"It seems that after boasting about the great cultural offering of Xàbia, the City Council has decided to break with this line"

OPINION Compromís Xàbia

Goodbye to the festival of reference and internationally recognized prestige of classical music in Xàbia. What was going to be the 38th edition of the Música a l'Estiu summer course and festival will not continue to take place as it has done until now.

It was already a tradition to see during the last days of July a good group of young people in the old town of our town loaded with the cases of their instruments. They have even delighted us on several occasions with improvised performances on market Thursdays. There have been many generations of students from all over the world (students have been welcomed from Portugal, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, England, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Czech Republic, Italy , Estonia, Russia, Finland, Israel, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Australia, United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Mexico, Venezuela) who have come to the town religiously to be able to train in the hand of the greatest, European soloists and internationally renowned repertoireists. Many of the students have repeated the experience, or have even become teachers, as is the case of the clarinetist José Luis Estellés.

What was born as a pioneering festival at the national and international level, was a meeting of the country's most veterans, which has welcomed great classical music professionals and has formed what is now the present and the future of generations of masters of the genre: "Música a l'Estiu brings together the soloists of the future in Xàbia", what was once a student is now part of the best national and international orchestras such as the Gustav Mahler Orchester, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Rotterdam Philharmonisch, London Symphony , Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Hongkong Symphony Orchestra, Beijing Opera, Orchester symphonique de Quebec-Canada, National Orchestra of Ecuador-Quito, National Orchestra of Mexico, Opera Buenos Aires, National Orchestra of Chile, Petrobras Rio de Janeiro, Opera Rio de Janeiro, and a very long etcetera.

The course, always accompanied by its concerts in the square of superb quality, of the highest level, and which was an unavoidable event for many lovers of classical music in our region, and also for our festival visitors, free concerts and with a loyal audience .

It seems that after boasting about the great cultural offering of Xàbia, the Town hall has decided to break with this line of work. Furthermore, this change coincidentally comes at a time when the course management wanted to take a more integrative course with local students, more integrated into the town's network of cultural offerings and with new projects that could attract even more, such as the organization of a contest. However, the festival had always been connected in some way or another with local artists, as has been through the Xabiero students who have participated throughout the editions, or by integrating the pianist Marta into the concert cycle, for example. Espiños, to the Ars Nova choral group. The opening of the festival has also brought great performances such as Spanish Brass, the MMCV Quintet or the Young Orchestra of the Generalitat. It is a shame that this well-established course, which has survived changes in government and leadership lines with hardly any flinching, now has to close its doors. A project that also perfectly adapted to the guidelines of the new Strategic Tourism Plan, as it was a diversified offer, developing the cultural product (it even became renowned in the specialized national press) and that provided the town with respectful tourism, since In addition, many of the attendees take the opportunity to take their family and spend a few days in the town.

The decision of the Councilor for Culture It has been one-sided. There has not been any type of consultation or presentation of the facts to the advisory bodies that are the Council, nor has it presented firm reasons for this change of course that it wants to promote.
The directions of the course now pass to other hands, of which we do not know the project offered, when the decision can no longer be turned around and without giving rise to a debate.