Since 1975, the Fundación Juan March has organised Educational Concerts for Young People, a program whose main objective is to stimulate the musical and aesthetic experience in students. Each year, around 15,000 primary and secondary students attend these concerts, accompanied by their teachers. Presented by outstanding performers, soloists or chamber ensembles, these concerts are accompanied by talks given by specialists and occasionally use audio-visual images and musical examples to enrich their explanations of instruments, composers, periods, etc. This year, the final two Saturday Concerts open to the general public will consist of educational concerts presented in the same form in which they are usually conducted for school children. These are the two concerts programmed for december:

AFRICA INSPIRES THE WEST
Polyrhythms and polyphonies For percussion, piano, projections, lights and narrator
We are always inclined to believe that the West exercises a cultural supremacy with respect to the rest of the world. But this recital will show just the opposite: the rhythmic sophistication of African music is very superior to European music, to the extent that it has inspired many European composers.

MUSICAL ENCOUNTERS: JAZZ & CLASSICAL MUSIC
For two pianos and presenter
At the outset of the twentieth century there was an outburst of new forms of artistic creation with very different social origins and aesthetic approaches. In the United States, jazz was born. This style of composing and performing music emerged in New Orleans and was based on rhythms with Afro-American roots such as the blues and ragtime. The success of this new style was such that it soon reached Europe and was embraced by classical-music composers. This concert narrates the history of an encounter between two different musical worlds, which, nevertheless, wound up intertwining.