The jury awards first prize to ‘Aires de Llevant’ in the pasodoble category of the 25th Festive Music Composition Competition

The jury of the 25th ‘Villa de Benidorm’ Festive Music Composition Competition, which this year was held in the pasodoble category, has unanimously agreed to award the €2,000 prize and trophy to the composition submitted under the title ‘Aires de Llevant’, the Department of Culture has announced. The jury was chaired by Councillor for Culture Jaime Jesús Pérez, with Javier Cidrón Ribes as secretary and Juan Antonio Espinosa Zaragoza, Alfonso Yépez Santamaría and Trinitat Roldán Bertomeu as members.

Jaime Jesús Pérez, in his capacity as both chairman of the jury and Councillor for Culture, highlighted that “the standard of the works submitted this year has been exceptionally high, making the jury’s task of choosing a composition particularly difficult”.

A concert will be held on 26 September from 8 pm at Óscar Esplá Auditorium in l’Aigüera Park, performed by the Societat Musical La Nova de Benidorm. During the concert, the sealed envelope containing the winning composer’s details will be opened, and the winner's name will be announced. A total of 16 compositions were submitted for this year’s competition.

The Councillor for Culture expressed his “great satisfaction” at the number of works received, which was “considerably higher than in editions when the competition has focused on Moorish or Christian marches”. Having listened to all the compositions entered, he reiterated that “the quality of all the works” had made the jury’s task of selecting a winner particularly challenging.

Jaime Jesús Pérez stressed that the competition “is now an established event within the field of composition” and highlighted the fact that “many works submitted to the competition have subsequently been performed at parades and concerts across Spain”. He added that the competition “forms part of the Department of Culture’s strategic priorities and seeks to highlight the importance and significant role that music plays in people’s lives and in society, while also promoting musical creativity among professional composers”.

Another of its aims, he added, is “to help preserve traditional music, which is deeply rooted in the Valencian Community, as well as to encourage new musical composition and contribute to the promotion and enrichment of the repertoire of festive music”.