Cantabria and the city of Santander host the Santander Encounter of Music and Academy, and offer their best scenarios at the service of this wonderful educational and musical project, a one-of-a-kind international event in the world years SantanDER ENCOUNTER OF MUSIC AND ACADEMY CANTABRIA 2001—2021 Paloma o’Shea Founding President of the Albéniz Foundation he Santander Music and Academy Encounter was born alongside the beginning of this century. I had visited Tanglewood Music School in Massachusetts, led by Leon Fleisher, and saw that the concepts of a Tsummer music festival and an academy merged there with a level of perfection that was difficult to achieve in Europe. At the same time, there was an increasingly evident gap in the music season in Santander and the entire region. With these two realities in mind, the Albéniz Foundation designed the Encounter of Music and Academy, and offered it to the Government of Cantabria. Their response was immediate and positive and, since then, both entities promote the project side by side each year. For its part, the Santander City Council enthusiastically joined the initiative. In addition, the Menéndez Pelayo International University, the University of Cantabria, and many private companies in the region decided to collaborate on a project that, from the onset, enjoyed the public’s favor. During these years, the Encounter has hosted top international academic experts and performers of each instrument. Their names are included in this book, but I would like to remember here one who was the soul of the Encounter every time he came: our dear Professor Dmitri Bashkirov, who has just left us. Successive generations of young musicians from the best schools in Europe have been coming to Santander to work with him and with other great artists of the Encounter. Each year, Maestro Péter Csaba, the Artistic Director of the Encounter, travels to select, one by one, these extraordinary young musicians in auditions. During the concerts, when professors play chamber music pieces with the young performers participating in the Encounter, we bear witness to musical moments of an unusual intensity. The pages that follow show how, over these years, we have fulfilled the objectives we had set: Supporting young musicians, bringing music closer to people, enriching the musical offer of the region and, above all, strengthening the position of Santander and Cantabria as places of reference in the international musical scene. I would like to thank the Government of Cantabria and, very especially its President, Miguel Ángel Revilla and its Vice-President and Regional Minister of Universities, Equality, Culture and Sports, Pablo Zuloaga, as well as the City of Santander, led by its Mayor, Gema Igual, the magnificent rectors of the two universities, María Luz Morán and Ángel Pazos, as well as the individuals and companies who have joined the Encounter family. I encourage everyone to persevere in this project for the benefit of young people and music culture. miguel Ángel Revilla, President of Cantabria Culture and awareness antabria’s heritage embraces all senses. It transcends the material and rises to the spiritual order when the primary sound of Nature, and its poetic interpretation in the form of music, emerge from its Cmountainous landscapes, valleys, and coast. Cantabria is proud of its musical tradition, the result of a generous vocation in all the cultural and artistic disciplines, as prolific as the rain that revitalizes our landscapes. Although expressed in the personal traits of each people, music is, first and foremost, a universal language that unites men and women from all five continents. Since the beginning of this century, Cantabria’s musical heritage has been further enhanced thanks to the Encounter of Music and Academy that now marks its 20th anniversary. This Autonomous Community embraced, from day one, this extraordinary cultural initiative, knowing that it was a sure bet to promote this land as a musical international benchmark. The Encounter of Music and Academy is today, 20 years later, one of our greatest cultural flagships. An extraordinary opportunity to boost the great musical talents of the future in our region, and to do so hand in hand with the most renowned contemporary masters. And at the same time, it is a unique occasion to enjoy Music, in capitals, in all corners of our geography. I cannot stress enough the enormous work of the Albéniz Foundation and the commitment and dedication of its President, Paloma O’Shea, in favor of musical culture and the promotion of young talented musicians. And I will never stop thanking her for her contribution to the cultural growth of Cantabria. gema igual Mayor of Santander or 20 years, the city has been flooded with the best music, thus extending the cultural prestige of Santander throughout the world, and enriching the life of its residents. FFor the city of Santander, the Encounter of Music and Academy, together with the FIS and the academic activity of the UIMP, embody the most important and attractive cultural offer of the summer season, and are a reference for the whole country. An event that affords this city unrivalled prestige and quality. I do not think there is another place in the world that hosts, for such a limited time, the greatest artists and the best professionals in the music world. For the City Council it is an honour to host part of the development of this En- counter, not only because it promotes the city outside our borders, but because it reaffirms the city’s commitment to the dissemination and empowerment of cultur- al activities, from the smallest to the most relevant, such as this Encounter, which undoubtedly is our greatest Feast of Music, in capital letters. The Encounter provides a one-of-a-kind opportunity for its participants, but it is also a chance for the people of Santander, Cantabria and all the people who visit us during these dates, as it offers the possibility to attend unforgettable music events, hand in hand with the best talents and professionals at the international level. Culture offers a necessary and important lifeline for society; it helps achieve balance, humanity, sensitivity, and presents us with points of union and identity. Therefore, I encourage locals and visitors to make the most of this cultural win- dow that will boost the city and motivate citizens to go out and enjoy good music in emblematic landmarks of Santander. Julia SÁnchez abeal CEO - Albéniz Foundation t is often said that music brings people together and contributes to the cohesion of communities. The Encounter of Music and Academy has been uniting and conducting “encounters” of various kinds for twenty years. IEvery summer, throughout the month of July, this gathering that combines music education and performance with the participation of young musicians and their peers from all over Europe, as well as with the most experienced and prestigious professors of the international scene, takes place. Furthermore, the Encounter is a common ground where musicians meet with spectators and, so do the public authorities with civil society, in one of the achievements that seem to me particularly significant of this project. It is not common for public and private entities to work together with this degree of effectiveness and mutual trust, in favor of an objective that truly deserves it, such as putting the best music within the reach of all, and supporting the creativity of young people. I believe that the heads of the Regional Government provide a magnificent example in this regard every year, and the same applies to the members of Santander City Council, and the municipality and entities that host the concerts. Both the Albéniz Foundation, as well as the companies and individuals that support the Encounter are very proud of this public-private partnership. The impact of the Encounter on society is mainly concentrated in moments of musical magic that, thanks to the artistic and organizational talent of Maestro Péter Csaba, take place every afternoon in the two halls of the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria, and in 100 venues throughout the region, but its impact is also shown in its figures: through free or very affordable concerts, we have reached 335,000 spectators to this date, in addition to the thousands who have followed the 100 concerts that we have broadcast in live streaming. We have also had more than 1,000,000 visits to our website. If we add the concerts for families and the “Enjoy the Music” workshops, I think we are fulfilling the objective of bringing music closer to everyone. The Encounter has also managed to ensure that 1,260 international musicians link their memory of Santander and Cantabria to the initial years of their careers. I think it is, in fact, encouraging that 51% of them are women. Moreover, the Encounter has taken the name of this city and this region outside our borders, when the Encounter’s Orchestra visited Santiago de Compostela, the Salle Pleyel in Paris, the Monastery of El Escorial, and the Museum of Evolution in Burgos. Those of us who are convinced of the transformative power of culture and, in particular, of music, welcome the impact welcome the impact of the Encounter and hope to make it even more intense in the future. maeStRo PéteR cSaba Artistic Director of the Encounter 20 Years OF tHe FEAST OF MUSIC he wonderful city of Santander, the beautiful and soft atmosphere of Cantabria, the friendly and warm ways of its people, have welcomed our music and our presence for more than 20 years. This backdrop provides the best scene and Tenvironment for such a musical happening, now known as one of the best festivals of this kind in the international music scene.