Puerto Rico’s 2012 Festival Casals has been underway since February 25 and will continue until March 17, 2012, at the Performing Arts Center, Ponce de León Avenue (Stop 22 ½) in Santurce, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The festival honors Pablo Casals’ artistry and legacy to the musical culture of Puerto Rico. The 2012 season opened with musical works that symbolize harmony and peace, which have been linked to Puerto Rico and the history of the Casals Festival. Himno a las Naciones Unidas [Hymn to the United Nations], which, written by Pau Casals exactly forty years ago, has been re-edited and published, was included in this edition. Along with this hymn of peace the festival includes the most universal of all—Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, music that symbolizes the highest human ideals. It is being performed by the Symphonic Orchestra of Puerto Rico with four prestigious soloists and the Philharmonic Choir of San Juan.

During the last two weeks of the festival, there will be performances by the Pacifica Quartet (March 8), Gregory D’Agostino (March 11), Arto Noras (March 15), Gil Shaham (March 10), Trío Kandinsky (March 15), and the closing concert on March 17.

For full program, see http://www.festcasalspr.gobierno.pr/programeng.html