Mula, international guitar capital, with concerts and workshops all week

The second edition of the Ciudad de Mula International Guitar Festival and Contest yesterday hosted its third night of concerts with the talented and young Mexican instrumentalist José Daniel Salceda, who won first prize in the professional category last year. In addition, the elimination phase of the contest took place where the five finalists were chosen. Today will be in charge of enlivening the evening in the Cloister of the Convent of San Francisco, at 9:00 p.m., the Cordovan musician Javier Riva who will interpret his compositions and those of the 20th century.

Closure

On Friday, the grand finale of the contest will take place, in which contestants of up to six different nationalities have participated. Finally, on Saturday the closing ceremony will be held by the Spanish guitarist Andrea González Caballero, one of the greats of her generation, at the Lope de Vega Theatre, also at nine o’clock at night. That day, in addition, the winners of the youth category will be announced. All performances are free until full capacity and it is not necessary to be part of the contest.

master classes

One of the great premises of this festival is, apart from welcoming great guitarists, to offer musicians from all over the world the opportunity to learn from the best. Thanks to this, the contestants are enjoying this week the master classes by Àlex Garrobé, Javier Riba, Andrea González Caballero and José Daniel Salceda. “The contestants are not only living the experience of learning from the teachers, something that they can only achieve if they sign up for a master’s degree or workshop where they teach, but also share leisure time and meals with them,” says Reyes Aznar, responsible for the press of the festival directed by the Chilean Ramón Vergara.

Awards

Along with these classes, several prizes divided into two categories are distributed. Within the professional category is the first prize (2,000 euros in cash, a guitar valued at 3,500 euros made by the Caravaque luthier Ángel Gómez de Guillén and the opportunity to perform next year at the event for a cache of 1,000 euros), the second (1,000 euros) and the award ‘For the best interpretation of the compulsory work’, called ‘Scene on the Castle of Mula’ and composed by Javier Salvador from Castellón for the festival. In the youth category, to which those under 20 years of age can sign up, there is only one first prize consisting of 500 euros.

heritage charm

Ramón Vergara, director of the festival, chose Mula for being an appropriate place in strategic terms. “It has a good geographical position, it is accessible from all points, in addition to having some spectacular places such as the Convent of San Francisco, the churches and the mansions,” says Reyes Aznar.