- The Tenerife International Film Music Festival (FIMUCITÉ) is celebrating its 20th anniversary together with Oscar-winning composers John Corigliano and Stephen Warbeck.

- This year’s historic edition includes the Spanish premiere of the concert John Williams Reimagined, the Disney-licensed live-to-picture show Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert, and a spectacular closing ceremony that pays tribute to the greatest film scores in cinema’s history. 

The Tenerife International Film Music Festival (FIMUCITÉ), the world’s longest-running event dedicated to film music, is celebrating its 20th anniversary with an outstanding edition. The festival is supported by its main sponsor Turismo de Tenerife under the destination’s tourism campaign ‘Tenerife Awakens Emotions’, and by the Department of Culture of the Cabildo de Tenerife. Under the direction of composer and conductor Diego Navarro, the programme reaches its climax this week with a series of world-class concerts that are being held at the Auditorio de Tenerife concert hall.

Guests of Honour
Joining the FIMUCITÉ 20 celebrations as the festival’s guests of honour are two key figures from the world of film music: Academy Award-winning composers Stephen Warbeck and John Corigliano. Both are already in Tenerife taking part in the festival’s educational and artistic activities.

At the press conference held at the Auditorio de Tenerife, attended by Warbeck, Corigliano, conductor Eímar Noone and other international guests, festival director Diego Navarro remarked: “Reaching Fimucité’s twentieth anniversary is deeply moving. This festival was born out of a dream to bring film music closer to the general public. Today we can say that this dream has grown far beyond our hopes, and brings together some of the greatest names in the history of film music composition here in Tenerife.”

Oscar-winner Stephen Warbeck returns to FIMUCITÉ fifteen years after taking part in the fifth edition of the festival. Warbeck is renowned for his melodic sensibility and narrative skill, and as the composer of acclaimed film scores such as Shakespeare In Love, Billy Elliot and Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. These qualities have also established him on the international theatre scene, with a distinguished career on Broadway and in the West End, as well as collaborations with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Throughout his career, Warbeck has been honoured with other awards, such as the BAFTA for Best Original Music for Television for his work on the series The Empty Throne and the Drama Desk Award for the play An Inspector Calls. Stephen Warbeck will be taking part in a public event this Thursday as part of FIMUCITÉ’s Film Scoring Academy (FSA), which is being held at the CajaCanarias Cultural Centre in Santa Cruz de Tenerife from 16.00 pm - 18.00 pm.

With a career spanning more than 60 years, American composer John Corigliano is attending the Tenerife International Film Music Festival for the first time, having accepted FIMUCITÉ’s invitation. Corigliano is a leading figure in contemporary music and winner of an Oscar for The Red Violin, the Pulitzer Prize for Music, and also winner of five Grammy Awards. Corigliano gave a moving and informative talk to the public yesterday as part of the festival’s free Film Scoring Academy programme (FSA), and the Spanish premiere of his monumental Chaconne for Violin and Orchestra will be performed as part of the festival’s closing gala.

The Vice-President and Councillor for Tourism of the Cabildo de Tenerife, Lope Afonso, emphasised during the presentation that “Fimucité perfectly embodies the model of tourism that Tenerife is committed to: a destination that offers unique cultural experiences, capable of inspiring, generating value and projecting our identity to the world. Reaching its twentieth edition as the world’s oldest film music festival is a source of pride for the island and a testament to Tenerife’s ability to host events of international standing”. Afonso added that “The presence of figures of the calibre of John Corigliano and Stephen Warbeck at this year’s festival, alongside a programme featuring both national premieres and world-class productions, once again firmly places Tenerife on the cultural map at an international level. Events of this kind help to diversify our tourism offering, attract visitors with an interest in culture, and strengthen the positioning of the ‘Tenerife Awakens Emotions’ campaign, which establishes the destination as a brand offering privileged settings where you can enjoy artistic excellence and talent.”

The mayor of Santa Cruz, José Manuel Bermúdez, noted that “Santa Cruz de Tenerife has been immersed in Fimucité events for several weeks now. Since this 20th anniversary edition began, film music has been performed in various venues across our city. The festival has brought well-known soundtracks to residents and visitors alike, through the Summer Cinema or the different concerts that have filled our public squares – events that have proved hugely popular with the public”. Bermúdez added that “At the City Hall, we remain committed to this type of event because it fosters culture, raises our profile abroad, and also generates income for our city. My congratulations go to the entire FIMUCITÉ team, to its director Diego Navarro, and my thanks go to all of the organisations and sponsors who ensure that, twenty years later, Santa Cruz de Tenerife continues to serve as a hub for the great names in film music”.

José Carlos Acha, the Councillor for Culture, Museums and Sport at the Cabildo de Tenerife, emphasises that “FIMUCITÉ is celebrating its twentieth anniversary having become an international benchmark that showcases Tenerife’s talent, cultural excellence and ability to host unique events. Few initiatives can boast bringing together some of the most important composers of our time and offering the public first-class artistic experiences, or creating such a unique hub on the global music and film music scene”. Acha adds that “The Cabildo de Tenerife is proud to support a festival that has managed to grow without losing its identity, and whilst remaining committed to quality, training and the promotion of film music”.

For her part, Tenerife’s Chief Executive for Tourism, Dimple Melwani, stated that “Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Fimucité means highlighting one of the major cultural events that raise Tenerife’s profile internationally. The festival represents a unique combination of culture, excellence and tourism, and helps to position the island as a destination capable of offering memorable experiences all year round”. Melwani emphasised that “This 20th edition also highlights the extraordinary talent that Tenerife possesses, represented by the composer and conductor Diego Navarro, founder and director of FIMUCITÉ, whose career has made the festival an international benchmark for film music.” Alongside him, the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra (OST) once again plays a leading role, reaffirming its artistic excellence and its ability to tackle world-class symphonic productions, sharing the stage with outstanding soloists and international guests in what is set to be a historic edition.”

Concerts - Auditorio de Tenerife
The concert programme at the Auditorio de Tenerife concert hall gets underway with the Spanish premiere of John Williams Reimagined this Thursday in the Chamber Music Hall. The concert has been curated by Robert Townson, who is regarded as the greatest film score composer in the history of cinema, and it has been endorsed by the legendary composer, John Williams, himself. The concert, which is narrated by Townson, offers an intimate and exclusive journey through the work of John Williams, who won five Oscars throughout his career. Williams also amassed a further 54 nominations for other prestigious Academy Awards, including: 49 nominations in the category Best Original Score, and a further 5 for Best Original Song. The concert programme will include some of Williams most iconic works, such as Schindler’s List, Memoirs of a Geisha, Harry Potter, Hook and Far and Away, amongst others, and lesser-known pieces. Williams’ works will be brought to life by Simone Pedroni on piano, Sara Andon on flute and Irene Alvar on cello. This eagerly awaited concert has been sold out in Tenerife for several weeks, however tickets are still available for the concert which will be offered on Saturday 18th July at 19.00 pm at the Guiniguada Theatre in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

This event will also feature a selection of the music from the feature film ‘Star Wars’, which will be taking centre stage in the Symphony Hall of the Auditorio de Tenerife on Friday 17th and Saturday 18th July thanks to the spectacular production Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert. The production, licensed by Disney, blends cinema with live music, offering audiences a live-to-screen performance of the iconic Oscar-winning soundtrack composed by John Williams which is performed in perfect sync with the feature length screening of the original film from 1977 (in English with Spanish subtitles). This immersive symphonic experience will be brought to life by Irish conductor Eímear Noone — the first woman to conduct at the Oscars ceremony — and the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra (OST).

Red Carpet Gala
The grand finale will take place on Sunday 19th July with the FIMUCITÉ 20 Red Carpet Gala. Conducted by Diego Navarro, this spectacular celebration will showcase some of the most iconic and Oscar-winning film scores in the history of cinema. The programme includes epic titles, such as Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, Dances with Wolves, The Last Emperor, The Lord of the Rings, Titanic, Dune and E.T., amongst others. The gala will feature the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra (OST), the Tenerife Film Choir alongside Camerata Lacunensis under the choral direction of Juan Ramón Vinagre, and also a distinguished line-up of guest soloists: Javier Comesaña (violin), Marcos Pérez (alto saxophone), Diego Pérez (electric cello), Juan Carlos Cantero (bansuri), Gonzalo de Araoz (guitars), Satomi Morimoto (keyboards), and the vocalists Cristina Ramos, Estefanía Rodríguez, Aborá Cel, Zuleyma Medina and Ciro Moreno. Tickets for the closing gala and the red carpet event are now sold out.

FIMUCITÉ is celebrating two decades of success, having established itself as an unmissable event for film music on the international stage. This year’s edition pays tribute to the iconic soundtracks and their composers that have shaped the history of the Academy Awards.

FIMUCITÉ 20 is supported by its main sponsor, Turismo de Tenerife, under the campaign ‘Tenerife Awakens Emotions’, with additional support from the island’s Department of Culture. The festival is also sponsored by the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council and the Canary Islands Institute for Cultural Development of the Government of the Canary Islands, and the City Council of La Laguna. FIMUCITÉ extends its gratitude to the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra (OST), the Auditorio de Tenerife, and its many public and private partners for their continued support.