(Credit: Festival Internacional de Santander)

The Festival Internacional de Santander has announced that it will be collaborating with the Fundación Albéniz to return opera to the festival.

The festival plans to have a staged opera in 2026 for its 75th anniversary. The proposal already has the support of the local governments of Santander and Cantabria.

According to the festival, the objective of both entities is to present an opera with the highest artistic ambition in which internationally renowned singers and also winners of some of the best international singing competitions would participate.

In a statement, Paloma O’Shea said, “I am very excited to carry out this project because we bring great singers and winners of the best international singing competitions to the stage. It is a way to deepen the work of the Albéniz Foundation and commit to new initiatives; Young people need the stage and we will continue to support them with the same conviction as always.”

This season saw many of the greatest singers perform at the festival including Aida Garifullina, Sondra Radvanovsky, and Jonathan Tetelman.