It is no exaggeration what I say in the title, so important is the event to be held on 1 April in the Kursaal Auditorium in San Sebastian: Ceremony of the International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) and gala concert. For those who do not know the ICMA project, it can be said that it is a Grammy prize for classical music and, therefore, the best productions of the world are rewarded, the most successful musical itineraries or the revelations of artists, among others. It is not easy to bring this celebration to Euskadi, to San Sebastian, but the Euskadi Symphony Orchestra has achieved what has not been achieved in other cities, after much work. In fact, an emblematic place is chosen to organise the award ceremony, taking into account the cultural and musical tradition, and the seat of a reference orchestra, among other competences. The leadership of the Euskadi Symphony Orchestra has been successful in this event. On the other hand, the collaboration of the San Sebastian Foundation 2016 has been fundamental in this project. Given that this year Donostia is the European Capital of Culture, this initiative is perfect.

ICMA is an idea created in 2010 and not in any way. In thirteen countries (Turkey, Finland, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Austria, Russia, Italy, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Luxembourg, France and Spain) the initiative had 17 musical critics, representatives of the media in both paper and digital and of the reference radios in the field of classical music.

To make a little history, the first award ceremony took place in Finland, in 2011; the following year, it was held in France, specifically in Nantes; in 2013, in Milan; in 2014, in Warsaw; and the last, in 2015, in Ankara.

On this occasion, therefore, it is the turn of the Basque Country. In addition to the awards ceremony, we will enjoy a great gala concert in which, together with the Basque Orchestra, some of the award-winning artists such as the soprano Dame Felicity Lott (lifelong career award), the Swedish trombonist Christian Lindberg (artist award of the year), the Spanish chelist Pablo Ferrandez (Croatian musician award) will take part. As you can see, a very varied list that will interpret a very attractive program. Tickets are already on sale. If you like music, don't miss it.