As part of Proto-fest 2023, professor Francesc Valldecabres will direct a participatory choral concert with choir and orchestra, in which the poetic musical work ‘Ramon Llull, visions de Randa’ by the composer fron Tortosa Felip Pedrell will be interpreted. To prepare the work —which will be a world premiere— a ‘masterclass’ aimed at professional and ‘amateur’ choirs and also at individual singers has been scheduled. To participate, experience in choirs and/or singing training will be valued.

During the months of June and July, two preliminary rehearsals will be held. On July 2 with Francesc Valldecabres, and on June 10 with the singer Cecília Aymí (from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m., in the Sala Arts de Tortosa). From July 24 to 27, during the days of the festival, the singers will join the orchestra to work on the staging with stage manager Mireia Andreu. The final concert is scheduled for Thursday, July 27 at 8:30 p.m. in the Sala Gran del Teatre Auditori Felip Pedrell in Tortosa.

FRANCESC VALLDECABRES BIOGRAPHY 

Francesc studied at the Valencia Music Conservatory, graduating in Orchestra Conducting (M. Galduf, Outstanding Award), Choral Conducting (E. Cifre, Honourable Mention), Improvisation-Accompaniment (E. Montesinos, Honourable Mention) and Harpsichord (R. Madrid). Afterwards he studied master’s degrees in Aesthetics and Creativity of Music at the University of Valencia, Musicology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, and Choral Conducting at Rotterdam Conservatory. He obtained a Diploma in Advanced Studies from Aveiro University and has studied further with M. Noone, S. Mas, J. L. Martínez, L. Tao, D. Ham, C. García-Bernalt, N. Peres da Costa, M. Pérès, E. Molina and R. Belda. Francesc has been chosen to give conducting masterclasses by F. Brüggen, with the Orchestra of the 18th Century; and A. van Beek, with the Auvergne Orchestra, organized by De Doelen in Rotterdam. He has collaborated as a co-repeater, continuo player or pianist with the Laurens Collegium in Rotterdam, Turiae Camerata, Laurenscantorij Rotterdam, Ensemble Cabanilles, Codarts Chamber Choir, Ars Musicae Mallorca, La Escaramuza, Orquestra Ciutat de Torrent and the Capella Saetabis. He has also worked as an assistant conductor with the latter and recorded Les Consolations by J. J. Rousseau. He is currently the director of the Música Trobada group and the Orfeó Universitari of València.

Francesc has also worked as a conductor with the Junges Sinfonieorchester orchestra in Hannover, Symphonia Orbitalis, Spanish Brass, the Amores Percussion Group, Perku-Va, Lux Venti, the Països Catalans Choir, the Almodí Chamber Choir, Orquestra Barroca, the Chamber Opera Seminary of the Higher Conservatory of Music in Valencia and the Castello Higher Conservatory of Music, Petits Cantors from Valencia, and the Vilnius University Choir among others. He has worked with soloists like C. Mena, P. Moral, M. Rodríguez-Cusí, F. Oliver, M. L. Corvacho, Ll. Sintes, A. Montserrat, J. Pizarro, and M. del Mar Bonet, etc. He has also prepared choral parts for conductors such as M. Galduf, C. Soler, Á. Albiach, F. Valero-Terribas and R. Tebar, and has worked as the musical director for stage productions with Maria Rovira (Crea Dance Company), J. P. Mendiola, A. Herrero, A. Urieta, I. Luis, etc. His repertoire is varied and ranges from the Ensaladas de Fletxa, and the Requiem and Tenebrae Responsories by Victoria to the Pierrot Lunaire opera by Schoenberg, Stravinsky’s Mass and 

The Wedding, and Carmina Burana by Carl Orff. He also performs some of the most significant choral pieces such as: Verdi, Mozart and Fauré’s Requiems; Stabat Mater by Dvořák; Dido and Aeneas by Purcell; Messiah and Utrecht Te Deum by Handel; Petite Messe Solennelle by Rossini; Saint Nicolas by Britten; Kodály’s Missa In Tempore Belli; El Pessebre by Casals; Chichester Psalms and Missa Brevis by Bernstein; and monographic programmes dedicated to Monteverdi, Bach, Brahms, Vivaldi, Schubert, etc. Francesc has also premiered works by F. Coll, F. Carbonell, I. Latorre, R. Pastor and J. V. Fuentes.

He has conducted performances at the Organ Music Cycle at the Palau de la Música concert hall in Valencia, the Valencia Philharmonic Society, the Ensems Festival of Contemporary Music, the International Festival of Early Music in Peniscola, the Liceu Theatre Foyer concert hall in Barcelona, the Notas del Ambigú music cycle at the Zarzuela Theatre in Madrid, the Early Music Festival in the Pyrenees, the Vélez Blanco Baroque Music Festival, Religious Music Week in Requena, the Serenates Festival, MusAS, Chamber Music Week in Montserrat, and the International Music Week in Morella. He has also conducted concerts in France, Portugal, Holland, Italy, Germany, Romania, Norway and around Spain. As a conductor or continuo player he has recorded about fifteen records with pieces of music representing the musical heritage of Valencia for music publishers like La Mà de Guido, Ars Harmonica, DBC and SEdeM. He won the Local Studies Award organized by Aldaia council for his research into Pasqual Fuentes Alcàsser -1721-1768-. Alongside Música Trobada he was nominated for the Carles Santos Awards in Valencia in 2018. Regarding teaching, he has formed part of a musical direction team for interdisciplinary didactic recordings and performances. During the 2010-2011 course he worked as a choral teacher at Rotterdam Conservatory. He forms part of the public body of Music and Performing Arts teachers in Valencia and is currently a music teacher at the Catarroja Music Conservatory.

MIREIA ANDREU BIOGRAPHY 
Mireia studied Performing Arts and Stage Direction at the Barcelona Theatre Institute. In 2001 she joined the Carnicería Theatre founded by Rodrigo García where she worked as a direction and production assistant for various plays touring theatres and festivals around Europe.

In 2004 they won the UBU Award for best contemporary performance and production with “Agamennone: volví del supermercado y le dí una paliza a mi hijo” and the UNESCO Award for Best Contemporary Theatre Reality in 2009. She began her own artistic career in the field of video-creation and experimental cinema in 2005. In 2007 she presented her first creation, a mixture of live experimental performance, and video and audio arts.

Since then, Mireia has created and presented ten artistic performances in different festivals and venues around Catalonia such as the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art (MACBA), Lo Pati Centre of Arts in Amposta, the Pensa Festival of Philosophy in Barcelona, and the A Cel Obert Festival in Tortosa. Her performances and artistic interventions have their roots in creative processes based on a variety of different disciplines such as poetry, philosophy, opera, music and dance, all seen from a critical and contemporary viewpoint.