The pipe organ of the Auditorio de Tenerife has been in service for 20 years, and we are celebrating with several activities such as this concert, titled Arquitecturas sonoras: 20 años de órgano (Sonic Architecture: 20 Years of Organ), and performed by organist Juan de la Rubia. This concert is presented in association with San Miguel Arcángel Royal Canarian Academy of Fine Arts (RACBA).

Juan de la Rubia is the resident organist of the Sagrada Familia church in Barcelona. He studied organ, piano, and improvisation in several European capitals and has performed as a soloist in over 30 countries, collaborating with orchestras such as the Spanish National Orchestra (ONE), the Spanish National Radio and TV Orchestra (RTVE), and the Bogotá Philharmonic. In the category of period music, he has worked with Les Siècles, conducted the Freiburger Barockorchester, and the Orquesta Barroca de Tenerife. He is also the founder of Orquesta del Miracle, which was warmly received by the public and critics at its presentation in June 2023. He has collaborated with Matthias Goerne, Carolyn Sampson, Philippe Jaroussky and Marco Mezquida and has made several acclaimed recordings. He has also specialised in improvisation for silent films, including classics such as ‘Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror’ and ‘Metropolis’.

Arquitecturas sonoras: Veinte años de órgano

In celebration of the anniversary of this instrument in Tenerife, we have scheduled a performance by the renowned Valencia-born organist Juan de la Rubia. Associated with the Auditorio de Tenerife since Albert Blancafort constructed its organ towards the end of the 20th century, Juan is the resident organist of the famous Sagrada Família church in Barcelona, among other achievements in the world of concert performance. On this occasion, he will perform several unparalleled works from the German Baroque organ repertoire, which will, of course, include our admired and beloved Johann Sebastian Bach: one of the many chorales he composed and his famous Toccata, Adagio, and Fugue in C major. In addition, he will interpret the overture to Handel’s opera Samson, which opens the programme. The centrepiece of this brilliant and grandiose evening will be none other than the transcription of the fourth movement of Symphony No. 1 in C minor of Johannes Brahms (1833–97). This symphonic work will be performed on this organ for the first time and with Juan’s own transcription. The warmth and thick, majestic voicings of this work will be a perfect match for our auditorium’s magnificent organ. What a wealth of orchestral delights we have heard through the transcriptions interpreted on this instrument! Now, for the first time, Romantic symphonic music of Brahms will be performed on this organ with Juan’s own transcription. With its full and mellow sounds punctuated by timpani, the music carries us away to a wondrous dreamscape, far from the mundanity of the present. Finishing off the programme are the obligatory interpreter’s improvisations, which reflect his wisdom and mental acuity. Doubtlessly, this will be a sumptuous aural feast for the ears of the fortunate spectators.

Rosario Álvarez Martínez