ESQUERDA III: LA SOLITUD DEL COS (CREVICE III: THE SOLITUDE OF THE BODY)
UNA LITÚRGIA D’AIRE I OSSOS (A LITURGY OF AIR AND BONES)
Mozart’s Requiem
MASTERCLASS Choir and Orchestra Students
Francesc Valldecabres, musical director
Mireia Andreu and Jaume Martínez, stage direction
Bones that crack like glass under the skin. Blood on the teeth. Heartbeat of mud. Mozart’s Requiem: Breaks the throat with pieces of hardened placenta. Crevice III is the place where the flesh rises up and speaks: a prayer interrupted by the body’s last breath. Mozart’s Requiem is one of his most emblematic and mysterious works. Composed in 1791 and unfinished at his death, it was completed by his disciple Xaver Süssmayr. A commission from Count Franz von Walsegg, the work combines drama and spirituality, with intense sequences such as “Dies irae” and lyrical moments such as “Lacrimosa”. Its deep, funereal nature has made it a universal symbol of mourning and significance. Written in the days prior to the composer’s death, Requiem reflects the fight between life and death, and is considered a musical testament that combines classical period music with a moving and timeless emotion.
PERFORMERS
The Proto-fest 2025 participatory concert marks the end of the choir and orchestra masterclass given by conductor Francesc Valldecabres as part of the festival’s training programme. This unique experience will bring together students and professionals in a collaborative project in which music and stage are united. Mireia Andreu, a specialist in theatre and renowned professor, will be responsible for stage direction and will provide the concert with a dramatic vision. The final performance will be the result of an intense process of artistic and teaching work in which learning and shared creativity lead to innovative stage that is open to the public and charged with emotion.
CONDUCTING
>Francesc Valldecabres studied at Valencia Conservatory where he graduated in Orchestra Conducting, Choir Conducting, Improvisation-Accompaniment and Harpsichord. He expanded his education with a master’s degree in Musical Aesthetics and Creativity from the University of Valencia, another in Musicology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and another in Choir Conducting from Rotterdam Conservatory. He has taken part in masterclasses with teachers such as F. Brüggen and A. van Beek. He has collaborated as a pianist and accompanist with ensembles such as Laurens Collegium and Turiae Camerata, and has conducted orchestras and choirs from around Europe. He has also recorded around fifteen albums dedicated to the heritage of Valencia.
STAGE DIRECTION
Mireia Andreu studied dramatic arts and stage direction at the Institut del Teatre in Barcelona. She joined the Rodrigo García’s company La Carnicería Teatro in 2001, where she was an assistant to direction and production in works that were performed at theatres and festivals throughout Europe. In 2004, she received the UBÚ theatre award for the best contemporary production performance and, in 2009, the UNESCO award for the best contemporary theatre production. She began her own artistic career in 2005, in the field of video art and experimental film. Since then, she has created performances that could be seen in locations such as the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, the Lo Pati Art Centre, the Pensa Festival of Philosophy in Barcelona, and A Cel Obert in Tortosa.
Jaume Martínez is a designer whose work includes graphic design, stage design and plastic art, always with a strong connection to Tortosa and its surroundings, and particularly sensitive towards interior spaces and the ties with architecture and urban memory. Martínez has shown an interest in creating poetic stages that encourage the audience to delve into memories and imagination, using the city’s architectural elements and being inspired by areas of silence that are often desolate of human activity. This approach shows a deep reflection of the city’s evolution, the mutation of the urban network, and the meaning of human existence.