World premiere of two choral works by Pau de Luis and Ramón Pastor together with Orfeó Universitari de València in Serenates this Sunday

The tickets can be purchased in:http://www.latenda.es/entrades

The works, both realised by Orfeó Universitari de València, directed by Francesc Valldecabres, are an order which is included in the Residences Project, an “interdisciplinary, participative and encouraging” initiative which began in 2015 and has already performed nine choral works of the two participating composers, Ramón Pastor and Pau de Luis. “Throughout the academic year, the different composers are invited to compose several works which are included in the group’s programme. It is such an interesting work given that group work helps the works to evolve and improve, specifying between the two sides which formation will be set, the aesthetics, the texts to be used, the lenght...” explains Valldecabres.

Serenates concert will start with the work ‘Eroticitats’, by Pau de Luis, for choir, piano and soloist. It is based on three erotic poems by Vicent Andrés Estellés: ‘D’orgasmes fèrtils’, ‘Si com guitarra prenia dòcil’ y ‘Sota els llençols, al tàlem’. In this choral composition, the irreverence and intensity of the texts by the Valencian poet interweaves with a musical new-modal and intimate style with a lot of current resources. “This is the third work of Pau de Luis, an excellent expert in choral music, who will open the Orfeó”, points out its director.

Then, the choral group composed of the Universitat de València and the Politècnica de València, will perform ‘Ab urbe condita (Since the city foundation)’, a cantata for choir, piano, soloist and percussion composed by Ramón Pastor. The score is based on the Roman historian Tito Livio’s (59 a.C. - 17 d.C.) monumental work, one of the most important founding texts of the western culture. This staged cantata follows the line of other successful works, such as ‘Carmina Burana’ by Orff, and it is structured in two uninterrupted parts of five numbers each.

As the author, Ramón Pastor, says, “the work is conceived in a tonal language from 20th century, that is, with diatonic reminiscences, tone clusters, multiple rhythm by fourth and fifth, and a great rhythm variation”. For Francesc Valldecabres, ‘Ab urbe condita’, on the one hand “offers a contemporary music full of familiar musical language from the 20th century to the listener”, and, on the other, “highlights the importance of choral music and revalues the figure of the choir as a group which participates, comments and moves the history of all times”.

The Orfeó Universitari de València, directed by Francesc Valldecabres and Víctor Pérez in the piano, will have the presence of Adolfo Bueso and Ramón Pastor (pianos); Manel Ramada, Francisco Inglés, Rafael Mayans and Sergio Izquierdo (percussion); Eva Paula Bonora (soprano); Konstantin Derri (counter-tenor); Antonio Gómez y Jesús Navarro (tenors); y Luis Vicente y Lluís Martínez (bass).

Complete programe of the performance

The Orfeó and its director
El Orfeó Universitari de València was founded in 1947 en within the University de Valencia. It is composed of y está students, graduates and professors of the UV and the UPV. The sponsors of the Orfeó are the Àrea d’Activitats Musicals of the General Foundation of the Universitat de València, Banco Santander and with the collaboration of the UV, the UPV, CulturArts of the Valencian Government and Valencia’s City Hall.

Some of the most remarkable recognitions until today are the First Award in all the editions of Concurso Nacional de Coros Universitarios (University Choirs National Competition), as well as the Primer Premio de Habaneras (Habaneras First Award) and the audience award in the Certamen Internacional de Habaneras of Torrevieja, among others. Furthermore, he holds several honours, among them, the UV and UPV’s medals and the Alta Distinción of the Valencian Government. Besides, he has made tours in Europe, US, India, Philippines and China. Among his collaborations, Valencian orchestras, Filharmònica of the Universitat de València, Nacional de Catalunya, RTVE or Filarmónica of Madrid, stand out. And he has also brought to Spain the following works: ‘Carmina Burana’ and ‘Catulli Carmina’, by Orff; ‘Te Deum’, by Kodály; ‘Misa en fa menor’, by Bruckner; ‘El canto de los bosques’, de Shostakóvich; or ‘Cantata Checa’, by Smetana, ‘De profundis’, by Esplà; ‘Misa solemnis’, by Lammerz; and ‘Pax et bonum’, by C. Martínez-Orts, among others.

The director of Orfeó is Francesc Valldecabres (Quart de Poblet, 1980) graduated from the Conservatory of Valencia in Orchestra and Choral Direction. He has studied improvisation and accompaniment, as well as spinet. Moreover, he holds a Master’s degree in Choral Direction by the Conservatory of Rotterdam, and Aesthetics by the Universitat de València. He has collaborated as continuist and répétiteur in renown groups, he has realised several records as continuist and director about Valencian heritage, and works as a teacher.

Serenates 2016
The festival Serenates continues in the next days with the Generalitat Valenciana chorus, directed by Francesc Perales, will present the programme “Poesia al cor: del Tirant a la generació del 27” with love poems set to music, on Monday 4 July.

On the 5th of July, the virtuoso violinist Jordi Savall will perform “La reveuse” with works by Marin Marais and by Mr. de Sainte-Colombe.

On the 6th of July, the Valencia Orchestra will give a charity concert in which the participation of young musicians will be key. This concert is co-produced by Palau de la Música and is under the general direction of José Sanchís.

On the 7th of July, Colectivo Mortero, formed by Paula Miralles, Esther Vidal and Pilar Parreño, will put on a show called “La pell possible”. It is an interdisciplinary project of music, poetry, theatre and art which joins voices of poets such as Ausiàs March, Vicent Andrés Estellés, Marc Granell, Manuel Asensi, Begonya Pozo and Lola Andrés. This concert is co-produced with Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL).

Starting on the 8th of July, there will be concerts dedicated to “Música popular i les Serenates” the setting of which will be different: they will take place at Patriarca Square. These concert are performed as part of the “July Festival” organized by the Valencia city council.

The first of these concerts will take place on the 8th, and will feature los Tornejants and la Muixeranga de Algemesí. The dance and music show will start in the cloister and will later move toward the square where it will finish. La Muixeranga was declared by UNESCO to be Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2011, and it is considered to be the best way to connect “Serenate” to its popular culture characteristics.

On the 9th of July, Urbàlia Rurana and la Romántica del Saladar will perform in concert called “La vespra i la festa”. Two of Valencia´s most emblematic bands come together to play all possible styles in the eve of the town celebrations: pasacalles, waltzes, jotas, pasadobles, folk dances and various kinds of folk songs.

On the 10th of July, la Joven Banda Sinfónica de la Federación de Sociedades Musicales de la Comunitat Valenciana (FSMCV), under the direction of Pablo Marcara, joins the singer Pep el Botifarra in the concert “Botifarra a banda” with arrangements for voice and folk music.

The foreseen participation in these 15 concerts consists of as many as 739 performers (250 more artists than in the previous edition), 518 of which are young people (younger than 26 years old). Another piece of important information is that 644 of 739 participating artists (87%) are natives of Valencia.

The “Serenates” festival has taken place since the year 1984 and is co-produced by Universitat de València, the directorate of Música de CulturArts and the collaboration of the Valencia city council, AVL, la Escuela de Arte y Superior de Diseño de Valencia, Bancaja Foundation and Sabadell Bank Foundation.

Another important news is the co-production of “Serenates” and the “July Festival” (thanks to the cooperation of Concejalía de Fiestas y Cultura Popular of the Valencia city council) in three concerts which will be performed in the Patriarca Square (between 08.07 and 10.07) and which are expected to be especially popular.