Tag: instituto cervantes

Experience Spain Through Music, Education, and Literature This November

Music, education and literature take the spotlight as the Embassy of Spain, through its Cultural and Education offices and the Instituto Cervantes, unfurls its cultural program for November.

Spanish baritone Luis Llaneza is set to inspire young budding singers as he offers a master class at the University of Santo Tomás on November 14 and on November 19 at the Philippine Women´s Unviversity and is sure to wow the Filipino audience when he performs at UST on November 22.

No cultural month will be complete without film showing.  Spain promotes not only its film industry, but also supports Philippine cinema as it takes part in QCinema, a ten-day international film festival beginning November 14.

In a country where nearly 30 percent of the total population are youth, these young people are encouraged to visit the European Higher Education Fair (EHEF), a two-day event to take place at Midtown Atrium de Robinsons Manila, starting on November 21, where 13 top-notch Spanish universities will each set up a booth to offer young Filipinos a comprehensive overview of higher education opportunities in Spain.

Spain goes to schools, taking marine biologist Isabel Nuñez to three centers of learning: Saint Pedro Poveda College, the University of the Philippines and Everest Academy Manila, where she will talk about preservation of essential reef ecosystem services.  Meanwhile, on November 28 architects Juan Ramón Jiménez and Jesús Pulido are scheduled to visit the National University where they will offer a conference entitled Architecture and Urban Planning during the Spanish Period, highlighting their works and studies on Intramuros, Parian, San Nicolás, Cavite, Cebu, Davao, among others.

Sound mind, sound body and so the Spanish women´s futsal team comes to Manila to entice young people to engage in sports, meeting and greeting students and inspire them and other young people as the team competes against Thailand, Colombia and Canada at the FIFA Futsal Women’s World Cup 2025 at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City (November 22, 25 and 28).

Art buffs may still catch up on three on-going exhibits: Four Centuries of Spanish Engineering Overseas, a permanent exposition displayed at the Centro de Turismo in Intramuros; while the Ateneo Art Gallery hosts  A Synergy of Ventures. The Post War Art Scene  in commemoration of  Fernando Zobel´s centennial birth until February 2026 as well as Mezcla: Interwoven Cultures and the Mantón de Manila at the Ayala Museum.

November 13, 2025
Discover Spain’s Rural Life Migration Trends with Instituto Cervantes’ May Online Film Series

This month of May, Instituto Cervantes de Manila invites you to embark on a virtual journey to the heart of rural Spain with its online film series, “Geolocalizations and New Ruralities.” Through a selection of four captivating documentaries, the series explores the contemporary rural life of Spain and the new migration trends between cities and rural spaces. Available on Instituto Cervantes’ Vimeo channel, these documentaries offer fresh perspectives on rural communities and the challenges and opportunities brought by socioeconomic change.

A New Era for Rural Communities

Over the past two centuries, rural life has experienced countless transformations, just like urban life. Migration has depopulated vast agricultural areas, with younger inhabitants moving to cities to forge their futures, often in foreign lands. However, recent times have seen a growing desire to recapture the elements of well-being that rural environments offer to people and communities. Life outside the hectic urban pace has emerged as an alternative model of sustainability and coexistence, proposing another way to repopulate rural spaces.

Four Unique Stories from Across Spain

The Instituto Cervantes presents four documentaries that bring us closer to life stories in the countryside from four different points in the Spanish geography. These stories open a window to the lights and shadows of this way of life, offering a contemporary perspective on traditions and the challenges of maintaining these new future investments.

Dive into Spanish Rural Life with These Films

The complete program is available on Instituto Cervantes’ Vimeo channel: vimeo.com/showcase/nuevasruralidades. The series kicks off on May 6th and runs throughout the month, with each film available for 48 hours during their respective screening weekends. The documentaries, presented in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, will have English subtitles, and admission is free.

On May 13th and 14th, Os fillos da vide (2017), by Ana Domínguez, will be showcased on the channel. If you want to learn about the most ancestral Spanish traditions and everything about our country’s wine, don’t miss this film in which the director Ana Domínguez shows us a piece of her childhood through the grape harvest and festivities of her hometown in Galicia. You will fall in love with their millennial culture, its people, and its landscapes! (Link to the film: vimeo.com/799821212).

The third film of the cycle, 150 i una Grossa (2020), by Aurora Sulli and Núria Deulofeu, takes us to Ametlla de Merola, one of the smallest towns in Catalonia with just over 150 inhabitants. The town’s central core is its theater, but due to lack of resources, it must close down. Everything changes when the town wins the Christmas lottery and the residents decide to use the winnings to refurbish the theater and prevent it from disappearing. The film will be freely available for 48 hours on May 20th and 21st through the link vimeo.com/799848938

Finally, on May 27th and 28th, the film cycle will come to an end with Los saldos (link: vimeo.com/800448839). In this documentary, released in 2022, filmmaker Raúl Capdevila bids farewell to the rural world, which seems destined for disappearance due to the fast pace of modern life. The film tells the story of his return home and how he and his father face the forced industrialization of their town in the form of a Western-style tale.

The films, presented by Instituto Cervantes in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, will have English subtitles. Admission is free.

Stay Connected with Instituto Cervantes

For further information and updates on this film series, please check out Instituto Cervantes’ Facebook site (www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila) or the event page: www.facebook.com/events/1456518371820323. To learn more about the cultural program of Instituto Cervantes, visit their website (http://manila.cervantes.es) or follow them on social media (Facebook: InstitutoCervantesManila; Instagram: institutocervantesmanila).

May 6, 2023
Instituto Cervantes Pays Tribute to The Manila-born musician Luis Eduardo Aute

September 13 marks the 79th birth anniversary of Luis Eduardo Aute, one of the most important Spanish artists of the 20th century, who was born in Manila. On this occasion, Instituto Cervantes and the Embassy of Spain present the video concert “Con tu latido: Filipinas canta a Luis Eduardo Aute. A tribute.” The event will be held at 2:00 PM on that date at the Instituto Cervantes (Intramuros branch). The video concert will feature Filipino singers covering select iconic songs by the celebrated musician.

Popular singer-actress Bituin Escalante will render one of Aute’s first hits, Rosas en el mar, which was released in 1966.

Mark Anthony Carpio, choirmaster of the Philippine Madrigal Singers, will perform La belleza.

Toma Cayabyab, a member of the Ateneo Chamber Singers and the Villancico Vocal Ensemble, and leader of his own jazz sextet, Debonair District, will sing another famous composition by Aute, Libertad.

Julius Sinoy, who was a Tenor for the University of the Philippines Concert Chorus (UPCC) from 2013 to 2016, will offer his rendition of Aute’s piece Dos o tres segundos de ternura.

Fascinated by music at an early age, James Barbecho joined a relatively small church choir at 11 years old. Since then, his passion for music only grew and he has been performing everywhere, from cafés to college events. He will be covering Siento que te estoy perdiendo, a song made popular by Aute in 1981.

Sheila Ferrer is a Filipino soprano who has performed as a soloist in both local and international productions. She performed the role of Adina (L’elisir d’Amore), and Serpina (La Serva Padrona). Sheila will cover Slowly, a popular theme released by Aute in 1992.

Finally, Ella Castro, a graduate of BM-Music Education from University of the Philippines-Diliman, will render her version of Aute’s Sin tu latido. Ella is a composer, singer, conductor, and an actress who is currently taking her Masters of Music at Northwestern State University of Louisiana.

The concert will be completed by Spanish singer Rosa León’s rendition of Mirándonos los dos, a song released by Aute in 1980.

A respected artist and popular musician in Spain in the latter part of the 20th century, Luis Eduardo Aute was born in Manila in 1943. His father, a Catalan working for Tabacalera since 1919, married a Spanish Filipina. In his childhood, Aute studied at the De La Salle School, where he learned English and Tagalog.

His family had eventually settled in Spain in 1954. Aute’s musical career kicked off in the 60s, and he continued composing songs and recording albums until the 2010s. A multi-talented creator, Aute passed away in April 2020, leaving behind a vast collection of works in several fields, in literature, music, cinema and painting.

As a Manila-born Spanish artist, Instituto Cervantes de Manila decided to bring his legacy to the country. Last November 2021, a virtual concert was held, and due to its resounding success – a very good indicator that his music was well received by Filipinos – Instituto Cervantes now aims to reach a wider audience by presenting this concert once again, this time in its branch in Intramuros.

Luis Eduardo Aute’s avant-garde style, his beautiful lyrics, and his ability to write in an absolutely original way earned him a special place among Spanish singer-songwriters. As an artist born in the Philippines, it is but right that his legacy be shared with the Filipinos as well.

The concert Con tu latido. Filipinas canta a Aute is organized by Instituto Cervantes de Manila, in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines and Intramuros Administration. For further information about the event, you may visit the website of Instituto Cervantes at https://manila.cervantes.es or Facebook page at www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila.

September 7, 2022