The XII International Organ Festival will offer nine concerts this year to continue being a world reference

Benidorm International Organ Festival will celebrate its twelfth edition this year, a trajectory that has helped it to consolidate itself as a national and international benchmark and that each year features the most prestigious musicians and organists in the world.

This 12th edition was presented this morning by the Councilor for Culture, Jaime Jesús Pérez, who was accompanied by the two artistic directors of the event, Juan Antonio Espinosa and Benantzi Bilbao. In that presentation, the councillor highlighted that "around 2,000 people enjoyed the concerts of this festival last year and this year the number will increase."

There will be nine concerts in total, one each month except for the three summer months and each of them will take place on the last Friday of each month at 8 p.m. in the church of San Jaime.

The cycle will begin this coming January 26 with Gabrielle Giacomelli. He will be followed by Daniel Oyarzábal (February 23), Miguel Ripoll (March 22), Walter D'arcangelo (April 26), Cristina García Banegas (May 31), the students of the organ speciality of the Professional Conservatory of Música de Alicante (June 15), Ugo Spanu (October 25), Fabio Macera (November 30) and the Christmas concert by Benantzi Bilbao, the choir of the University of Alicante and conducted by Shlomo Rodríguez ( December 14th).

The councillor thanked the parish for "the predisposition it has to make the festival possible", which also means that "we have the organ running so that people can enjoy it and thus we avoid that if it is not played for a long time it would later be more complicated to get it ready.” Pérez also explained that the contest serves "so that residents and tourists can see the possibilities that the organ offers with an endless number of modalities and varieties."

Juan Antonio Espinosa has highlighted, for his part, that last year “the festival was a success with the attendance of so many people who came to see it” and has expressed confidence that “this year it can be even better because the poster is a very high level.”

In that sense, Benantzi Bilbao has stressed that the Benidorm event “is very well known at European and global level”, something that he has illustrated by stating that “a multitude of emails from prestigious musicians who offer to perform arrive in the festival's email.” Bilbao has given the example of Cristina García Banegas, “one of the greatest”, who will be in Benidorm in May. “It is a luxury because the festival has an impressive global package,” he added.