WE TALK WITH LYDIA MERINO, DIRECTOR OF THE CULTURE AREA OF THE FUENGIROLA CITY COUNCIL

Dear public,

We begin our journey towards what will be our last appointment before summer. After the summer, as has already been announced and we have published, Iberian Sinfonietta, with its unique proposal around very select and suggestive classical repertoires, and its original staging with a didactic and close contribution, will continue with its cycle of Concerts every two months between 2021 and 2022.

There is a lot of work and in many directions so that everything has been able to develop and so that it continues to be that way. From these “didactic” entries we understand how important it is to know the authors and composers or the performers as well as this entire management part. This leads us to begin our “entries” for May 8, not with the history of some composer or the curiosities of some work but with one of the people who has been carrying out decisive work since the beginning of this journey two years ago. years. We refer to the Director of the Culture Area of ​​the Fuengirola City Council, Ms. Lydia Merino.

We leave you with our questions and your answers, but not before thanking you again for your professionalism and closeness and, above all, for your immense affection for Fuengirola and the culture.

Mrs. Lydia Merino, we are finishing this cycle of Iberian Sinfonietta, in the Palacio de la Paz, it is very comfortable and also with new hours, on Saturday mornings, which allow the public and musicians to enjoy the great gastronomic offer of Fuengirola. What assessment do you make of this musical and didactic proposal?

“When Juan Paulo Gómez, musical and artistic director of Iberian Sinfonietta, contacted the Culture area of ​​the Fuengirola City Council, back in July 2020, to propose that the IBERIAN SINFONIETTA orchestra locate the headquarters for its next concert season -Community Concerts- in our municipality, we thought it was a fantastic idea.

We scheduled a personal appointment with the Councilor for Culture, Rodrigo Romero, and we told him that we were delighted to have these bimonthly educational concerts held, establishing the appropriate calendar for their development.

It is true that, unfortunately, the exceptional situation of the pandemic has prevented the public from attending concerts normally, as well as other cultural activities, either due to the mobility restrictions imposed by the health authorities, or due to the reluctance of many people attend these types of events for fear of contagion.

From the Culture area we have strictly complied with all the recommendations and hygienic-sanitary measures that guarantee the preservation of health, both of the attending public and of the musicians who have participated in the concerts offered at the Peace Palace."

What would you highlight about this cycle, the format, the programs, the quality...?

“In my opinion, what is notable is, mainly, the great professionalism of the musicians that make up the orchestra, its director and, as a result of all this, the exceptional quality result of these concerts.

Of course, the programs they offer us are of great interest, proof of this is the degree of satisfaction of the attending public.

I have also been very surprised by the variety of programs with more traditional concerts in which pieces of classical music par excellence are performed, with Mozart or Bocherinni, the pinnacle composer of southern European musical classicism, to others with works by Spanish composers and with the participation of extraordinary soloists, such as the soprano Lucía Millán and the baritone Santiago García in the case of the concert “Entre romanzas y boleros”.

I cannot ignore the originality of the last concert “From another prism” in which trumpet soloists, Alejandro Gómez and David Guillén, the violinist Enrique Tudela participated and which featured the stellar performance of Marta Cubas with her accordion, which I think I am not wrong if I say that all of us who attended were pleasantly impressed.”

The orchestra has already agreed with the City Council on the 5 dates of next year's cycle, from September to May 2022. What expectations do you have?

“Given the good result obtained with the programming developed this season, despite the very restrictive conditions due to the COVID-19 pandemic that I have mentioned previously, I hope that this situation will change for next season. It is possible, and we hope so, that mass vaccination and the growing weakness of the virus will allow concerts to take place more normally, which will mean more crowds.

I have no doubt that the programs included in the new season of IBERIAN SINFONIETTA will be very attractive and interesting for the public, given the good work already demonstrated with the ones we have enjoyed so far.

The Department of Culture shares with IBERIAN SINFONIETTA the same purpose in the cultural activities that we organize: the dissemination of culture and the taste for music. This project fully meets our expectations in that sense.”

Anything you want to convey or tell us...?

“Publicly thank the orchestra, in general, and Juan Paulo Gómez, in particular, for the trust placed in Fuengirola and the opportunity it gives us to be able to count on them again.

It is an excellent opportunity to enjoy good music and, from here, I invite all those citizens who want to attend these concerts that the members of this young and professional orchestra prepare with so much enthusiasm.”

Thank you very much Lydia, see you next May 8 at 12 at the Peace Palace in Fuengirola, which you know so well!

Jorge Rodríguez Morata
Pedagogical content coordinator