"This is the place to be; what happens here matters to the world," declared Joan Oller, the general director of the Palau de la Música Catalana, from the magnificent Elbphilharmonie building in Hamburg, by the river. The auditorium, which resembles a gigantic ship anchored in Elbe, is considered one of the finest concert halls in Europe. This Friday, the iconic venue hosted a sold-out concert: in the main hall, with an audience of 2,100, the Barcelona Symphony and National Orchestra of Catalonia performed, while in the smaller hall, Tarta Relena, winner of the 2025 National Culture Prize, took the stage. Shortly before the concerts, more than a hundred Germans gathered in the Elbphilharmonie's inner courtyard. This was just one small part of a week in which the Auditori di Barcelona, ​​the Palau de la Música Catalana, and the Institut Ramon Llull presented a sonic map of Catalonia in various German cities.

A human tower group, a visual artist, a theater company, a choreographer, and a musical duo are the winners of the 2025 National Culture Awards, the awards granted by the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CoNCA) since 2009. The winners are the Castellers de Vilafranca, Mari Chordà, Dagoll Dagom, Marcos Morau, and Tarta Relena, as announced this Friday at an event held at the Circ Cric in Sant Esteve de Palautordera. Each award is worth 20,000 euros.

Summer is the time for big music festivals. During June, July and August, after the Primavera Sound, he DreamCabró Rock or Cruïlla, the round of mass musical events across the country begins, most with a lineup of more or less similar famous artists. However, outside this circuit, unique and alternative proposals are also emerging that firmly commit to a small-format model, away from giant stages and beer brand sponsorships. This is the case of Rizomes, at Cellera de Ter (Selva), a festival created by a group of Barcelona friends specializing in music management and architecture, who in 2018 devised a sustainable and environmentally conscious proposal. It is celebrated every summer solstice in a poplar forest, removed from the hustle and bustle of urban centers, in an atmosphere of seclusion, peace, and respect for nature. This year's edition, which will take place from June 20th to 22nd, will bring together around fifty artists, with notable names such as Alondra, Rita Payés, and Tarta Relena.

All the roads of the second day of Sónar led to Maria Arnal. The project with Marcel Bagés (memorable radish cosmic at the festival in 2022), Arnal has spent a few years researching, among other things, the expressive possibilities of artificial intelligence. In fact, she was recognized at the S+T+ARTS awards for the installation María CHOIR which was part ofexposure AI: artificial intelligence of the CCCB and in which he collaborated with scientists from the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. He has also changed representation agencies and now works with Live in Dallas, the same agency that manages artists and groups such as Rigoberta Bandini, La Élite, and gavina.mp3. Stretching the thread of vocal experimentation, he composed the soundtrack for the film They will be dust, and now finally presents a new show titled LoveSónar, open to premieres of this type, has lent the SonarHall to the film at a key time (8:45 p.m.) for its premiere, and the audience has filled it with enthusiasm and reverence.

The 2024 Ciutat de Barcelona Awards already have winners in the sixteen categories, which include cultural awards and others related to science. This year, in fact, there will be two award ceremonies in the Saló de Cent of Barcelona City Hall: on March 12 at 6 p.m., for the cultural categories, and on May 27 at 5 p.m., for the scientific categories.