The Àgora Actual Percussió Festival reaches its fifth edition in Xàbia and celebrates it by dedicating the contest to the brilliant Greek composer Iannis Xenakis on the centenary of his birth. It will be held from July 5 to 9 in parallel with the European Meeting of Contemporary Percussion, reaffirming itself as the "most outstanding and specialized event in the panorama of current creation and interpretation", according to its managers.
It is directed at an artistic level by Juanjo Guillem, while the academic direction is in charge of Joan Soriano and the technique of Alicia Arnau and focused on undergraduate and postgraduate performers, composers and artists in general interested in avant-garde creation.
An international benchmark, some of the main performers, composers and percussion ensembles from Spain and from countries such as France, United Kingdom, Norway, Germany, USA, Italy, Australia, Mexico, China, Portugal, Switzerland have passed through this meeting. , among others.
In its previous editions, it has promoted different international calls for composers with participation from more than 20 countries and made multiple national and absolute premieres of different pieces for percussion.
Concerts in Duanes de la Mar
The Festival, organized by the Department of Culture and sponsored by the Institut Valencià de Cultura and INAEM I, is open to the general public and all of its concerts – given by the groups Neopercusión, Projecte SoXXI, Synergein Project and various soloists such as Sisco Aparisi- will take place this year in different spaces of the Duanes del Mar nucleus.
With normality restored after the pandemic, this 2022 the festival returns to 100%. Dedicated to the figure and work of Iannis Xenakis on his 100th anniversary, it is presented as a fair recognition of one of the creative geniuses of the XNUMXth century, essential to understand the revolution in the field of creation and the interpretation of percussion of his time. .
From the direction of the meeting they explain that, at a national level "this legacy reaches us through the great percussion music of Ramos and Guerrero, also protagonists of the edition". The Festival will give an account of the main percussion, chamber and solo ensemble pieces by the three composers, which together with the national premiere of Eolo'oolin (dedicated to Xenakis) by Julio Estrada for percussion ensemble make up a unique event in Spain, and a necessary tribute to the genius of Xenakis.
The great program of the Festival is complemented by a whole series of varied and interdisciplinary proposals: presentations, conferences and master classes in interpretation given by some of the main specialists in each subject in the country. Musicologists, writers, architects, performers and composers will delve into the work and figure and work of the three composers from different aspects.
