Posthumous tribute to Jaume Antón by Unión Musical, its honorary president

Benidorm Musical Union paid a tribute yesterday to who was its president between 1984 and 2003 and honorary president, Jaume Antón, with a concert by his symphonic band at the cultural center. The concert, part of the summer program of the Department of Culture, was directed by Ramón Llorente and brought together several hundred people, including the mayor, Toni Pérez; the mayor of Culture, Jaime Jesús Pérez; members of the Corporation; and the relatives of the disappeared Jaume Antón.

In the first part, the symphonic band performed 'Novecento', by J. E. Canet Todolí; 'Carmen' by Bizet, with the adaptation of Tohru Takahashi; 'Forza del destino', by Verdi, adapted by Eduardo Peris; and the pasodoble 'Jaume Antón' by Salvador Chuliá.

During the intermission, the mayor, the president of Unión Musical, Mª Carmen García, and the entity's honorary director, Rafael Doménech, gave the widow and daughters of its honorary president a gift as a souvenir of the concert. Then, the bronze, silver, gold, and gold insignia and diamonds were delivered to the musicians who have completed 10, 15, 25, and 50 years in the Musical Union respectively. In this last section, two active musicians have been linked to the Unión Musical for half a century: José Fernando and Joaquín García Fernández.

After these recognitions, Toni Pérez highlighted yesterday the "enormous passion" that Jaume Antón felt for music and the "incredible love" that he always professed to his family and Benidorm, "of which he was an ambassador". The mayor assured that "if Benidorm came to enjoy music much more and came to appreciate it much more than it always did, it was thanks to people like Jaume Antón, who for almost four decades dedicated their lives to us having music and the best ”.

Likewise, the mayor valued the work of the musicians and the entity itself, which will soon celebrate its centenary. A centenary, he pointed out, "in which we have to give our chests, as an entity and as a city."

After the tribute and recognition to its musicians, in the second part of the concert, the symphonic band performed the fandango 'Doña Francisquita,' by Amadeu Vives; 'Elisabeth', by Sylvester Levay, adapted by Johan de Meij; and 'The Angel of Apocalypse', by Hugo Chinesta. The concert closed with an encore of the pasodoble 'Jaume Antón'.