The Councillor for Culture of Alicante, Ms. Nayma Beldjilali, attended this Thursday, January 25, the rehearsal of the Celtas Cortos group with the Virtuós Mediterrani Chamber Orchestra, at the Conference Centre of the College of Physicians. A visit that the councillor made accompanied by the president of the COMA, Dr. Hermann Schwarz, and the 1st vice-president, Dr. Ana Segura.
It has been a very exciting day for the orchestra, which under the baton of its charismatic director, Gerardo Estrada, has carried out the first tests with Alberto García and Goyo Yebes, soloists of Celtas Cortos. They have traveled to Alicante to record live until Saturday, January 27, the arrangements made by Gerardo Estrada of five songs that will be included in the next album of the legendary folk rock band from Valladolid. A work that will be composed of 13 unreleased songs, 3 of them instrumental, which will be released in April 2024.
The Councillor for Culture wanted to “congratulate the orchestra for its participation in the album of a group like Celtas Cortos, of recognised prestige both within and outside our borders”, as well as “thank the members of the group present, for having thought of Virtuós Mediterrani to accompany them on five songs of the album, and of Alicante as the place of recording them”.
For his part, Dr. Schwarz said he was “very proud that the College of Physicians was chosen as the place for the recording” and hoped that it would be “one more of the collaborations that may come in the future.” Furthermore, the president of the COMA highlighted the versatility and quality of Virtuós Mediterrani, “an orchestra that we are lucky enough to enjoy in our Congress Palace,” he recalled.
This joint work is a milestone for the Alicante-based Virtuós Mediterrani. A versatile orchestral formation that does classical music, but “much more” as demonstrated by this peculiar work with the famous group. Gerardo Estrada highlights that for his group it is “a pride that a band like Celtas Cortos, with a career of almost 40 years full of successes, of great relevance in the musical panorama, has noticed us, a humble chamber orchestra that is only 3 years old”.
A dream come true for this Orchestra, and especially for its director, a faithful follower of Celtas Cortos in his native Venezuela. In this sense, Estrada has pointed out that the relationship with the group “goes back a long time, after meeting each other thanks to a mutual friend. Since then our relationship has only grown closer until some time ago we proposed this collaboration, which I am convinced will not be the last.”
The 25 musicians who make up Virtuós Mediterrani are “very excited” about a project that will mark a before and after for this group of artists of different nationalities, but with a common denominator: they are all “Alicante by adoption”.
Congratulations to Virtuós Mediterrani and much success with this album!