- The polyphonic choir ‘Adelis Freitez’ from Lara State (Venezuela) obtained the second prize in Habaneras and the third prize in polyphony.
- Nubah’ from Granada won the second prize in the polyphony category and also the third prize in the habaneras category, as well as the audience’s prize.
- The regional president, Carlos Mazón, announces that the Generalitat Valenciana will give “wings” to carry out the complete remodeling of the Eras de la Sal site to house the new auditorium for the Contest and the Museum of the Sea and Salt.
The Philippine choir ‘Kammerchor Manila’ has been proclaimed the absolute winner in the 69th International Contest of Habaneras and Polyphony of Torrevieja by winning the main prizes of the awards, among them the first of Habaneras “Ricardo Lafuente”, but also the first of polyphony “Juan Aparicio” and the one granted by the Provincial Council of Alicante to the choral group that achieves the highest overall score. In total 32,000 euros, to which must be added the prize for the best direction “José Hódar Talavera”, endowed with a trophy, for its director, Anthony Go Villanueva, who was in charge of directing the joint interpretation by about 300 choristers of “Sal de mi vida”, the habanera that has been a must of this edition with lyrics and music by Victor Daniel Lozada.
The Granada’s ‘Nubah’ wins the second prize of polyphony “César Cánovas”; the third prize of habaneras “Francisco Grau” and the prize of the public. On the other hand, polyphonic choir ‘Adelis Freitez’ of Lara State (Venezuela) gets the second of habaneras “Francisco Vallejos” and the third of polyphony.
Before reaching the moment of knowing the Jury’s decision, an extraordinary choral exhibition gala was held with the best choirs of this edition, which was attended by the President of the Generalitat Valenciana, Carlos Mazón. It was the first time since 2015 in which the Head of the Consell has attended the Torrevieja Contest which, remember, is medal of cultural merit of the Generalitat Valenciana and is declared of international tourist interest.
Before the media, Mazón announced that the Generalitat Valenciana will give “wings” to implement the comprehensive remodeling of the enclosure of the Eras de la Sal to host the new auditorium for the Contest and the Museum of Sea and Salt. He added that as former president of the Diputación de Alicante already promoted a special plan that included more than one million euros for this project and that will be reinforced with new initiatives, as well as expediting permits to try to turn the page of “a Torrevieja that was unpublished for the Generalitat Valenciana in recent years.” The Head of the Consell has also ensured that the Torrevieja Festival deserves the maximum projection in all promotional initiatives made by the Valencian Community.
For his part, the mayor, Eduardo Dolon, thanked the institutional support of the head of the Consell “that has been missed in the Contest during the previous stage,” as well as “the collaborative attitude in terms of authorizations and investment commitment that in these early days of its management is already demonstrating the new regional government”.
Also noteworthy is the commitment of support renewed by the Diputación de Alicante, in the person of the Deputy of Culture, Juan de Dios Navarro, who has stressed that it will continue on the path of support for the Contest initiated by Carlos Mazón.
In the course of this special evening, has also been presented the poster announcing the next edition of the Contest, which will reach a round number: the 70th. It will be held from 21 to 27 July and is illustrated with a painting by the artist Victor Garcia Villalgordo in which you can see a young man with his guitar in the bay of Torrevieja.
HABANERA DAYS
Before reaching this exciting closing evening, the Municipal Theater has hosted the X edition of the International Conference of the Habanera and Choral Singing, which have had the intervention of different directors of the choirs participating in the contest. The session ended with the official reception to the participating choirs by the mayor-president, Eduardo Dolon and rehearsal of the common singing of the habanera forced this year, which is entitled “Sal de mi vida” whose direction in this test has been conducted by its composer Victor Daniel Lozada.
Prior to the start of the Contest, its parallel activities concluded with a beautiful recital of habaneras from one of the balconies overlooking the Plaza Miguel Hernandez. There, the soprano Lucía España and the baritone Víctor Alcañiz delighted the audience with the accordion accompaniment of Zinoviy Harvat.
TORREVEJENSE CLOSURE
This brilliant edition of the contest will be closed on the evening of Sunday, July 30 with the participation of the four choirs torrevejenses remaining to act in exhibition format: the choral mass “José Hódar”, the choral group “Manuel Barberá”, the Orfeón de Torrevieja and Choir Maestro Casanovas. The hymns to Torrevieja, Valencia and Spain with the accompaniment of the band of the Musical Union Torrevejense again start the countdown for the city to meet again with its most deeply rooted identity and the differentiating element that takes seven decades projecting it to the world.
