The event, now in its 18th edition, will take place from October 10 to 21 on the stages of Jameos del Agua, Cueva de los Verdes and CIC El Almacén.
Lanzarote will once again become the epicenter of contemporary music this fall, with the celebration of the 18th edition of the Visual Music Festival.
This emblematic event organized by the Area of Culture of the Cabildo of Lanzarote, whose first edition took place in 1989 at the suggestion of the artist Ildefonso Aguilar, is a reference meeting for lovers of contemporary music and other avant-garde artistic expressions. Always in complete harmony with the natural spaces of the island, such as the auditoriums of Jameos del Agua or the Cueva de los Verdes.
The perfect integration of the new music and the volcanic island landscape awakened, from the beginning of the festival, the interest of contemporary musicians such as Brian Eno or Michael Brook, among others, making this event one of the most attractive and extraordinary encounters of avant-garde music in the world.
The Councilor for Culture, Jesús Machín, celebrates the development of “an event that fits perfectly with the uniqueness and aesthetic values of the island”, and appreciates the collaboration of Tourism Lanzarote and the Centers for Art, Culture and Tourism in the implementation of a project of this nature.
For his part, Ildefonso Aguilar, director of the Festival, defends that “events like this place the island at the forefront of art and provide a unique experience, consolidating Lanzarote as a cultural reference”.
PROGRAM
This year’s program, as usual, includes a careful selection of concerts and high quality film screenings.
Danish guitarist Jakob Bro, accompanied by Arve Henriksen and Joey Baron, will be in charge of opening this year’s program with his project UMA ELMO, a proposal full of whispered and hypnotic melodies. It will be on Wednesday, October 11 at the Jameos del Agua.
On Saturday 14, at 8 p.m., it will be time to enjoy one of the most anticipated concerts of this edition, that of the Lanzarote guitarist Diego Barber who, together with the excellent pianist Graig Taborn, will offer us a repertoire based on his multi-awarded work Tales, an epic dance of guitar and piano in which they fuse beauty, melody and emotion to create a unique listening experience.
The second week of the Festival kicks off on Wednesday 18 at CIC El Almacén with the concert of Akane, solo project of Carolina Machado, best known for being part of the group Gaf and La Estrella de la Muerte, with which she reimagines a fictional soundtrack of an unmade ‘road movie’, creating a very personal musical language composed of vintage pop songs, lush ambient landscapes and lo-fi electronica. For this occasion, it is accompanied by the visual work of local artist Pura Márquez.
The following day, again in Jameos del Agua, we will be able to enjoy a trio formed by Christina Vantzou, Michael Harrison and John Also Bennett, who present their unique proposal in a world premiere, which promises to take us on a deep and evocative sound journey.
On Friday, October 20, there will be a concert by the virtuoso pianist Moisés P. Sánchez, who will present his work Tractatus, a project in which music meets philosophy in a fascinating sound exploration, with styles that encompass classical, jazz, electronics, dodecaphonism and free improvisation, transcending the boundaries between genres.
And finally, the Festival’s concert program will conclude on Saturday, October 21 at the Cueva de los Verdes with the Polish cellist Dobrawa Czocher and her work Dreamscapes, a fascinating musical exploration of dreams in which Dobrawa takes us on a journey through the unconscious, to an alternative universe, where repetitive motifs, improvised arpeggios and mysterious bass lines paint increasingly fantastic soundscapes.
As usual, in addition to the concerts, the program will be complemented by the screening on October 10 and 17 of the documentary Island Songs, an audiovisual portrait of Iceland, the home country of musician Ólafur Arnalds, which explores the people, places and music of the island.
All concerts start at 20.00h, and tickets will be priced at 15€ and will be available soon through the Festival’s official website (www.festivaldemusicavisualdelanzarote.com).
This Festival is organized by the Department of Culture of the Cabildo of Lanzarote and has the collaboration of Lanzarote Tourism and the Centers of Art, Culture and Tourism.