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Peralada closes its 40th anniversary with an eye on the future

The fortieth edition reaches 96.4% occupancy and reinforces the commitment to creation, own commissions and international projection.

bonart peralada - 10/09/26

The Perelada Festival has closed its 40th edition with a balance sheet that consolidates the artistic model built over four decades and that emphasizes the future. With a 96.4% occupancy rate and eleven shows with sold-out tickets, the festival has reinforced its commitment to contemporary creation, its own commissions and the ongoing relationship with artists and composers.

The concert by Jordi Savall, Núria Rial and Les Musiciennes du Concert des Nations brought the summer program to a close at the Església del Carme with a tour of the Italian Baroque. The program, with works by Albinoni, Ferrandini, Geminiani and Vivaldi, featured Lina Tur Bonet, concertmaster and solo violinist, as one of its main protagonists. The presence of Savall, who turned 85 this year and received the Ernst von Siemens Prize, added a special dimension to an edition also marked by the recovery of heritage and the transmission of musical knowledge.

For the Festival's director, Oriol Aguilà, the celebration of the fortieth anniversary has been a 'conscious celebration', linked to the legacy of the project but presented with a clear desire for renewal. In this sense, the festival particularly values that the productions and premieres promoted in Peralada can continue their journey beyond the festival. Among these proposals are Diario di una madre , by Alberto García Demestres; NIU ; Estètica i massacre ; the premiere of Bernat Vivancos performed by Montserrat Torrent and Ronde , by Francesc Prat.

The ability to generate new audiences and give opportunities to emerging creators has been another of the highlights of the edition. The NIU project, starring the students of the Peralada Campus, has served to reinforce this desire to turn the festival into a space for training, residence and participation. Aguilà defends that Peralada must also consolidate itself as a reference for future artists of the Alt Empordà and as a space for cooperation with the territory.

The international projection has been reinforced with new alliances, among which the meeting with representatives of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb stands out, which has opened the door to future collaborations and a possible Mediterranean network of artistic exchange. At the same time, several shows from the edition have been recorded by RTVE and Catalunya Música, thus expanding the dissemination of the productions beyond Peralada.

The 40th anniversary will continue with the exhibition Festival Perelada: moments that transform. 40 years of history , which can be visited at the Peralada Castle Museum until the end of February 2027. The commemoration will also culminate at the Palau de la Música Catalana with the visit of the Bayreuth Festival Orchestra.

The focus is already on the fifth edition of the Easter cycle, which will incorporate a new work by Raquel García-Tomás, with a premiere scheduled for March 27, 2027, and the first performance in the cycle of Bach's St. John Passion , directed by Lina Tur Bonet.