choirs

The Children’s Choir of Montserrat is participating in a tour of China between 23 February and 10 March. Montserrat is home to one of the oldest boys’ choirs in Europe, dating back to 1223. Concerts will take place in China’s largest auditoriums in Beijing and Shanghai. Around the seventeenth and eighteenth century, the music school at Montserrat really began to grow in importance and recognition at international level and nowadays it is one of the world’s most important children’s choirs. The concert programme will be directed by Lawrence Castellon and include Catalan folk songs and some Chinese folk songs. The Chinese cultural manager invited the Choir of Montserrat following their success in the United States.

On Tuesday evening the Barcelona-born opera tenor, Josep Carreras received the Golden Medal of the Catalan Parliament for his outstanding and internationally-recognised professional career, but also for his efforts leading a foundation that fights Leukaemia. In his acceptance speech, Carreras defended Catalonia's right to self-determination and the independence vote scheduled for the 9^th of November. Carreras, who became a true world star in the 1990s with the Three Tenors, praised the idiom "live and let live", meaning that the Spanish authorities should authorise the self-determination vote. He asked the Catalan MPs "to do whatever is necessary to ensure that the others live and let us live". His words were particularly relevant as they were said at such an important event and two days ahead of the massive pro-independence demonstration, which will take place in Barcelona on Catalonia's National Day (the 11^th of September).

The opera is based on Vicente Ferrer, a Catalan who devoted his life to helping the poorest people in Anantapur, in India’s Andra Pradesh. Vicente Ferrer’s project brought aid to some 2.5 million people. He died three years ago. On the 1st of December, the “opera collage”, as its author Joan Martínez calls it, will be shown in Barcelona’s Sant Jordi pavilion. Martínez met Ferrer in India and created this show in his honour. ‘L’home del paraigua’ has already premiered at the Liceu Theatre in September 2010.

The most prestigious choirs of Catalonia will sing at the religious ceremony inside Antoni Gaudí’s temple. The Orféo Català, the Coral Sant Jordi and the children’s choir of Montserrat Abbey will be amongst the participants.

42 choirs and dance companies from 24 different countries will participate in the 28th edition of this festival in Central Catalonia.