SARA ILLANA
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​Current & Upcoming Projects

2022/23 Season

La Rioja Festival - since 2021

Co-funder and Executive Director
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La Rioja Festival brings the best music to one of the Spanish hidden gems, the region of La Rioja. Mostly known for its wine, La Rioja has some of the most beautiful patrimony in Spain, as well as breathtaking nature and trails. It is part of the Camino de Santiago, therefore it holds great historical importance, and it is considered the birthplace of the Spanish language. It is also famous for its gastronomy, being the region with more Michelin stars restaurants per capita. 

At La Rioja Festival, we bring together all those elements to create unique musical experiences, always with the best Spanish musicians. 


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Pablo Sainz-Villegas

Office Coordinator since Sept 2021

“I do what I do because I believe and have experienced a better world through music in our lives. Music is a perfect vehicle to tell stories, transmit values, erase borders, celebrate diversity and bring people together by sharing our emotions.”
- Pablo Sáinz-Villegas

Photo by 
Stephan Rabold at the Berliner Philhamoniker
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Past Management Projects

2019 past projects

Management projects: 
- Festival Internacional de Arte Sacro de la Comunidad de Madrid 2019 
- Clásicos en Verano 2018
- Festival Internacional de Arte Sacro de la Comunidad de Madrid 2018
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ROMANDELA,  original music.

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​ROMANDELA, original music. 2006 / 2017
Historical performance in early music instruments. Music from the Renaissance, Baroque and early Romanticism periods. 

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Forma Antiqva

General manager of Forma Antiqva through the season 2019/20 and 2020/21, 

Consisting of the core of brothers Pablo, Daniel and Aarón Zapico, Forma Antiqva is a Baroque music ensemble with a variable line-up that brings together the most outstanding performers of its generation. The group is considered by critics to be one of the most important and promising classical music ensembles in Spain.
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Verbier Festival

Since Summer 2019, Sara is the
​Verbier Festival Orchestra Manager, 2019 - 2021

The Verbier Festival Orchestra (VFO) is a rite of passage for today’s exceptional young orchestra musicians aged 18 to 28. It is recognized as one of the best training orchestras on the planet. Since its founding in 2000, the orchestra has brought together rising talents with the foremost conductors and soloists of our time. Nowhere else in the world does the Orchestra’s Music Director Valery Gergiev spend more time in one place each summer than in Verbier. In preparation for work with their formidable maestro and other distinguished conductors, VFO musicians receive two weeks of intensive coaching from musicians of New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

So-Do, El Sistema Croatia | April 7 - 15th 2017

This coming April I will join So-Do for two weekends of classes, rehearsals and lots of learning in their communities and orchestras in Pula & Zagreb. 
​Conducting, learning, sharing, all the best experiences! Stay tuned for updates. Coming soon!
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Arts Festivals Summit 2017 | May 3, 4 & 5

Wiesbaden, Germany | May 3, 4 & 5 2017
The Arts Festivals Summit will bring the festivals’ community together in such great diversity. Three days of meeting colleagues, information exchange and knowledge sharing, along with an insightful and enjoyable programme that will invite us to taste fantastic food, wine and visit cultural treasures from the region.
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The Edinburgh International Culture Summit brings together Culture Ministers, artists, thinkers and arts leaders from around the world to share ideas, expertise and best practice, with a view to inspiring positive change in cultural policy and investment. 
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Strisvara has been created to give voice to the women musicians of BR Hills. It is an 18-day residential collaboration between Indian Tribal, Indian and European musicians this September. The event will be followed up by connecting these musicians to avenues where they can perform regularly and develop as artistes. Strisvara is a Project of Hope from TreeonZ.
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International Music Festival of Vitoria | August 18-26th

Welcome to the tenth International Music Festival/Course Vitoria-Gasteiz (FCIMV). This year we will work once again with a number of teachers of international prestige.
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This year we will have the incorporation in our staff of the clarinetist Arno Piters, the viola Isabel Villanueva, Anna Noakes with the flute and the come back to the FCIMV of the harpist Gabriella Dall'Olio.

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Side by Side Gothenburg June 15-18th

Atelier for Young Festival Managers

Side by Side by El Sistema is a part of the long run preparation and celebration of Gothenburg’s 400-year anniversary in 2021. 
Children and young people from all over the world meet each year to sing, play and learn with loads of fun. Our goal is to unite 30,000 participants through Side by Side by El Sistema in 2021 and create the world’s largest music youth camp.
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The Festival Academy will hold the Atelier for Young Festival Managers in Budapest, Hungary, from June 2nd to the 8th in collaboration with the Armel Opera Festival. I will be one of the 45 selected participants for the 7-day training programme during which we will discuss all aspects of artistic programming and festival management with ten renowned festival directors.
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Festival Música en Segura | May 11 - 15th

Bilbao Flute National Convention. April 29 & 30th

For this 3rd edition I will be joining the organization of Música en Segura, a music festival in the quietest village you can imagine: Segura de la Sierra, 1200m. high, deep in the Segura and Cazorla National Park.
For the second year in a row I will be one of the accompanists of the AFE Bilbao. Three days full of masterclasses, international guests, concerts and exhibitions. I will update photos and new videos!
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In Harmony London @ Southbank Center | January 14-17th.

The 46 members of the Sistema England Young Leaders Orchestra gathered on 16 January at the Southbank Centre, for a day of discussion, rehearsal and performance in celebration of the residency of Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela. See below a selection of photos of the day, taken for Sistema England by Alistair Veryard.
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Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra | Side by Side Milano, Teatro all Scala, August 24 -31st

Sistema Europe presents the third Summercamp of SEYO-Sistema Europe Youth Orchestra in Milan from 21 to 30 August 2015, with over 200 young musicians from 27 countries of Europe and beyond.
Under the guidance of 30 teachers, tutors and four music directors, the young instrumentalists will practise together in an intense rehearsal period, culminating in two extraordinary concerts.

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Academy 2016 Música en Segura | Jaén, July 1-7th

The Academy 2016 at Música in Segura is an unique opportunity for six young string quartets to receive daily coaching from the Allegri String Quartet as well as participating in public concerts and masterclasses in stunning South Spain.
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ITF International Trombone Festival | Valencia, July 8 - 11th

For the first time in 2015, I was invited to be one of the accompanists of the International Trombone Festival organized by ITA at Valencia. Masterclasses, competitions, recitals and more!
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Musicora | Paris, Feb. 5/6/7

Musicora is an annual public event which gathers professionals and classical, jazz, traditional and world music enthusiasts during three days. For its 27th edition, Musicora settles in the Grande Halle de la Villette and offers a program full of events, concerts, showcases and workshops for musicians, professionals or amateurs.
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Side by Side 2015. Sistema Sweden | June 15 - 18

Side by Side by El Sistema is a global music youth camp where young people meet to play with a symphony orchestra, participate in choral singing, create and develop. With music as hub for creativity and passion we build bridges across people, culture and continents.
Watch our video of the very first day all the kids met for the first time and we all sang the Babumba! :)

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Superar Suisse @ Tonhalle | Zurich, June, 7th

The kids from Superar Suisse-Choir and Orchestra, Superar Orchester Vienna, Music Ensemble Conservatoire de Musique de Genève and BaBeLStrings Luzern together for the Summer Concert at the Tonhalle Zurich.
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 El Sistema conferences on Crete, Greece | April 7th, 2015.

So this was a very interesting opportunity to talk to some heads of music schools, and regional government in the beautiful island of Crete, in order to learn more about El Sistema inspired programs. El Sistema Greece coming soon? Let's find out!
Thanks to violinist Ioannis Petrakis and Panagiotis Simandirakis, Deputy Head of Education, Lifelong Learning and Employment at Chaniá, Crete, Greece, for making it possible to happen.
Con tecnología de Crea tu propio sitio web con las plantillas personalizables.
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