José Miguel Moreno and his archlute joined the National Youth Orchestra of Canada on August 12 for a great concert to close the festival. A small chamber representation of the orchestra and Moreno played two Vivaldi concertos and then the entire orchestra played Prokofiev and some fantastic Falla. The best part about the concert was the enthusiasm evident on the faces of and in the playing of these under 28-year-old musicians. Read more about them here. Moreno played soulfully as always and the orchestra was perfect. When they received a standing ovation and were convinced to play two encores the music was two choral songs that seem to be a part of their training as orchestral musicians. Very beautifully sung; better than many a choir I have heard.
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Final concert – Summer Arts
The final activity of Summer Arts in Granada and usually one of the final activities of the Granada Guitar Festival is the concert by the students of guitar after studying here for three months. Friday night they played to a full house in the patio of the Town Council and did a fine job of Bach, Telemann, Boccherini and some flamenco. Congratulations to them and their teachers: The Romero Quartet, Mabel Millán, Vicente Coves, Scott Morris, Chika Inoue, and Kai Narezo.
Summer Arts and the Guitar-makers Association
Every year the Association asks for a meeting between the Granada makers and the guitar students of Summer Arts. This year we had a good turnout of makers and caught most of the students in the classrooms where they have their masterclasses. Seems a shame for them to come all the way here and not get to know the makers and their work.
Most of them tried my copy of the Invencible by Torres and enjoyed the sound and playability.
And the winner is…
Classical competition:
First prize – Darragh O’Connell (Switzerland)
Second prize – Youri Soroka (France)
Third prize – Honori Fukuda (Japan)
Flamenco competition:
First prize – Victor Quintanilla (Spain)
Second prize – Mijail Kharash (Granada, Spain)
Third prize – declared vacant
Final phase of the guitar-making competition
Today is the big day when we find out the winners of the competition. Tonight in the Lorca theatre the three finalist flamenco guitars will be played and the jury will assign first, second and third prizes. Guitars made by Mijail Kharash, a Granada-based maker, Victor Quintanilla, and Alessandro Perciaccante will be judged. Also, the fnalists in the classical category will be played and the three prizes determined by the jury. In this case the guitars were made by Victor Quintanilla, Youri Soroka, Valerio Licari, Narongsak Visesnut, Honori Fukuda, and Darragh O’Connell. May the best maker win.