- El evento sobre música de cine más antiguo de Europa comienza este fin de semana en Santa Cruz de Tenerife, con un ciclo de cine al aire libre, el espectáculo de la Pop Culture Band titulado ‘Guardianes del Rock’ y la exposición ‘Pacheco & Azpiri: en recuerdo de dos grandes’
This Friday, June 30th, the largest edition in the 17-year history of the Festival Internacional de Música de Cine de Tenerife (FIMUCITÉ), the oldest event of the genre in Europe and a world reference, opens its doors,, with a program that will delight lovers of soundtracks, movies, video games, and live music. Directed by acclaimed composer and conductor Diego Navarro, it is sponsored by the Cabildo de Tenerife, the Organismo Autónomo de Cultura del Ayuntamiento de Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Organismo Autónomo de Actividades Musicales del Ayuntamiento de San Cristóbal de La Laguna and the Instituto Canario de Desarrollo Cultural, among other public and private institutions.
For the second year in a row, the program will kick off at the Parque García Sanabria with a summer film season that will show a program of five films on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons: the film adaptations of comics 'Dick Tracy' (Warren Beatty, 1990), 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse' (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsay, Rodney Rothman, 2018) and 'Rocketeer' (Joe Johnston, 1991); as well as two Indian-produced action films, 'Krack' (Gopichand Malineni, 2021) and 'Action Jackson' (Prabhu Deva, 2014). Thanks to the support of the Distrito Centro - Ifara del Ayuntamiento de Santa Cruz, the public will be able to enjoy this refreshing free experience that includes popcorn, water and sunbeds until full capacity is reached.
At the same time, the Sala de Arte Los Lavaderos in the capital of Tenerife is offering up the exhibition 'Pacheco & Azpiri, In Memory of Two Greats', dedicated to two of the most prominent comic authors from Spain, Carlos Pacheco and Alfonso Azpiri. This is an initiative of FIMUCITÉ with the support and co-organization of Fundación Cine+Cómics, the Cátedra Cultural Moebius de la Universidad de La Laguna, Asociación Unicornio and the Semana Internacional de Cine Fantástico de la Costa del Sol.. The exhibition will remain open until July 23rd.
Pop Culture Band presents ‘Guardianes del Rock’ at Teatro Guimerá
On Saturday, July 1st, at 8:00 p.m., the FIMUCITÉ 17 concert program will begin at the Teatro Guimerá in Santa Cruz de Tenerife with the Pop Culture Band, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary with the show 'Guardianes del Rock'. This offering will make audiences of all ages vibrate through the interpretation of iconic melodies from comic book and superhero movies, such as AC/DC's 'Shoot To Thrill', Seal's 'Kiss From a Rose', 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen and many others included in titles such as 'Spider-Man', 'Guardians of the Galaxy', 'Suicide Squad', 'The Avengers', 'Thor' or 'Iron Man'. Gonzalo de Araoz (guitars) heads up the musicians of the Pop Culture Band: Nuria Herrero (percussion), Francis Díaz (guitar), David González (keyboards), Daniel Lukacs (bass), Siddharta Dorta (drums), Cristo Delgado (trombone), Elio Bignotte (trumpet) and Norberto Arteaga (sax). Vocals are provided by soloists Patricio González, Zuleyma Medina, Adrián Lugo, Francesco Panico, Juan de Araoz, Carlos Ortega, Paula González and guest star, internationally renowned Canarian singer Cristina Ramos.
Concerts at the Teatro Leal
The concert program will continue the following weekend, firstly with two proposals that will be hosted by the Teatro Leal in La Laguna on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th July: 'Electronic Penderecki: The Shared Universe of David Lynch and Stanley Kubrick' and 'Jazzdalamenti: a Jazz Tribute to Angelo Badalamenti'.
Onstage, 'Electronic Penderecki' will feature a chamber group made up of solo musicians from the prestigious Sinfonietta Cracovia orchestra, which made its successful debut at FIMUCITÉ last year, along with renowned Polish soloists Piotr Lato, on lead clarinet, and Maciej Zimka, on accordion. Conducted by Katarzyna Tomala Jedynak, this production will pay homage to Polish composer and conductor Krzysztof Penderecki, who died in 2020 and is famous for the unmistakeable compositional style in his atonal works, some of which have been part of the soundtracks of classic horror films like 'The Shining' or 'The Exorcist'. A series of pieces especially arranged will be performed at the concert, which will also feature Juno Reactor, a pioneering group of psychedelic trance, trip hop and electronic music from the United Kingdom, after making their spectacular FIMUCITÉ debut last year in symphonic concert 'Cyberpunk Remastered Vol 1'. The second part will be eminently dedicated to Angelo Badalamenti, whose career was marked by the creative tandem he formed with the great director David Lynch, which resulted in mythical scores such as 'Twin Peaks', 'Blue Velvet' or 'Mulholland Drive', among others. Concert co-financed with funds from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Cultural Promotion Fund of the Republic of Poland.
The tribute to Badalamenti, who died at the end of 2022, will continue on Saturday at the 'Jazzdalamenti' concert, a fascinating journey through the composer's work in a Big Band-style musical treatment. Prestigious composer Joseph LoDuca, a close relative and friend of the maestro and accomplished jazz guitarist, has taken charge of the exceptional arrangements and will participate in this concert, performed by the Big Band de Canarias, under the musical direction of prestigious saxophonist Kike Perdomo. One of the great voices of the Festival, Esther Ovejero, will also take part, singing some of the most popular songs created by Badalamenti for film and television.
Videogame Music
On Sunday, July 9th, the Paraninfo de la Universidad de La Laguna hosts the concert 'Heroes del Píxel', in which the music written for video games by Danish composer Jesper Kyd, famous for his works for sagas such as 'Hitman', 'Assassin's Creed' or 'Borderlands', will take center stage. The author will visit the Festival and attend the concert, which will be performed by the Joven Orquesta Sinfónica de Fimucité, made up of students from the Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Canarias, conducted by José Antonio Cubas, and with the participation, for the first time, of the Coro Polifónico de la Universidad de La Laguna. The programme, which will excite video game fans, will include numerous world premieres.
Soprano Carmen Acosta, closely linked to the educational project headed by the Joven Orquesta de FIMUCITÉ, will also perform at this concert.
Symphony Concerts
The big finale of FIMUCITÉ 17 will be the symphonic concerts that the Auditorio de Tenerife will host on Friday 14th and Saturday 15th of July, performed by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, the Tenerife Film Choir and the Coro Polifónico de la Universidad de La Laguna, dedicated to the world of comics and its protagonists, heroes and villains alike, who have so inspired film and TV throughout history.
'Excelsior: The Legacy of Stan Lee' will offer a program in which the great soundtracks of Marvel and its cinematographic universe will be performed, as well as the adaptations of stories and characters of the iconic comic book publisher for television. Of particular note is the world premiere of the soundtrack to the film 'Werewolf by Night' by composer Michael Giacchino, also director of the film, expressly prepared for this concert. One of the studio's tentpoles will also be heard: Spider-Man and Danny Elfman's legendary soundtrack for Sam Raimi's films, alongside titles such as 'The Incredible Hulk', 'X-Men', 'Black Panther' or 'The Avengers'. Guest conductor Salvador Vázquez will conduct this recital, which will begin with the Spanish Audiovisual Music Awards ceremony and the performance of a suite based around the winning pieces in the different categories, composed by Alberto Torres, Manel Gil-Inglada, Pablo Cervantes, Iván Palomares and Dani Trujillo.
Diego Navarro will conduct closing concert 'Gods and Detectives', dedicated to DC Comics, a program in which the soundtracks that have accompanied superheroes on the big screen such as Superman and Batman, villains like the Joker, and other characters from the noir genre, like The Crow, will be performed. A standout of this concert will be the performance of the score of 'The Batman', also by Giacchino, along with the suite from now legendary film '300', by Tyler Bates. In addition, we will hear the soundtracks to 'Man of Steel´ and 'Superman', as well as the world premiere of 'The Killing Joke', by Lolita Ritmanis, among others.
These concerts will feature renowned guests, such as Tyler Bates himself, a regular collaborator of James Gunn and Zack Snyder and composer of the music for '300', 'Guardians of the Galaxy', 'Deadpool 2', 'Watchmen', or the 'The Punisher' series, accompanied by Lola Bates (vocals and piano) and Sami Bates (vocals and electric bass).
Also returning to FIMUCITÉ, the Dynamic Music Partners, comprised of composers Lolita Ritmanis, Michael McCuistion and Kristopher Carter, who have written the music for several Marvel and DC animated films, and extraordinary drummer Greg Ellis, whose performances have been part of more than 200 film, television and video game soundtracks, including '300', 'Iron Man', 'Guardians of the Galaxy' or 'Assassin's Creed', returns as a guest musician. Francesco Panico, Fran León and Esther Ovejero will take part amongst other solo singers.
FIMUCITÉ FILM SCORING ACADEMY 2023
Elsewhere, between Monday, July 10th and Saturday, July 15th, the eighth edition of the FIMUCITÉ Film Scoring Academy will be held, which includes an outstanding program of free master classes and round tables, with limited capacity, which will take place in the Sala Multipropósito del Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Tenerife, in Las Mantecas (La Laguna) and at the Auditorio del Espacio Cultural CajaCanarias, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
The list of speakers includes authors as prominent as Ben Watkins (Juno Reactor), award-winning composer and arranger for film, games, and contemporary music Jan Sanejko, BATFA-winning Danish composer Jesper Kyd ('Assassin's Creed', 'Hitman'), orchestrator and arranger Benoit Grey, drummer Greg Ellis, one of the most in-demand professionals in the post-production phase of big-budget films, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Lolita Ritmanis and her Dynamic Music Partners labelmates Michael McCuistion and Kristopher Carter, the expert in sound techniques in the field of streaming Sara López and various guest composers attached to Musimagen.
Coordinated by Pedro J. Mérida, the FIMUCITÉ Academy is one of the most anticipated parallel activities of the festival, an annual symbol of FIMUCITÉ's commitment to specialized training in this field, offering a unique opportunity to students and professional musicians interested in the creation of music for the audiovisual format. Audiovisual composers, music producers, arrangers, music software developers, sound engineers, percussionists, streamers, and even film producers and directors, video game developers, 2D and 3D animators, animation scriptwriters and young people with musical and audiovisual concerns are part of of the target audience of the different training modules.
El Festival Internacional de Música de Cine de Tenerife (FIMUCITÉ), the oldest event in this genre in Europe, directed by acclaimed composer and conductor Diego Navarro, is sponsored by Cabildo de Tenerife, el Organismo Autónomo de Cultura del Ayuntamiento de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, el Organismo Autónomo de Actividades Musicales del Ayuntamiento de San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Sinfónica de Tenerife, Auditorio de Tenerife, Instituto Canario de Desarrollo Cultural y Volcano Teide Experience; with the special collaboration of Parque Científico y Tecnológico de Tenerife, Tenerife Innova, Fondo de Desarrollo de Canarias, Fundación Disa, Emmasa, Fundación SGAE, Fundación “la Caixa” via CaixaBank, Fundación CajaCanarias, AUDI as the official Festival car, and Fundación Diario de Avisos, Grupo Plató del Atlántico and Televisión Canaria as principal media partners. FIMUCITÉ celebrates its 17th edition from the 30th of June to the 15th of July 2023.