MCB, International Music Competition Maria Canals Barcelona

This year’s Maria Canals International Music Competition takes place at the Palau de la Música Catalana, from 18 March to 1 April, and at several iconic sites, streets and squares in the city.

During this period, some hundred pianists from 27 different countries will be taking part in the competition and offering concerts throughout the city as part of the Maria Canals OFF-Competition.

One of this year’s notable novelties is the piano to be played by the finalists for the 57th Competition. It is a new CFX model, a 2.75 metre-long grand piano, which Yamaha has been working on for the last 19 years and which audiences will be able to hear for the first time in Spain during the Maria Canals Competition.

This year marks the first Maria Canals Competition not to be attended by its creator, Maria Canals i Cendrós, who died last July at the ripe old age of 96. This year’s competition is therefore aiming to pay a special tribute to its creator through an exhibition entitled A life in Music and a tribute event at the Palau de la Música.

This programme will kick off at Plaza Reial, where on Friday 18 March, OFF Maria Canals has organised a twelve-hour marathon in collaboration with the La Reial ens mou association.

MCB, Int'l Music Competition Barcelona

“La Reial ens mou”, new initiative in Barcelona

La Reial ens mou

Music, children’s shows, literary circles, workshops, wine tasting sessions: all this and much more can be found in Plaça Reial, thanks to Plaça Reial ens mou, an initiative that aims to broaden the range of cultural and leisure activities on offer in this iconic Barcelona square.

Roberto Tierz, who is the president of the Plaça Reial Friends and Traders Association, says the idea is for “the people of Barcelona to rediscover the Plaça Reial and enjoy the square“.

December saw “Raval Kids” and they have also started the Sunday mornings for children, with puppet shows, magic, storytelling and circus acts at the sala Tarantos. Since February they have been offering 30 minutes of jazz, to suit everybody, on Sunday mornings in sala Jamboree. What’s more, when the good weather arrives, there will be some open air activities, like musical aperitifs, to encourage music on the terraces.

La Reial ens mou also wants to make the most of the square’s gastronomic side and has therefore organised tea, coffee and wine tasting, led by tasters and wine experts, in the square’s bars and restaurants.

In short, the big aim is “the ‘reconquest’ of the square, for people to return to a square that has a great deal to offer and is a great unknown in the city“.

If you would like to know all the activities and events that the Plaça Reial Friends and Traders Association will organize with the new initiative, please visit the La Reial website.