The Spanish Enrique Lapaz Lombardo starred in the launching of the 42nd edition of the International Piano Festival organized by the Universidad Industrial de Santander, to be held between August 4 and 23.
“Bucaramanga welcomed me with open arms, its people and the work of dissemination of the Festival is fantastic and exemplary among young and old. This event is important because it is essential for the cultural life of Colombia, this year’s theme is relevant and necessary,” said Lapaz Lombardo, who performed works by romantic composers such as Chopin, Schumann and Listz.
Mexico, Bulgaria, Germany, Cuba, the United States, Russia and Italy are the countries invited to the International Piano Festival 2025, which will include 10 gala recitals, more than 80 concerts in non-conventional venues, 15 recreational and pedagogical days, 3 plastic arts exhibitions and will be held in 12 municipalities of Santander.
This year, the event aims to honor the sonorous legacy of the piano and transform it into a living memory inspired by black and indigenous traditions, with rhythms that vibrate and stories that dream.
“It is an honor to present again the International Piano Festival, we will have a different theme, Latin American, indigenous, Afro-descendant and this is because we know and recognize diversity; here within the UIS there are different communities and we have that richness that makes us present. With the Festival we want to bring those roots and what has allowed us to build our identity and cultural heritage,” said Juliana Costo Preciado, UIS cultural director.
The International Piano Festival was born in 1984 and since then it has become the largest piano competition in Colombia and the most traditional in the cultural environment of the city.
“For more than four decades the International Piano Festival has served as a platform for great pianists to emerge. It has also had great exponents of this instrument at national and international level, which has made this Festival one of the most important bastions of Santander,” said Juan Manuel Hernández-Morales, artistic director of the Festival.
All events are free and you will soon be able to reserve your ticket in the Tiquetera UIS, web page where you will see the detailed program of the Festival.
This cultural event is supported by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge, the Government of Santander, the Secretariat of Culture and Tourism, the Mayor’s Office of Bucaramanga, the Municipal Institute of Culture and Tourism (Imct), Essa, the Bucaramanga Chamber of Commerce, Cajasán, Teatro Santander, Hotel Chicamocha, Cacique Centro Comercial, Fundación Avilés, Crepes & Waffles and the Association of Graduates of the Universidad Industrial de Santander (Aseduis).
