Another year, the Town Hall of Polanco, in collaboration with the Coro Solvay Ensemble and the company Solvay, organises its International Choral Cycle, which is celebrating its thirty-fourth edition. All concerts will take place at the Church of San Pedro Advíncula at 20:00.
This Cycle aims to promote choral music, offering high-quality concerts while also welcoming groups of different levels and backgrounds. From children's and senior choirs from the municipality to more established choirs in the regional, national, and international scene. The Coro Solvay Ensemble, which actively participates in the organisation of this event, will perform on two occasions: solemnising the inaugural mass of the cycle, in honour of the Virgin of the Pillar, patroness of the Civil Guard, and offering a very special concert on 30th October, titled Three Paths to the Light, which will include the fusion of three different arts: music, poetry, and painting. The Cycle will be closed by the Chamber Choir Ipavska from Slovenia.
Below we include a brief overview of each of the choirs that will participate, as well as the complete programme in downloadable pdf. We look forward to seeing you all.
12 October (Monday): CHORAL CYCLE MASS (12:00 h.)
Solvay Ensemble Choir. Director, Juan José del Valle.
17 OCTOBER (Saturday). YOUTH CHOIR OF THE BILBAO CHORAL SOCIETY
Founded in 1985 as a bridge formation between the Children's Choir and the Symphony Choir of the Bilbao Choral Society, the Euskeria Choir is composed of 30 young people who stand out for their versatility and artistic commitment. Since 2007, it has been directed by Urko Sangroniz, under whose baton it has consolidated an identity
of its own within the young choral landscape.
23 OCTOBER (Friday): MONASTERY CHOIR OF THE "JESÚS DE MONASTERIO" CONSERVATORY.
Choral Kaleidoscope. Contemporary spirituality. This concert aims to be a dialogue between different ways of understanding spirituality and choral expression.
The programme brings together different composers, their vision of choral music and their ability to express human spirituality. Gustav Holst, Tine Bec, Ambroz Copi, Victor Johnson, Óscar Rodríguez and Emilio Otero guide us through soundscapes where tradition and modernity mutually recognise each other. The voice becomes a space for contemplation, emotion, and inner search. Each composer adds their own colour to this musical kaleidoscope. Direction, Marimar Fernández Doval.
24 OCTOBER (Saturday). Children's Choir Kontari Landarbaso.
The Kontari project of Landarbaso Abesbatza was born in the 2016 - 2017 school year with just 20 children. Currently, Kontari Landarbaso is made up of 68 children aged between 8 and 15 years. Over the years, it has collaborated with great Basque artists and performed in prestigious musical cycles. Piano, Miren Gabirondo. Director, Maddalen Dorronsoro.
30TH OCTOBER (Friday). SOLVAY ENSEMBLE CHOIR
“THREE PATHS TO THE LIGHT. Search. Encounter. Transcendence”
Every life is a transit, a constant yearning to understand what we inhabit and what inhabits us. In TOWARDS THE LIGHT, music is not a mere accompaniment, but the invisible voice that guides and drives an intimate journey articulated in three fundamental moments: The Search: The awakening of restlessness, the primary impulse that pushes us to take the first step into the shadows of uncertainty.
The Encounter: The revealing clash with the truth, the moment where the human collides with the essential and the answers transform the seeker.
The Transcendence: The final detachment, the crossing of the threshold where the being rises beyond itself to dissolve in the light. A journey that transcends the scene to turn the spectator into a companion of a journey as spiritual as it is transformative. Organ – Maite Alcalde Osorio. Saxophone – Daniel Pèrez. Actress – María Castillo. Painter – Victor Alba. String quartet – “Melisma”. Wind and percussion quartet of BMS
Director Juan José del Valle Puente.
CLOSING CYCLE. 31ST OCTOBER (Saturday). CHAMBER CHOIR IPAVSKA from SLOVENIA
The Ipavska Chamber Choir has been the centre of choral singing in the Vipava Valley, in western Slovenia, for over twenty-five years, thus attracting singers from across the region. Under the direction of Damjana Vončina, who has been leading the choir for eight years, the ensemble continues to develop a distinctive artistic profile, combining a refined choral sound with a strong emphasis on stylistic clarity and expressive communication.