Easter brings the fourth edition of Bogota’s International Classical Music Festival, Bogota is Brahms, Schubert, Schumann

?       Bogota’s fourth edition of the International Classical Music Festival, Bogota is Brahms, Schubert, Schumann will take place from April 17 to 20.

?       This is a celebration for all audiences, with 50 concerts in 15 venues from 10 districts of Bogota, 12 of them for free, and three general rehearsals open to the public. On this edition, 33 soloists, 7 orchestras, 7 conductors, 5 choirs, 4 quartets, a trio and one ensemble, from 15 countries will take part in the Festival.

?       The Festival’s allies are: Sura, Caracol Televisión, Bogota’s Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Culture.

Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo, a public institution of Bogota’s City Hall, following the city’s Secretary of Culture, Recreation and Sports, and the District’s Institute for the Arts’ cultural policies, established Bogota’s International Classical Music Festival in 2013, following Bogota’s recognition as a Unesco Creative City of Music in 2012. Bogota was the first city to be recognized as a Unesco Creative City of Music in America.

The Festival takes place every two years, and its mission is to offer a profound insight into the work of a specific composer, or a particularly meaningful music period. 125.817 people have already attended the last editions: Bogota is Beethoven in 2013, Bogota is Mozart in 2015, and Bogota is the Romantic Russia in 2017. In 2019, the Festival will be focused on the great composers of the German Romantic period: Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, Robert & Clara Schumann.

The fourth edition of the Festival encompasses different genres such as symphony, choral and chamber music, Lied, piano and vocal recitals. Invited orchestras are Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz (Germany), Dresden Festival Orchestra (Germany), and the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra (Belgium). Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra, Colombia National Symphony Orchestra, New Philharmonie and Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra’s Youth Philharmonic Fusion will represent Colombia.

Distinguished soloists include British pianist Stephen Hough, Taiwanese violinist  Ray Chen, German tenor Christoph Prégardien, British pianist Roger Vignoles and German cellist Jan Vogler.

Bogota is Brahms, Schubert, Schumann will gather artists from 15 countries: Taiwan, Australia, Russia, Finland, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Greece, United Kingdom, France, Spain, United States, Venezuela and Colombia.

Moreover, the Fabio Lozano Auditorium from University Jorge Tadeo Lozano joins the Festival offering free access to general rehearsals. Audiences will have the chance to see and listen to the Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra, Colombia National Symphony Orchestra, and to the Dresden Festival Orchestra while they practice their repertoire and get ready for their concerts – taking place in other venues. In these privileged moments, the orchestras take pauses, repeat certain fragments and focus on particular excerpts of the pieces.

A Festival for everyone

The International Classical Music Festival, Bogotá is Brahms, Schubert, Schumann will continue to gather musical audiences of all kind and will provide a privileged opportunity to forming new ones.

This is why the concerts are subsidized, with tickets starting at $15.000 pesos (5 USD approximately). Additionally, 12 of the concerts will be for free in community centers, libraries, auditoriums and churches, in order to make possible for every one to attend.

Artists and ensembles

Orchestras
Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz (Germany), Dresden Festival Orchestra (Germany), Antwerp Symphony Orchestra (Belgium), Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra, Colombia National Symphony Orchestra, New Philharmonie and Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra’s Youth Philharmonic Fusion.

Conductors
Eckart Preu (Germany), Johannes Klumpp (Germany), Ricardo Jaramillo (Colombia), Josep Caballé-Domenech (Spain), Robert Treviño (United States), Ari Rasilainen (Finland), Olivier Grangean (France) and Zoe Zeniodi (Greece).

Quartets, trios and ensembles
Mandelring Quartet (Germany), Modigliani Quartet (France), Q-Arte Quartet (Colombia), M4nolov Quartet (Colombia), Trio Alba (Austria) and Bogota Schubert Ensemble (Colombia).

Voices
Christoph Prégardien, tenor (Germany); Günter Haumer, baritone (Austria); José Antonio López, baritone (Spain); Iris Vermillion, mezzosoprano (Germany); Cornelia Horak, soprano (Austria); Elena Copons, soprano (Spain); Leonardo Guevara Díaz, tenor (Colombia); Juliana Catalina Guevara Sastre, soprano (Colombia); and Carolina Forero Duarte, narrator (Colombia).

Pianists
Roger Vignoles (United Kingdom), Stephen Hough (United Kingdom), Lise de la Salle (France), Zoe Zeniodi (Greece), Christopher Hinterhuber (Austria), Anita May (Colombia/Russia), Sergei Sichkov (Russia), Francis Díaz (Colombia) and Mauricio Arias Esguerra (Colombia).

Violins
Ray Chen (Taiwan/Australia) and Johannes Fleischmann (Austria).

Viola
Laurent Marfaing (France).

Cellos
Jan Vogler (Germany), Philipp Comploi (Austria), Bernhard Schmidt (Germany) and François Kieffer (France).

Doublebasses
Aleksandr Sanko (Russia).

Clarinet
Laura Ruíz Ferreres (Spain).

Horns
Arnaud Delépine (France), Erwin Rubio (Colombia), Gabriel Betancur (Colombia) and José José Giménez (Venezuela).

Playwright/actor/narrator
Christoph Wagner-Trenkwitz (Austria).

Choirs
Vienna’s University of Music’s Choir Webern-Kammerchor der mdw (Austria), Bogota’s Javeriana University’s Art Faculty’s Choir (Colombia), Bogota’s Youth Philharmonic Choir (Colombia), Ópera de Colombia’s Choir (Colombia) and Santa Cecilia Choral Society (Colombia).

Bogota’s City Hall

The Festival’s allies are:

Sura, Caracol Televisión, Bogota’s Chamber of Commerce and the Ministry of Culture.