Page 13 - AT

A13
Friday 5 July 2019

Aruba Symphony Festival Introduces VIP Access Tickets

ORANJESTAD — The Aruba Symphony Festival and Acad-
emy is an international event where every year, first-class
musicians from around the globe make Aruba their des-
tination. During these 12 intensive days of music-making,
guest artists and students from more than 15 countries
give the happy island an unforgettable experience with
full-house concerts, workshops, conferences and classes
led by celebrated international artists. Most of these con-
certs are FREE, some have a small admission and NEW is
that the festival offers VIP packages this year. This is an
event you don't want to miss. Aruba Today will have more
on this program and the participants in future editions.

The fifth edition of the Aruba Symphony Festival will in-
augurate on July 17 at Cas di Cultura with the participa-
tion of the women's choir Den Harmonia and the Santa
Ana School (Noord) children's choir under the direction
of the Aruban Opera soprano Tica Giel and accompa-
nied by the legendary Aruban pianist Johnny Scharbaay.
Their program consists mostly of traditional Aruban songs.
Tica also will sing some numbers. After the performance
of the singers, the world renowned Venezuelan pianist
Edith Peña will play Variations on the theme “Ah, vous
dirai-je, maman!” C Major. KV 265 W. A. Mozart; following
this, Randolph Kelly, the principal violist of the Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra will join Edit to play “Arpeggione”
Sonata D. 821 – F. Schubert, and to end the evening's pro-
gram, Edith will combine with Adam Liu to play J. Brahms'
Cello Sonata No. 1 Op. 38. Adam Liu has been Professor
of music at Duquesne University for over 11 years. He is
the assistant principal cellist of the Pittsburgh Symphony
Orchestra.
During the following 10 days after July 17th, Aruba will be
in the grip of concerts by over 100 world-renowned musi-
cians and conservatory-level music students. As part of
the Academic program, the Festival will also feature the
internationally well-known Dr. Benjamin Zander who will
give his world acclaimed lecture, "The Art of Possibilities."

VIP Package
Responding to requests from fans of the Symphony Festi-
val, the Board of Directors has introduced the VIP Access
ticket. The VIP Access ticket costs Afls 200.00. It is valid for
all concerts and other events staged by the Aruba Sym-
phony Festival. It is the ticket of admission at the concerts
where admission is charged, it guarantees seating in the
reserved VIP seating section at all venues, whether it is
at Cas di Cultura, Ritz-Carlton, Casibari Café, Paseo Her-
encia or on board the Freewinds, and it is the invitation
to the cocktail at Cas di Cultura following the opening
concert where the guests can mingle with the musicians.

The Story behind the Festival
Simon Gollo is founder and President of the Aruban not-
for-profit Nuevo Mundo Foundation that organizes and
produces the Aruba Symphony Festival and Academy,
of which he is also the Artistic Director, its heart and soul.
Gollo has given some 30 concerts in tens of countries all
over the world during the last twelve months. Next month
he will go on a three nations' tour, Czech Republic, Ger-
many and Austria, as a member of Q-arte String Quartet
of Bogotá, Colombia. Later this year he will be directing
orchestras at several concerts in Brazil, and Simon has
also been invited to direct orchestras in Vietnam in 2020.

Continued on Page 14