The Symphony Orchestra of Tenerife owes its existence to a group of music lovers linked to the Fine Arts Society, where they created a small string orchestra in the 1930s, and to a group that was later formed in the composition and instrument ensemble classes at the recently inaugurated Music Conservatory. Thanks to his experience and personal abilities, Santiago Sabina was key in bringing together close to forty musicians, who included both students and amateur and professional musicians. The group, named Canary Isles Chamber Orchestra, made its debut on 16 November 1935 at the Guimerá Theatre. This was an ambitious project, both in terms of cultural projection and the creation of a reserve of musicians, which was intended to bring classical orchestral music close to the public and make them faithful by means of regular season tickets.
When the Civil War ended in 1939, the Canary Isles Chamber Orchestra Society was created. Although the Society ensured the orchestra’s maintenance, it also restricted entry to the concerts to members, with the only exception of the so-called popular concerts.
Performances were usually held at the Guimerá Theatre, although it occasionally appeared at the Parque Recreativo in Santa Cruz, the Taoro Hotel in La Orotava and the Leal Theatre in La Laguna, as well as the Teatro Circo de Marte in Santa Cruz de la Palma and the Pérez Galdós Theatre in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
During the 1940s, and particularly the 1950s, the orchestra’s activity intensified, with the participation of prestigious soloists, who were relatively easy to hire during their stops in the Isles on their way to the Americas. They were primarily pianists, violinists and singers, and included José Cubiles, Alicia de Larrocha and Victoria de los Ángeles. Conductors were also frequently hired, and always compared to Maestro Sabina, who remained at the head of the orchestra until his death in 1966.
This marked the beginning of a new era, which lasted from 1968 to 1987, under the direction of Armando Alfonso. This period was characterised by greater variety in the selection of works and, specially, by the fact that in 1978 it came to be run by the City Council, through a board of trustees that included both the Orchestra and the Municipal Music Band. In the early 1980s, having been renamed Symphony Orchestra of Tenerife, it came to be run by the Island Council of Tenerife through the Insular Music Board of Trustees.
The first step toward full professionalisation took place in the 1980s, when the first foreign musicians were hired. This initiative continued during the 1985-1986 season with Edmon Colomer, and was completed from 1986 onward by the honorary conductor, Víctor Pablo Pérez.
Under his direction, until 2006, the Symphony Orchestra of Tenerife reached the greatest heights in the ranking of national orchestras. Its tours, in Spain and abroad; its outstanding recordings of composers like Roberto Gerhard, or zarzuela works, which have granted it international recognition; its participation in national and international festivals, and its unfailing commitment to Spanish musical creation, with special attention to our popular heritage, and to the great symphonic and concert cycles of composers like Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler and Shostakovich, have made it the admired and beloved orchestra we enjoy today.
The arrival of Chinese maestro Lü Jia as artistic director in 2006 and as artistic director and chief conductor in 2007 is one more step toward meeting the ever-expanding aspirations of the orchestra, which yearns not only for greater international projection, but consolidation of its national and regional roots.
