Next Saturday, September 7, Olula del Río will breathe with greater emotion the culture. The City of Almería Orchestra will offer the concert ‘De ida y vuelta’, in front of the monumental sculpture ‘La mujer del Almanzora’ by Antonio López, and in front of the Ibáñez Museum, of the Ibáñez Cosentino Art Foundation, in the square dedicated to the photographer Carlos Pérez Siquier. A magical night in the City of Culture, from 9:00 p.m., and with free admission until full capacity is reached.
The programme is part of the Provincial Council’s concert cycle. The vice-president and deputy for Culture, Cinema and Almeria Identity, Almudena Morales, has highlighted the importance of this cycle of concerts that «brings music to the municipalities in the interior of the province, thus equalising opportunities between the people of Almeria». In addition, Morales has thanked the OCAL for sharing top-level music with all the people of Almeria, thus also increasing the leisure offer, in this case for the residents of the Almanzora Valley.
Program
Under the masterful direction of Michael Thomas, the OCAL will delight with a programme that will highlight two contemporary composers, Claudia Montero and Paco Rivas from Almería. First, the OCAL will perform the ‘Concerto for piano and orchestra En Blanco y Negro’ by Claudia Montero, and will continue with ‘Suite Almería’ by Paco Rivas. The talent and technical quality of the musicians of the Orquesta Ciudad de Almería, directed with the perfect tempo provided by Michael Thomas, will allow the public to enjoy these two wonderful contemporary creations.
Claudia Montero won four ‘Latin Grammy Awards’ in 2014 for her ‘Concerto for violin and string orchestra’, and from then on she has not stopped receiving recognition in contemporary classical music until her death in 2021. Born in Buenos Aires, she moved to Valencia in 2002 where she established her residence. With extensive experience as a teacher and creator, in September 2020 she was named Composer in Residence at the Palau de la Música in Valencia.
In the composition that OCAL will perform, the qualities of Claudia Montero can be appreciated, a scrupulous and extremely detailed composer, where she highlights the solo instrument of the creation, in this case, the piano.
The soloist will be Susana Gómez, a pianist who has shown her talent in concerts throughout Europe, Latin America and the United States. She has performed as a soloist with the RTVE orchestra, the Simón Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra, the Ciudad de Almería orchestra, the Bética Chamber Orchestra, the MDC Symphony Orchestra, the UPM Symphony Orchestra, among others, and has made recordings for Radio Nacional Clásica, RTVE and BBC 3 radio, and will now do so with the OCAL. With training in London (Royal Academy of Music), Cologne (HFMT Köln) and Barcelona, she is the winner of numerous national and international awards.
In the second part of the programme, the OCAL will perform the gift that guitarist Paco Rivas has made to our beloved province, ‘Suite Almería’, with Paco Rivas himself as guitar soloist. With a life linked to jazz and soul, Paco Rivas has worked for two years lovingly composing a suite that sublimates the love for his land, offering a musical journey through all its regions.
Paco Rivas is a renowned guitarist who has recorded and played on international tours with artists of various styles on the national scene such as Jorge Pardo, Antonio Serrano, Jerry Gonzalez, Antonio Orozco, Sergio Contreras, Txexo Bengoetxea, Antonio Carmona, Pasión Vega and David Bisbal, among others, and has already made several collaborations with the Orquesta Ciudad de Almería.
It will be a sublime programme in a space that breathes culture from every corner, and where the City of Almería Orchestra will, as always, offer a concert full of magic, framed within the Provincial Council’s concert cycle.