Perianes, San Diego Symphony Orchestra & Payare

Rafael Payare is one of the great names emerging from the extraordinary Venezuelan orchestral conducting school after Gustavo Dudamel. Trained in El Sistema and with an international career in full projection, he makes his debut at the Palau de la Música Catalana leading the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, of which he is the music director. He presents a programme sharing a single unifying thread: the meeting of Western music with popular influences from diverse cultures. This thread unites three works from very different origins and languages. Kauyumari, by Gabriela Ortiz, a Mexican composer invited by the Palau in the 2025-26 season and winner of several Grammy awards, is inspired by Aztec culture; the West Side Story Symphonic Dances, by Bernstein, bring the rhythms of Puerto Rico and the energy of New York to the orchestra, while the Suite from The Magic Flute, by Bartók, evokes the sounds of the Far East from an expressionist language, in the context of the First World War. The counterpoint is provided by the Schumann Piano Concerto, one of the composer's masterpieces and one of the most popular works of the romantic repertoire. Virtuoso, but also profoundly lyrical, it will feature Javier Perianes, a pianist who is a regular at the Palau, in a work that brings together all the ingredients to fully enjoy his performance.