Seville, May 29 , 2008.- Tomorrow, the 30th of May, the Focus-Abengoa Foundation is holding a mass-concert to dovetail with the feast of Saint Ferdinand, patron saint of Seville to whom the church of Los Venerables is dedicated. The concert, scheduled to begin at 12:30 pm at the church of the Hospital de los Venerables, will be performed by José Enrique Ayarra, tenured organist of the Focus-Abengoa Foundation. He will be accompanied by Ian Parkes, a solo trumpet player from the Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville. Entry is free-of-charge until seating capacity is reached.

The mass-concert is the final event in the 2008 musical programming revolving around the organ that the Focus-Abengoa Foundation has been organising for 16 years in a row. During the mass, José Enrique Ayarra and Ian Parkes will perform works by L. Mariani, Haendel and Bach. Later, they will perform Mozart’s Concertos nº 2 and 3, and Guilmant’s Allegro in B minor.

Ian Parkes began to study the trumpet when he was 16 years old. His teachers have included John Burden and Hugh Seanan, and he has played with many different orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Liverpool Philharmonic and the Royal Opera Covent Garden. In 1991, he earned the post of solo trumpet player with the Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville, where he is currently pursuing his musical career.

José Enrique Ayarra is the tenured organist of the chapel of the Hospital de los Venerables and Seville cathedral. He holds a degree as piano teacher from the Conservatory of Zaragoza, as well as a diploma in Organ and Gregorian Chant from Paris’ Institute Catholique. As a concert organist, he has given recitals in more than 30 countries around Europe, Africa, America and Asia, and he has made recordings for both radio and television stations in a dozen different countries, and played on organ albums at different European schools.

The Focus-Abengoa Foundation was created in 1982 as the outcome of the cultural efforts begun by Abengoa back in 1972 with its publication of Sevillian Topics and Iconography of Seville. During this same period, a collection of documents, books and engravings on the Kingdom of Seville and Sevillian authors was also amassed. This initial cultural impetus led Abengoa’s leaders to realise the importance of going beyond the company’s merely technological functions with activities that would benefit society. Thus, the Fondo de Cultura de Sevilla Foundation was born.

• Mass-concert in honour of the feast of Saint Ferdinand by tenured organist of the chapel of Los Venerables, José Enrique Ayarra, and Ian Parkes, a solo trumpet player from Royal Symphony Orchestra of Seville.
• Friday 30th of May at 12:30 pm. Church of the Hospital de los Venerables. C/ Jamerdana s/n.
• Entry is free-of-charge until seating capacity is reached.