Torrevieja (EFE).- The singer Pasión Vega and the Symphony Choir of the Municipal Choral School have been the main protagonists of the opening gala of the Torrevieja International Habaneras and Polyphony Contest, which has started a new edition this Monday, the 69th, and which will last until July 30 with up to 700 musicians and choir members.
For the second consecutive year, the voices have sounded on the stage of the Municipal Theater for the archaeological works that are being carried out in the emblematic site of the Eras de la Sal for its comprehensive reform.
Thus, it has been the Symphony Choir of the Municipal Choral School that has premiered this contest with the interpretation of the pieces ‘El abanico’, ‘Mirada de Mar’, ‘Verde Mar’, ‘Alfonsina y el mar’ and ‘Cantate Domino’, under the direction of Selena Cancino.
The mayor and president of the Board of Habaneras, Eduardo Dolón, has spoken precisely about the Municipal Choral School, who has been proud of the “recognition” that tonight is given to the Choral School after the recent awards it has won.
The School, which represents the best quarry from Torrevieja, has been honored after receiving the first prize for the best interpretation of the obligatory work in the V Youth Contest of Habaneras and Candás Marine Song this 2023 and after winning the first prize for Polyphonies of the National Habaneras Contest held in Totana (Murcia).
An edition with “very high” quality prospects
“Sometimes we don’t give them the importance they deserve. We always pay attention to national and international choirs and we have a youth team capable of winning such important competitions as the one in Totana”, pointed out Dolón.
The mayor has indicated that he hopes that “this will be the year to recover normality with international groups and an important national representation” in this event.
“Our job is to continue cultivating and improving this root for the city of Torrevieja. The quarry, the Choral School or the groups are capable of transferring this tradition to these new generations, in the run-up to a 70th anniversary on which we are already working and which will be very special”, he assured.
Likewise, Dolón has highlighted the support of the former president of the Provincial Council and now president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, to turn this event into a “tourist attraction”. “I think that the Generalitat can help us with the tourist projection, with that more cultural part”, Dolón insisted.
At the same time, he has vindicated “the pride that Torrevejenses suppose to have guaranteed the continuity of the transmission of the habanera genre with the work carried out by the Choral School.”
Thus, he concluded by predicting “an edition with very high qualitative expectations, which consolidates the normalization of this type of musical event after the pandemic.”
Screen on the Vista Alegre promenade to follow the evenings
For her part, it was the singer Pasión Vega who closed this inaugural gala, in which she acknowledged being a “great lover” of habaneras.
“We are in a Contest with a lot of tradition and that is concerned with keeping our traditions”, he commented on this cultural event, for which he has chosen “a bunch of songs that have to do with overseas music, with those back and forth rhythms”. “I have chosen the repertoire that best suits these sailor airs”, he said.
During their performance there have been no shortage of habaneras, including ‘La Paloma’ together with the Municipal Choral School, and classics such as ‘Mediterranean’ or ‘María se bebe las calles’.
Thus, until next July 30, the city of Torrevieja becomes a world benchmark for habanera and choral singing, since throughout the contest nearly 700 musicians and choir singers will pass through the stage, although in the competition phase there will be twelve groups: three Spanish and nine foreigners, who come from Europe, America and Asia.
The competition will take place from Wednesday 26 to Friday 28, since the prizes will be awarded on Saturday evening after an extraordinary choral gala.
All the choirs in competition will interpret the titled ‘Sal de mi vida’, by Víctor Daniel Lozada, as the obligatory habanera, together with two more free habaneras and two polyphonies.
The choirs in the competition will distribute 47,500 euros in the list of winners of the nine prizes that are awarded in the contest, the most prestigious of all being the first of Habaneras “Ricardo Lafuente”, which is endowed with 12,000 euros and a trophy.
The jury for this edition will be made up of Nuria Fernández, Julia Foruria, Filippa Phalares, Robert Sellés and David Colado.
Also, this Tuesday the musical recreation of ‘El Regalo: el cuento de la Habanera’ will take place and two local groups out of competition will take the stage: the Maestro Ricardo Lafuente choir and orchestra and the Francisco Vallejos choir from Torrevieja.
The reduced capacity of the Theater has meant that the organization has planned the installation of a large screen and seats on Paseo Vista Alegre, next to the monument to the choir singer, to follow each of the evenings live.