La Cuenca Religious Music Week It is preparing a new edition in 2026 with a program that combines tradition, heritage, and contemporary creation in a single cultural project. For several days, the city will once again become a benchmark for the sacred and spiritual music within and outside of Spain, with proposals ranging from medieval polyphony to contemporary premieres.
The festival, which is held coinciding with the Holy Week in Cuenca, has structured its next edition around the theme "PAX"A common thread runs through both the main concert programs and the parallel series. The idea of ​​peace, understood from a musical, spiritual, and historical perspective, serves as a meeting point for very different repertoires that engage in dialogue with each other in some of Cuenca's most symbolic spaces.
Inaugural concert at the Cathedral: Huelgas Ensemble and the program «Peace and War»
La Cuenca Cathedral It will once again be the grand, symbolic stage for the festival's opening. March 28, 2026 at 20:00 p.m. The concert that will officially open the 63rd Religious Music Week of Cuenca, with the presence of a top-level international training program: Huelgas Ensemble, Under the direction of Paul Van Nevel.
The inaugural program is titled "Peace and War" and proposes a journey through the European polyphony of the 15th century, structured around the famous melody L'homme armed, one of the most influential chants in Western musical history. This enigmatic and symbolically rich piece serves as the basis for a anonymous mass from Burgos dated around 1480, which constitutes the central axis of the concert.
Around that mass are situated other works by composers of the same period that explore, from the polyphonic language, the tension between conflict and concordThis duality perfectly aligns with the concept of "PAX" that guides this edition. The choice of this repertoire allows us to hear live how the Renaissance musical tradition addresses such human issues as war and peace, but from an aesthetic and spiritual perspective.
Huelgas Ensemble, founded in 1971, is considered one of the great European benchmarks in the interpretation of medieval and Renaissance music. His career, spanning more than fifty years of concerts and recordings dedicated to the revival of rarely performed repertoires, makes his presence in Cuenca a particularly significant event for music lovers. old music and, at the same time, it strengthens SMR's position within the international circuit.
Listen to this program inside the Cuenca CathedralThe venue, steeped in history and boasting unique acoustics, adds an experiential element difficult to replicate elsewhere. The organizers emphasize that this opening concert perfectly embodies the festival's philosophy: to unite architectural heritage, spiritual experience, and artistic excellence in the same event.
Dates, general structure of the festival and weight of current creation
The 2026 edition of the Cuenca Religious Music Week will take place from March 28 to April 4, having a program of 16 concerts encompassing a broad temporal, stylistic, and aesthetic range. Throughout these days, the public will be able to attend both large-scale symphonic-choral productions and more intimate recitals, as well as performances in unique venues throughout the city and its surroundings.
The festival does not limit itself to rescuing historical repertoires, but rather makes a firm commitment to the contemporary music and world premieresAlong these lines are the commissions made to contemporary composers, who find in the SMR a privileged framework for disseminating works that engage with the spiritual from the languages ​​of the 21st century.
Among these commissions, the presence of the composer from Castile-La Mancha stands out. Jesus Villa-RojoA leading figure in contemporary Spanish music, his participation strengthens the festival's connection with the region's music scene, while also solidifying Cuenca's position as a place where the repertoire of sacred music is constantly being renewed.
The program structure therefore combines major milestones of the European sacred tradition Featuring newly created works, reinterpretations, and experimental approaches to the religious and the transcendent, the SMR presents itself as a meeting place where centuries of sound history coexist, from the earliest polyphonies to electronic music applied to mystical texts.
Premiere of "Songs of the Soul in Peace" at the Cuenca Auditorium Theatre
One of the highlights of the agenda will be the concert of April 1 at 20:00 p.m. at the José Luis Perales Auditorium Theatre in Cuenca, where he Plural Ensemble, Under the direction of Fabian Panisello, will present the program entitled Songs of the soul in peace within the official program of the 63rd Religious Music Week.
This evening will feature the absolute premiere de Soul songs, a work commissioned by the festival Jesus Villa-RojoThe score is inspired by the texts of Saint John of the Cross, specifically in his well-known mystical chants, and proposes a musical reflection on the inner peace and the contemplative dimension of the human being. According to the composer himself, the work is based on novel compositional concepts, but without completely abandoning a language close to traditional mystical expressions.
Villa-Rojo's piece is part of a program that explores the sacred from diverse perspectives. Along with this premiere, the concert includes works by Johann Sebastian Bach reworked by Gyorgy Kurtag y Vladimir Tarnopolski, and Eurydice de Bruno Dozza y Change 's own Fabian Panisello, also presented as a premiere. All of this creates a journey where the Baroque tradition engages in dialogue with the languages ​​of contemporary music.
The vocal part of the concert will be performed by a specialized cast consisting of the soprano Celia Alcedothe countertenor Carlos Menathe bass-baritone Andreas Jankowitsch and the Japanese artist Ryoko Aoki, renowned voice performer wellThis combination of timbres allows us to tackle both the European repertoire and the more experimental sections of the program.
In addition, the project incorporates electroacoustic elements designed by Jacqueline ButzingeThese elements expand the sonic possibilities of the performance and underscore the festival's interest in integrating technology within a spiritual context. Far from breaking with tradition, the use of electronic media is presented as a way to delve deeper into the introspective dimension of the text and the listener's experience.
Plural Ensemble, founded and directed by Fabián Panisello, is one of the most active ensembles specializing in contemporary repertoire in Europe. Their participation in the Religious Music Week reinforces the festival's focus on... premieres, experimentation and live creationconsolidating Cuenca as a place where sacred music is not only preserved, but continues to grow.
SMR Open Cycle: young talents, choirs and activities in the city
Alongside the main concerts, the Cuenca Religious Music Week maintains its commitment to Open SMR, a parallel program that seeks to bring the festival closer to new audiences and give visibility to local groups and young musiciansIn 2026, this program will consist of five concerts that combine choral recitals, educational activities and performances in unusual settings.
The series is organized in collaboration with Pedro Aranaz Professional Music Conservatory from Cuenca and is especially designed for those who, for various reasons, may have more difficulty attending the main concerts. SMR Abierta is aimed at all types of audiences, but places special emphasis on the youth participation and in the musical fabric of the city itself.
The main novelty of this edition is that the closing concert of the cycle will be performed by choir winner of the 2025 National Grand Prize for Choral Singing, recognition that fell to the White Voices Choir of the Professional Conservatory of Music of TenerifeThis group will perform in the Cuenca Theatre-Auditorium, the well-known Mass for Peace (The Armed Man. A Mass for Peace) of Carl Jenkins, a work closely linked to the theme of the festival and its motto "PAX".
The SMR Abierta calendar includes, among other events, the inaugural concert of the cycle On March 21st in the chamber hall of the Auditorium, starring the Sotto Voce Choir, linked to the Ismael MartÃnez MarÃn Municipal School of Music and Performing Arts. This is in addition to the celebration of the 4th edition of the Pedro Aranaz Competition March 23 at the Conservatory, and the winners' concert on the 25th in the chamber hall, both with Free entry until complete seats.
The program is completed with a concert in the Sacred Heart of Jesus senior residence On March 26, a performance featuring students from the Pedro Aranaz Professional Music Conservatory took place. This more community-oriented performance aimed to bring the spirit of the festival to those unable to travel to the larger venues, thus adding a community dimension to the program.
Ticket sales, season tickets, and the festival's target audience
Tickets for the 63rd Religious Music Week Tickets are available through the festival's official website, where you can also find the complete program, schedules, and venues. In addition to individual concert tickets, the organizers have also put tickets on sale. season tickets and specific options for those who wish to focus their attendance on the performances of José Luis Perales Auditorium Theatre.
With the aim of facilitating access to different audience profiles, the following are considered: discounts for people under 30 and for people who have the Friend of Religious Music Week cardThese discounts are intended as a way to strengthen the link between the festival and the local community, but also to encourage the arrival of new spectators interested in the sacred and spiritual repertoire.
In the specific case of SMR Abierta and activities such as the Pedro Aranaz Competition or the concerts at the senior citizens' residence, the commitment is to maintain affordable tickets Or, alternatively, free admission, so that the festival isn't limited to a very specific type of attendee. The diversity of formats and locations also helps to adapt the experience to different audiences, from the seasoned enthusiast to those attending for the first time.
A historic festival with international reach
The Religious Music Week of Cuenca is considered the fourth oldest music festival in SpainWith over six decades of uninterrupted history since its founding in 1962. Throughout these 62 editions already held, the event has surpassed 900 concerts and has gathered more than 300.000 viewers coming from all five continents, establishing itself as a global benchmark in the field of sacred music.
Its unique character is reinforced by the environment in which it develops: the city of Cuenca, declared a World Heritage Site, and the Holy Week celebrations in Cuenca itself, recognized as Festival of International Tourist Interest since 1979This context makes the SMR an event that transcends the strictly musical to become part of a broader cultural and spiritual experience.
Every year, the festival transforms Cuenca into international cultural epicenter Thanks to a program that brings together liturgical, sacred, mystical, spiritual, and transcendental music spanning more than ten centuries of history. The concerts are spread across monumental spaces, churches, museums and heritage buildings of the city and the province, allowing the public to discover different corners of the territory through the programming.
The SMR has hosted prominent figures in classical and early musicWhile serving as a platform for new creations and contemporary stage productions, this dual aspect of preservation and renewal is one of the features that explains its enduring appeal and its ability to continue attracting both established artists and new generations.
The festival is managed by the Foundation Board of Trustees of the Religious Music Week of Cuenca, in which the INAEM – Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Department of Education, Culture and Sports of the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha, the Provincial Council of Cuenca, Cuenca City Council and the Diocese of CuencaThis institutional structure allows for the support of a long-term project with an international vocation, but firmly rooted in its territory.
With all this in mind, the Cuenca Religious Music Week 2026 is presented as an event where peace, memory and current creation They are interwoven in a program that combines landmark concerts, premieres by contemporary composers, projects with young performers and activities open to the city, reaffirming the festival's role as one of the great European gatherings dedicated to sacred and spiritual music.
