Unicaja and the Oviedo Opera Foundation have renewed their partnership agreement to bring opera, for yet another year, to schoolchildren in Asturias and family audiences. With this new agreement, the bank continues as a Benefactor Sponsor for the 79th Oviedo Opera Season, which takes place at the Campoamor Theatre.
Gemma Sotorres, Unicaja’s head of Corporate Image, Sponsorships and Stakeholder Relations, and Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Ovejero, president of the Oviedo Opera Foundation, have signed this agreement, which will also support the family show ‘About Shakespeare’.
“We believe it is essential to facilitate young people’s access to culture and, in particular, to opera, and doing so in partnership with the Oviedo Opera is a guarantee of quality. We are confident that this new production will help to enrich the leisure time of schoolchildren and their families, as well as spark their interest in opera,” said Gemma Sotorres.
She added that, “for Unicaja, it is vital to collaborate on projects that bring richness and identity to our regions, especially those where, as in Asturias, we have such deep-rooted roots”.
For the Oviedo Opera Foundation, as the institution’s president, Juan Carlos Rodríguez-Ovejero, has pointed out: “It is essential to promote the art form and create new opportunities to bring people closer to opera, particularly amongst younger audiences. We are committed to continuing our work to ensure that opera reaches more people and to spark, from an early age, an interest in and a love of music and opera. Family shows are of particular importance to us. They provide a wonderful gateway for children and young people to discover the world of opera in a way that is accessible, engaging and tailored to them.”
Projects such as ‘About Shakespeare’, he added, “are precisely designed to meet this objective of broadening and renewing our audiences, and ensuring that opera continues to be part of the cultural life of the younger generations. And this would not be possible without the support of Unicaja, whose commitment to culture and to Asturias is essential for developing initiatives of this kind. We are deeply grateful to Unicaja for sharing this vision and for backing the Oviedo Opera as a means of bringing culture to young people and helping to build new audiences for the future.”
‘About Shakespeare’
‘About Shakespeare’ is a multidisciplinary production by the Oviedo Opera Foundation that combines singing, theatre and dance to pay tribute to the English playwright. The show is touring various venues across Asturias, with its next stops being the Teatro Jovellanos in Gijón on 25 November and the Teatro Filarmónica in Oviedo on 15 December, as well as the Teatro Auditorio in Siero on 19 February 2027.
The cast comprises Vilma Ramírez (soprano), Paula Iragorri (mezzo-soprano), Marcos Suárez (piano), Carlos Mesa (actor) and Olimpia Oyonarte (dancer). The production is based on an idea by Lino V. Mallo, who also directs, with choreography by Olimpia Oyonarte and Alba Delgado as assistant director and stage manager. The programme features a selection of scores that various composers have dedicated to the works of William Shakespeare, including Thomas Morley, Giuseppe Verdi, Erik Satie and Igor Stravinsky.
The production explores the stories and philosophical questions present in the playwright’s works through a musical journey that spans from Elizabethan refinement to modernity. Among the selected pieces is ‘Socrate’ by Erik Satie, which engages in a dialogue with Shakespearean tragedy on the human condition and destiny.
79th Season of the Oviedo Opera
The 79th Season of the Oviedo Opera opened last September with ‘Sorrow’, a programme combining two works: Gustav Mahler’s ‘Kindertotenlieder’ and Giacomo Puccini’s ‘Suor Angelica’.
The programme will continue in October with Donizetti’s ‘Maria Stuarda’, which will be performed at the Teatro Campoamor in Oviedo on the 9, 11, 14 and 17. In November, Verdi’s ‘Macbeth’ will be staged, with five performances scheduled for the 13, 15, 18, 20 and 21. Meanwhile, Puccini’s ‘Manon Lescaut’ will be staged on 11, 13, 16, 18 and 19 December.
The season will conclude with Mozart’s ‘Così fan tutte’, a work which, like the previous ones, brings tonal balance and rounds off a programme designed in accordance with ’s criteria of stability, artistic coherence and diversity in the operatic experience. The performances will take place on 29 and 31 January and 3, 5 and 6 February 2027.
