This week marks the opening of the new season for Les Arts, as James Gaffigan and the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana launch a concert journey through Altea, Torrent, and Torrevieja. The program reflects a clear commitment to a robust backbone of performances and a concert tour designed to be accessible to every citizen across the region.
Les Arts’ music director and principal ensemble visit Palau Altea on Thursday, September 1, presenting a program drawn from the works of Espla, Mozart, and Schumann. The ensemble will perform first at the 2nd Auditori de Torrent, followed by a show at the Torrevieja Auditorium on Saturday, September 3. These appearances reinforce the festival’s aim to bring high-caliber music to multiple communities within a single season.
Gaffigan guides this tour through two premiere works newly added to the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana’s repertoire: Symphony No. 3 and Ren, alongside Schumann, and the intimate piece Spanish Lyric, Op. 54, arranged for piano and voice, with the Alicante edition curated by Peter Salinas. The Les Arts principal orchestra also presents Mozart’s Symphony No. 3 in its fourth concert of the tour, enriching the program with its signature breadth and energy.
The initiative forms part of Les Arts amb Tu, the programming strand designed to bring artistic activity and cultural assets from the theater directly to diverse municipalities across the Valencian Community. This bridging effort emphasizes local engagement and access, aligning performers with audiences in intimate and community-centered settings.
Last season featured lyric recitals, staged opera, chamber music, and a slate of symphonic evenings performed across Istanbul and more than twenty locales, underscoring the ensemble’s regional reach. The Center of Excellence operates as part of the Valencian Ensemble under the Valencia Community Orchestra umbrella, alongside the touring stage troupe Les Arts Volant, ensuring a portable yet high-caliber presentation portfolio. The current proposal maintains momentum into the 2022-2023 season, expanding opportunities for communities to experience live orchestral music in varied spaces.
Repertoire highlights include works by Berlioz, Bernstein, Brahms, Debussy, Mahler, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, and Strauss, performed in tandem with the Generalitat Valenciana Choir. These selections showcase the breadth and depth of the orchestral repertoire and underscore the collaborative spirit that fuels the festival’s programming. Together, these pieces illuminate the ensemble’s artistic voice and its role in celebrating the region’s musical heritage.
The tally for the season envisions sixteen performances and concerts spread across three provinces, all crafted to present a cohesive, locally anchored artistic event under the Les Arts umbrella. The plan places a premium on accessibility, community involvement, and the long-term mission of bringing high-quality music closer to home for audiences in Altea, Torrent, Torrevieja, and beyond, while highlighting the region’s distinctive culture and talent. [Citation: Valencian Ensemble and Les Arts program records, published by regional cultural authorities.]