The Alberic Music Association Band was founded in 1852 as a municipal band and was initially conducted by a school teacher with basic notions of music. In 1882, Modesto Perales became director of the Band which was then made up of twenty-five musicians.

One of the Alberic Band's aims has always been to take part in wind band contests. It was one of the bands which participated in the First July Fair Contest in the city of Valencia in 1886 (the current Valencia CIBM), where it won a third prize. During its long history, the Band has continued to take part in numerous contests with different conductors, including: in 1931 they participated in the Valencia Contest and won a first prize; with Ramón Ramirez Caldés as their conductor they took part in the Valencia Contest in 1941 (First Prize in Division One), 1942 (First Prize in the Special Division) and 1942 (Second Prize in the Special Division).

In 1956 Emilia Mínguez Martínez became the Band's director. He was an Alberic local and loved by his band; in the town he was known as "El Mestre" ("The Maestro") and was the Band's director for 25 years. With his training and under his baton, they took part in different editions of the Valencia contest, always winning first and second prizes in Division One and Special Division B.

In 1981, Enrique de Dios Cintero became the Band's conductor and the same year they won a Second Prize in Division One of the Valencia Contest and the following year a Second Prize in Special Division B. Later, various conductors led the Band, such as Vicente Barberá, Miguel Gorrea and German Nogués, and they continued to attend different contests, winning many prizes, both in the Valencia Contest and in others such as Cullera and Campo de Criptana, and performing abroad in various European contests and at other concerts in Holland, Belgium, France and Portugal among others.

Our Association is made up of numerous professional musicians from all over Spain who come together to play in the Band whenever the occasion calls. Particularly noteworthy are Mario Vallés Torres and Miguel Iborra Climent, two great musicians who have left the Association in the last decade and who made a significant contribution to its Band.

In 2002 Francesc Xavier Martínez Martínez became the Band's director and in 2004 conducted the Band at the Cullera Band Contest where they won the Best Procession Prize and the prize for the Best Band in the Contest. In 2005 they took part in Division One of the Valencia CIBM and won First Prize.

Daniel Ferrero Silvage has been the Band's Principal Conductor since December 2005. Under his direction the Band participated in the Valencia CIBM in 2007 and won Second Prize in the Honorary Division. In 2009 they took part in the Villa de Altea International Contest in the Symphonic Division, winning First Prize.

In addition to contests, over the past few years our Band has given various concerts in the Palau de la Música as part of the Radio Nacional de España season and in the "Nuestras Bandas de Música" Festival and has starred in different programs about Wind Bands such as 'Bandalia' or 'Nuestras Bandas de Música'.

Today the Association has over 200 musicians and 400 members. It also has a Music School which is recognized by the Ministry of Education and dedicated to Leopoldo Magenti, the local Maestro and composer. The school is our Band's great workshop where qualified teachers train our students. It also has a Children's Band and Youth Band made up of students from the school.


BIOGRAPHY OF THE CONDUCTOR

Daniel Ferrero Silvage

Daniel Ferrero Silvage was born in Ontinyent in 1965. He started his musical training in his home town, taught by Father V. Pérez-Jorge. He continued his professional studies in the Valencia Superior Conservatory of Music where he gained his qualifications in Trumpet with José Rosell, Harmony, Composition and Instrumentation with Luis Blanes Arques and Amando Blanquer Ponsoda, Choir Conducting with Eduardo Cifre, and Orchestra Conducting with Manuel Galduf.

He has attended conducting classes with Manuel Galduf, Bernando Adam Ferrero, Robero Forés and Antoni Ros Marbà. He has directed the following ensembles: the Valencia Conservatory Orchestra, the Vallés Symphony Orchestra, the Muro Music Association Band and the Villena Municipal Band. From 1987 to 2000 he was the Principal Conductor of the Ontinyent Artistic Musical Association Band with which he won two first prizes at the Cullera and Elda contests, a third prize in Campo de Criptana and a second prize in Valencia. From 2001 to 2005 he was Principal Conductor of the Altea Philharmonic Association Band with which he inaugurated the Altea Palacio de las Artes and won second prize at the "City of Murcia" Contest in 2001 and the Gold Medal with honorable mention at the Kerkrade Music Contest in 2005.

He has made numerous recordings for Alberry Soart, RNE (the Palau concert seasons) and other cultural organizations in Ontinyent and Altea. He is a member of the General Society of Authors and Editors and Vice-president of the Association of Composers of Moors and Christians Music (ACMMIC). He has been a member of the jury at various contests in Elda, Altea la Vella, Villena and Valencia.

In 2008 he was the guest conductor at the 4th PIAGET "Estágio de Orquesta de Sopros" at the Mirandela and Viseu University campus in Portugal. This contest was aimed at university and conservatory students who wanted to further their musical studies by playing various pieces and numerous styles in groups, and was promoted by the Music Degree program of this university.

He has composed more than 50 marches and paso dobles. Moreover, he has also composed works for other instruments, including: 'Fantasia' for marimba; the symphonic poem 'Untinianum'; 'Tema and variaciones' for orchestra; 'Sinfonieta' for instrumental ensemble; 'Ave María' for choir; and two incidental works, one for orchestra and choir with text by A. Machado and another for piano, clarinet and flute. In 1998, commissioned by the Elda Town Council, he composed the compulsory march for the local band contest.

He is currently the trumpet professor at the Cullera Professional Conservatory and Director of the Alberic Music Association Band with which he won Second Prize in the Honorary Division of the International Wind Band Contest "City of Valencia" in 2007, and First Prize in the Symphonic Division of the Villa de Altea International Contest in 2009.