Every great story has a first moment. It doesn’t happen when the curtain falls or when the pianist places his hands on the keyboard. It begins much earlier: in the silence that envelops the auditorium, in the audience’s anticipation, and in the shared excitement of knowing that an unforgettable experience is about to begin.
This is how the 43rd “Silence, Echo, and Memory” International Piano Festival, organized by the Industrial University of Santander, will begin—an event that, from August 10 to 22, 2026, will bring together artists and music lovers around the piano as a vehicle for connection, sensitivity, and memory.
The opening chapter of this new edition will be written by the renowned Taiwanese pianist Dr. Shun-Fu Chang, an internationally acclaimed performer who has taken his talent to major stages in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and who will arrive in Bucaramanga to perform the festival’s Opening Concert.
The performance will take place on Friday, July 17, at 7:00 p.m., in the Luis A. Calvo Auditorium at the UIS, and will mark the start of a two-week program that will transform the Industrial University of Santander into a venue for musical events of the highest artistic and academic caliber.
More than just a prelude, this concert is an invitation to experience the essence of the festival, whose theme, “Silence, Echo, and Memory,” evokes music’s power to transcend the moment, stir emotions, and linger in the memories of those who hear it.
The Industrial University of Santander invites the university community, the residents of Bucaramanga, and the general public to be part of this special moment and to join in the launch of one of the region’s most iconic cultural events.
Those interested in attending can purchase tickets through the UIS Ticket Office, available at: https://linktr.ee/TiqueteraUIS#FestivalInternacionalDePiano.
