On Saturday night the Philippine choir ‘Kammerchor Manila’ was declared winner of the 69th International Habaneras and Polyphony Contest of Torrevieja, taking the main prizes, including the first for habaneras ‘Ricardo Lafuente’, also the first for polyphony ‘Juan Aparicio’ as well as the prize awarded by the Provincial Council to the choral group that achieves the highest overall score.
The choir won a total of 32,000 euros, on top of which they also took the prize for best direction of, “José Hódar Talavera”, with a trophy, for its conductor, Anthony Go Villanueva , who also took charge of directing the joint interpretation by around 300 choristers of “Sal de mi vida”, the habanera with lyrics and music by Victor Daniel Lozada.
The choir ‘Nubah’ from Granada won the second prize for polyphony “César Cánovas” and third for habaneras ‘Francisco Grau’ as well as also gaining the public vote. The choir ‘Adelis Freitez’ from Lara State, in Venezuela, won second place for habaneras “Francisco Vallejos” and third place for polyphony.
The evening was also attended by the President of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, the first time since 2015 that the Head of the Consell has attended the Contest.
During this very special evening, the poster for the next edition of the Contest was also announced. The competition will be held from July 21 to 27, 2024 and is illustrated with a painting by the artist Víctor García Villalgordo in which a young man can be seen, together with his guitar, sitting by the side of the Torrevieja bay.
The evening ended with the official reception for the participating choirs and guests by the mayor-president, Eduardo Dolón and the singing of the common song of the habanera ‘Sal de mi vida’ whose direction was undertaken by the composer Victor Daniel Lozada.
There was an outstanding recital of habaneras from one of the balconies overlooking the Miguel Hernández square which put the finishing touch to the evening, as well as to the parallel activities at the start of the Contest. The soprano Lucía España and the baritone Víctor Alcañiz were accompanied on the accordion by Zinoviy Harvat.
The edition closed with the participation of the four choirs from Torrevieja including the choral mass ‘José Hódar’; the choral group ‘Manuel Barberá’; the Orfeón de Torrevieja and the Casanovas Master Choir. The local, regional and national anthem with the accompaniment of the band of the Unión Musical Torrevejense provided the final touch to a historic evening.
