During his exhibition, held at the Salón Dorado, Jorge Telerman also announced the members of the new artistic team that will accompany him.

This afternoon in the Golden Room of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the General Director of the first coliseum Jorge Telerman made a presentation in which he described the axis of his management for the coming seasons. The event was attended by the new members of the artistic team, including Jan Latham Koenig (Music Director), Pablo Maritano (Programming and Production Director), Diana Theocharidis (Director of the Experimentation Center), Marcelo Ayub (Director of Studies) and Mario Galizzi (Director of the Stable Ballet). Verónica Cangemi, the renowned soprano from Mendoza who shines in the world, will lead two very ambitious activities such as the Festival of Baroque Music and Opera en Camino.

Referents of Argentine culture, journalists, and officials of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, such as the Minister of Culture Enrique Avogadro, also participated in the conference.

“In three years we will be celebrating the centenary of the Teatro Colón. The Colón is so identified with the City of Buenos Aires that, like her, it also has two foundations. In 1908 this majestic building was inaugurated, and in 1925 the stable bodies were created and its operation began as we know it now, as an integral producer of its shows. Like an art factory”, were the opening words of Jorge Telerman’s speech.

“Until 1925, European staging and companies were fully contracted to be staged on our stage. As of that year, the Colón stopped being a spectator and began to be an art producer. With the very good consequences that this brought about. It is from this Teatro Colón, the one that began in 1925, which we are going to talk about, the one that not only has this incredible architectural heritage but also the one that summons its artists, designs its cultural policy and, above all, has the hundreds of workers who make it possible every day that this theater is what it is”, he continued.

Then, Jorge Telerman took the opportunity to highlight that: “All public institutions evolve to the rhythm of changes and continuities. We thought so and talked with the Head of Government and with the Minister of Culture when they entrusted me with the care of one of the most precious assets in Argentina. It is not the first time that I have been involved with this wonderful theater and that helps me to take on this challenge as an honor but above all as a responsibility. The responsibility of those of us who manage public assets has basic premises: The first and essential, when the time comes, is to hand over the institution to our successor, in equal or better conditions than those received.

“The other premises follow from this: reject all refoundational fantasy. Our institutions, as happens with all of our national history, alternate moments of light and shadow. But, in the case of the Teatro Colón, the bright moments are infinitely greater than the dark ones. And that is what we have to honor. We are not here to give ourselves personal pleasures. Defending heritage then is defending the theater and what happens there, that is why the Colón has to be for everyone but not for everything; it is taking care of the conditions employment of those who work there,” he concluded.

From left to right: Marcelo Ayub, Diana Theocharidis, Pablo Maritano, Jorge Telerman, Jan Latham Koenig y Mario Galizzi. Foto: Juan José Bruzza.

Announcements

Regarding the artistic future of the coming seasons, the general director of the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Jorge Telerman, stated: “We will commission operas, symphonic music and choreographic works, and we will do it for our national artists and creators. Artists and creators from here and now. Then, when we present the 2023 season, the relevant place that we want to give to Argentine creations and artists will be seen. Thinking about what the Colón is and what the Colón is for implies thinking about policies and translating them into actions.”

There will be a series of new subscriptions, aimed at new audiences. Cross subscriptions between ballet, concerts and operas, special promotions at very affordable prices, as well as actions with schools.

With regard to artistic training, the Chamber Opera will be integrated into the new performance and training space in opera, not only as a professional training workshop but also as a seedbed, working in a very strong relationship with the Higher Institute of Art of the Colon Theater.

Starting in 2023 and 2024, the season will have one guest country per year. This will encourage the exchange between artistic creations and will be a vehicle to show the productions of the theater abroad. The first guest will be Italy, cradle of great artists, teachers, and composers who have given universal classical music. Among the personalities of this European nation who have passed through the Colón in Buenos Aires, Toscanini, Panizza, the composer of Aurora who was Puccini’s assistant, stand out, among many others.

Before concluding the presentation, Jorge Telerman highlighted: “The Colón must never cease to be that place capable of awakening the dreams of those who still do not know that he will be an artist. And it must not cease to be, either, that universe in which someone can discover that, without knowing it, they loved opera, or ballet, or symphonic music or current explorations in the poetics of sound”.

Jorge Telerman during his speech in the Golden Room. Photo: Juan José Bruzza.