For 22 years, the Barcelona Festival of Song has maintained an active commitment to society through the preservation, study, and dissemination of Iberian and Latin American musical heritage. The festival is also a space for high-level musicological research in the humanities, where knowledge is generated, performers and scholars are trained, and critical thinking around art song is developed.
In this new phase, the festival expands this commitment into the field of health, building a bridge between two areas of research: humanities research and biomedical research.
On the one hand, humanities research, represented by the sustained work of the festival over more than two decades. On the other, biomedical research, led by IDIBAPS, in collaboration with Hospital Clínic de Barcelona.
This alliance has been developed with teams led by Dr. Yaroslav Compta, neurologist and director of IDIBAPS, as well as by the festival’s director, Dr. Patricia Caicedo, PhD in Musicology and Medicine, whose background allows for a direct connection between these two fields of knowledge.
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative movement disorder with a growing incidence. The need for research is urgent. At the same time, numerous studies have demonstrated the positive impact of music and dance on people living with Parkinson’s, with benefits for coordination, rhythm, and emotional well-being.
In this context, the festival becomes a space where humanities research and biomedical research meet and reinforce each other. All concert proceeds will be fully dedicated to Parkinson’s research, contributing to a cause that requires visibility, support, and action.
With this step, the Barcelona Festival of Song expands its longstanding commitment and projects its work toward a direct relationship between culture, knowledge, and health.
