Annual Report 2020

Fundación Banco Santander works in partnership with the artistic and educational programmes organised by Fundación Albéniz, which aims to promote culture and musical education.

Family Concerts

Due to the pandemic, the foundation cancelled the concerts featuring orchestras from the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía that it had scheduled for 2020 for Grupo Santander employees and their families at Auditorio El Solaruco in Grupo Santander City (Boadilla del Monte, Madrid). Instead, two virtual concerts were held on 15 November and 26 December on the foundation's YouTube channel.

Concerts for Schoolchildren

The Concerts for Schoolchildren series is an educational programme for schools, which aims to promote classical music among students at primary, secondary and baccalaureate levels. As a consequence of the restrictions imposed to halt the pandemic, only three concerts were organised in 2020. They were attended by 3,040 school pupils and 206 teachers from 67 schools in the Region of Madrid.

ReEncuentro Series

In summer 2020, Fundación Albéniz organised the ReEncuentro series in Cantabria, with a special programme of twenty concerts by musicians living in Spain. The foundation sponsored the chamber music concert by the pianists from Dúo del Valle and violinist Ana María Valderrama on 14 July at Sala Argenta at the Palacio de Festivales de Cantabria (Santander).

Fundación Banco Santander Piano Chair

Since 1991, the foundation has sponsored the Piano Chair at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía. The chair is led by teachers Dimitri Bashkirov and Galina Eguiazarova, with master classes from guest lecturers. During the lockdown, the school continued teaching students online, although the master classes were suspended.

Canal Escuela

Finally, the foundation also works with the educational project Canal Escuela, which provides free access to audiovisual content for public use on the website of the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía. The channel features more than 350 videos of concerts, master classes, music appreciation workshops and interviews with musicians visiting Spain.