17:00 to 18:00 Joel Rojas (Cuban piano and singer)

18:00 to 19:00 Víctor Naranjo (classical piano)

19:00 to 20:00 Piano Libre (spontaneous pianists)

 

PLAZA DEL PILAR NUEVO

12:00 to 13:00 Andrea Báez Music School

13:00 to 14:00 Students of the Conservatory

16:00 to 17:00 Open Piano (spontaneous piano performance)

17:00 to 18:00 Curbelo Brothers (classical)

18:00 to 19:00 Students of Fábrica Mat / Fábrica La Isleta

 

NUMBER 72 CALLE TRIANA / FAMILY VENUE

12:00 to 14:00 family concerts and workshops with Fábrica Mat and Fábrica La Isleta

16:00 to 17:30 Andrea Báez Families (interactive piano)

17:30 to 19:00 La Jungla Swinguera (family show)

 

SAN TELMO PARK

19:00 to 20:00 Levi Keyb and Kisandra Pujol (Cuban piano and voice)

20:00 to 21:00 Sergio Alonso and Magdalena Padilla (“Anda Jaleo”, musical piece honouring Federico García Lorca)

21:00 to 22:00 Federico Lechner (silent films: A Dog’s Life and Pay Day)