Until then, and after the great reception by the Valencian public both to the opening ceremony last Saturday and to the symphonic mascletá on Sunday, an intense program continues to be developed that includes multiple activities around wind music. Thus, coinciding with the celebration of the Contest, the Valencia Conservatory of Music hosted on Monday the final day of the 27th International Wind Music Conference of the IGEB, which was held in different towns organized by the Federation of Musical Societies of the Valencian Community (FSMCV) and with the collaboration of Iseacv. A meeting that brought together prestigious figures of international stature, among whom were its president Damien Sagrillo and his vice president Richard Scott Cohen or the composer Laszlo Marosi who has been a jury at the Valencia Competition on different occasions. The day ended with a concert by the FSMCV Youth Band directed by Enrique Montesinos.

That same day Pere Vicalet, Javier Martínez Campos and Julio Domingo, composers of the obligatory works of the honorary, second and third sections of the International Competition, participated in an interesting round table moderated by Andrés Valero that was attended by the director José Onofre Díez Monzó, with more than 20 years of experience in competitions.

The activities continued on Tuesday with a conference by the vice president of the IGEB, Richard Scott Cohen, about the international perspectives of the band phenomenon, in which the internationalization of the Valencia Contest itself was also addressed, and a concert in the Plaza de la Virgin of the Youth Band of the L’Amistat Musical Group of Quart de Poblet, which will be followed this Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. by the concert of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain (JONDE) at the Palau de la Música in València.

Contest

This group of musical proposals has constituted the best prologue to the competitive phase of this 136th edition of the Contest in which, back at the Palau de la Música de Valencia, we will be able to listen to the 21 groups competing in the Third, Second, First and Honor.

On Thursday the 18th, the performances of the Third Section will begin in which the Cultural Artistic Band of Montaverner (Valencia), the Association Amics de la Música de Benifaió (Valencia), the Musical Society La Esperanza de San Vicente del Raspeig (Alicante), the Study Center Musical of Almassera (Valencia) and Special Symphonic Band Escuela de Formación Musical de Samacá (Colombia).

In the Second Section will participate the Borrianenca Philharmonic Group (Castellón), the La Familiar Musical Society of Benissanó (Valencia), the Municipal Music Band of Caldas de Reis (Pontevedra), the Santa Cecilia Musical Group of Sedaví (Valencia), the Cultural Music Association Band of Music of Puertollano (Ciudad Real) and Asociación Cultural Banda de Música de Santádega (Ourense). It will be Friday, July 19.

The First Section will take place on Saturday the 20th and the Vale Martial Band (Portugal), the Musical and Artistic Sax Union (Alicante), the Moncada Musical Art Center (Valencia), the Getafe Music Band (Madrid) and Musical Protective Union of Vallada (Valencia).

Finally, the Honorary Section will be held on July 21st and will include the Ateneu Musical Schola Cantorum of Vall d’Uixó (Castellón); the Unió Musical Symphonic Band of Llíria (València); the La Armónica de Buñol Musical Instruction Center (València); the Musical Union Instructional Society of Tavernes de la Valldigna (València); and the Societat Musical La Artística de Buñol (València).

The obligatory works for the competition are: Cerulean Overture by Julio Domingo in the third section, Sucro Oppidum by Javier Martínez Campos in the second, Ceremonies by Ellen Taaffe Zwilich in the first and L’arbre Blanc by Pere Vicalet in the Honor section.

As guests while the jury deliberates in the various sections, 4 societies will perform, 3 from Valencia and 1 from the United States: Valencia Brass Ensemble in the third section, El Cerrito High School Wind Symphony in the second, the Young Symphonic Band of the Federation of Societies Musicals of the Valencian Community in the first and the Municipal Symphonic Band of Valencia, in the Honorary Section.

Recognitions

During the course of the Contest, honorary recognition for musical career in the “Ciudad de València” International Music Band Contest will be granted to the prestigious composer and director Salvador Chuliá Hernández and, posthumously, to the journalist Octavio Hernández Bolín.

The live contest

This year, and for the first time in history, À Punt will broadcast the entire honorary section of the contest on its television programming. In addition, the event can be followed live from the Contest website and from its YouTube channel.