The Canaries play host to legendary American actor Bill Murray next week in a very different guise to what audiences are accustomed to seeing him in.
The Oscar- nominated actor and comedian – holder of a BAFTA Award and two Golden Globe Awards – is well known not just for his stellar performances in Ghostbusters (1989) and Lost in Translation (2003) but for multiple roles ranging from studio comedies to independent dramas.
‘Hollywood’s most lovable rogue’ flies into Gran Canaria and Tenerife not to take part in a film festival but to appear in New Worlds, a unique show born from his collaboration with cellist Jan Vogler and also featuring violinist Mira Wang and pianist Vanessa Pérez.
Bill Murray and Jan Vogler met during their travels and became friends in New York. Curious about each other’s respective artistic worlds (acting and classical music) and interests, the Hollywood star and the cellist soon hit on the idea of working together on a musical project.
Their New Worlds tour creates a journey through literature and music that reflects the cultural essence of America and its connection with Europe. Through the words of Twain, Hemingway, and Whitman, and the music of Bernstein, Gershwin, and Foster, their performance celebrates the creativity, energy, and spirit of the New World in a captivating fusion of great stories and melodies.
The show, described as a ‘concert documentary’, takes place in the Alfredo Kraus Auditorium in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on Sunday (15 June) and Murray and colleagues then make the short trip across to Tenerife to take to the stage on Tuesday evening in Puerto de la Cruz as part of the Veranos del Taoro Festival, before heading back to mainland Spain for two concert in Bilbao and Barcelona.
His appearances in the Canaries are by no means Murray’s first foray into the world of music. The actor provided one of the great talking points of Eric Clapton’s charitable fund-raiser, the Crossroads Guitar Festival (2007), when he joined the world’s most famous guitarist on stage for a joint performance of the 1960s hit Gloria and reportedly taught Clapton the chords needed to play the song.
