Education and culture come together to talk about the project started 8 years ago by the Liceu Conservatory Foundations, Ferrer-Salat, Damm and the Barcelona Jazz Festival. A unique initiative and a unique reference in our country.
On October 9th, at the Liceu Conservatory Auditorium, a meeting and debate on Education and Culture took place. The meeting brought together Sergi Ferrer-Salat as president of both the Liceu Conservatory Foundation and the Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation, Ramon Agenjo as director of the Damm Foundation and Tito Ramoneda as president of The Project, the promoter of the Barcelona Jazz Festival. With the cultural journalist Maricel Chavarria as Chairwoman, they wanted to emphasize the importance of uniting culture and education as a motor of change and social enrichment and have stressed the value and the importance of the sponsorship and the philanthropic commitment of, as cohesive and fundamental elements when it comes to creating projects that have a positive impact on society.
They also stressed that the experience of having created the masterclasses cycle within the Jazz Festival and that this 2019 edition will reach the 100th masterclass held with the best figures of the international music scene, which has allowed almost 20,000 young talents know their reference musicians in person.
Joan Anton Cararach, artistic director of the Jazz Festival, wanted also to emphasize that in this edition of the Voll-Damm Barcelona Jazz Festival four Big Bands made of students of the Liceu Bachelor’s program will be presented, offering innovative proposals and repertoires, such as the Liceu Big Band directed by Sergi Vergés, the Gran Ensemble, directed by Toni Vaquer, a new ensemble that could be heard during the event, consisting of the union of a Big Band and a classical strings section, and on the other hand the projects of two students, Asier Olabarrieta and Alberto Garrido, who will present their own compositions and will have the opportunity to show their talent as performers, composers and conductors, breaking boundaries between styles and musical genres.
Mr. Cararach, in conversation with all of them, could see how the opportunities that his training at the Liceu Conservatory brings to them thanks to projects such as the collaboration with the festival, make it possible that at the end of their studies, students already have interesting projects and as a result, they can soon enter the professional world.
Finally, it has also been emphasized that initiatives such as the masterclasses cycle during the Jazz Festival allow that jazz lovers can enjoy the performance of great musicians, while widening the learning of the students who can learn everything from the technique and artistry of great artists who enjoy to work with young talents.