SM l'Illa reviews its 25-year history in a concert in honor of Santa Cecilia

Societat Musical l'Illa has offered this Sunday a concert in honor of Santa Cecilia in which the band has reviewed its 25 years of history performing some of the most significant works in the entity's history. The concert, the first of the entity in the new facilities of the 'Rafael Doménech Pardo' auditorium of the cultural center, was attended by, among others, the mayor, Toni Pérez; the Councilor for Culture, Jaime Jesús Pérez; members of the Corporation; and representatives of the musical entities of Benidorm.

The recital began with Jaime Teixidor's pasodoble 'Gloria al trabajo', one of the pieces that the band performed at its first concert in November 1997. Subsequently, under the baton of Felipe Juan Lanuza, the suite 'Ball de Lletres' by Ximo Cano; the suite for band by Hidas Frigyes; the pasodoble 'Andrés contrabandista' by Óscar Navarro; the descriptive suite 'El sorior y la orden de Uclés' by Teodoro Aparicio and the symphonic suite 'Alejandro Magno' by Miquel Morales, with which the entity won the 2021 Provincial Band Contest.

As a climax to the concert, and outside the repertoire, the pasodoble 'Mestre Cano' was premiered, a work by Ximo Cano and which the entity has dedicated to the former director of the band Josep Cano i Gracià, who is still part of the staff of musicians.

During the anniversary commemorative concert, recognition was given to the presidents that the entity has had since 1997: Ramón Antón, Bartolomé Teuler, Valentín Torrado, Vicent Pérez, and Tomás Llorca. The same has also been done with the three directors who have been in charge of the entity in the last 25 years -Josep Cano, Juan Antonio Espinosa, and Felipe Juan Lanuza-, and with the members of the band that participated in the first concert of 1997 and are still active.

The mayor congratulated SM l'Illa, founded by "a group of men and women passionate about music" on his 25-year career; "vocational and professional musicians who dedicate their time to learning and teaching" and who decided to "create the second musical entity in Benidorm" and "imposed very difficult challenges". After highlighting the "emotional" nature of the event held today, Toni Pérez wished the entity 25 more years of success,

With this concert in honor of the patron saint of musicians and in which three new musicians have joined the band, the SM l'Illa has closed the commemorative events of its 25th anniversary, which have taken place throughout the week and that began last Tuesday with the discovery of a plaque in Sant Andreu street to remember the date and place of the foundation of the company in 1997.

On Friday, Àngel Lluís Ferrando Morales offered the conference 'El Tirant lo Blanc, fet Música' on musical compositions inspired by the work of Joanot Martorell; and yesterday, Saturday, it was the turn of the psychologist Celia Boquete, the musicologist Mª José Anglés and the teacher Paqui Antón who discussed 'Gifts, Music and Science'.