David Ibáñez: "We are the second musical 'hub' after Barcelona"

GironaThe Girona Auditorium Palau de Congressos celebrates twenty years of history, fully consolidated as one of the major cultural engines of Catalonia. In these two decades, almost 1.9 million people have passed through its halls to enjoy nearly 2,400 concerts and more than 1,200 conferences and events. Coinciding with the anniversary, the Girona venue is organizing, from May 22 to 24, a celebration weekend with high-profile musicians such as Miguel Poveda, the soprano Lise Davidsen and a participatory concert with invited artists, as well as conferences linked to the sector. To review it and discuss present and future challenges, we speak with the director, David Ibáñez.

What does reaching this round figure represent?

— It is important because, when you look back and add up the dimensions of the accumulated years, it is impressive. It makes you think about the day everything started and how we have all changed together. The music sector in Girona has also changed a lot: the Auditorium has accompanied, and in part has been a witness to, the growth of the music industry in the Girona regions. Before, Girona was mainly associated with the performing arts, and now the region has a very important weight within the music industry. I believe we are the second hub after the Barcelona area.

Why is it important for a city like Girona to have a facility like the Auditorium?

— For example, for a very functional but important issue: Girona needed to have a medium or large capacity, of about 1,200 people. This has allowed many things to happen, not only in the musical field, but also political events, cultural galas, and all kinds of meetings. There are artists who do not go to certain places because they do not have the adequate space, and the Auditorium has been key for Girona to be able to enter these circuits.

The city has been able to enjoy artists that twenty years ago it was unthinkable they would stop in the city.

— Yes, and it has great merit if we consider the size of Girona. Artists such as Paco de Lucía or Patti Smith have performed here, large international orchestras, but also proposals of early music or contemporary jazz. Together we have built a formula capable of covering a very wide programming range. Also with our own projects, such as the Messiah participatory concerts or initiatives with the Girona Conservatory, which allow many families to come and see their children perform.

Many of these renowned concerts have been programmed in collaboration with other cultural agents from Girona.

— Absolutely. Over these years, we have coexisted with very important players who have brought activity and enriched the entire program: Temporada Alta, Black Music Festival, l'Strenes, or Ibercamera. All of them have been building a very powerful activity, which the Auditorium has also complemented with its own programming. The final result is a musical offering far above what would be expected from a city of Girona's size.

Architecturally, the building is already twenty years old, but today it still looks modern.

— With the anniversary, we also want to focus on the building because we believe it has not been sufficiently valued and it deserves it. After all, it is the building that turns twenty years old. That's why we have created a cycle in which the building dialogues with artists and creators. For example, with the tightrope walker La Corcoles, who will make an external ascent of the building on May 22nd and 23rd. It is a building with a more Nordic and Japanese architecture than Mediterranean, conceived with a vocation of service and humility, without wanting to attract attention. It has aged extraordinarily well and has proven to work for what it was designed for.

In addition to La Corcoles, the weekend's celebration program also features Miguel Poveda on the 22nd.

— We are very excited because it recovers the project DesglaçDesglaç, which also turns twenty years old. Miguel Poveda wanted to recover it in its entirety and the first place he will do it will be here. It represents one of the great moments in which flamenco has dialogued with Catalan poetry. Furthermore, it will be with the collaboration of the Cor de Girona and the Cobla Ciutat de Girona, which symbolize this desire to make prestigious artists dialogue with local formations.

And Lise Davidsen on the 23rd.

— She is one of the great artists of the moment, a great Wagnerian, but here she will sing Schubert lieder. Her concert also aims to showcase the entire line of classical music that we have been working on in recent years, with the collaboration of Víctor García de Gomar, artistic director of the Liceu. Then, on Sunday the 24th, we will finish with a big party shared with the city's musical fabric, in which the Girona Marxing Band, the Black Music Big Band, students from the Conservatory and invited artists such as Cala Vento, Mazoni, and L’arannà.

Besides music, the facet of congresses has also been very important.

— Every year we host dozens of events, including professional days, conventions, and congresses. In 2025, for example, we held 82 events of this type, of which fifteen were congresses. The medical sector has a very important weight here, because Girona is increasingly a biomedical powerhouse and with the new Trueta it will be even more so. These congresses have an important impact on the transmission of knowledge, on the city's economy, and on Girona's projection.

Where should the Auditorium go in the next twenty years?

— I believe there are two main objectives: to continue being a reference space within the Catalan music scene and to maintain the capacity to generate relevant artistic projects; and, at the same time, to continue strengthening the social project, which is one of the great beacons of the Auditori and one of the areas where we have the most meaning and the most scope.