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The Música en Compostela International University Courses were created in 1958 by Maestro Andrés Segovia supported by diplomat José Miguel Ruíz Morales, General Director of Cultural Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Since then, these courses have taken place in Santiago de Compostela every Summer for the last six decades. In all these years, the festival´s goal has been to inform, perform, and cultivate Spanish music. Each edition, more than 100 students from over 20 countries register in the courses.

Música en Compostela started as a result of Maestro Segovia’s concern about the lack of knowledge of Spanish music.  He wanted to create a festival that “cleaned, established, and made the Spanish repertoire shine.” With these goals, Música en Compostela has been dedicated to the research and dissemination of the music of Spain’s composers.

Among the courses’ teachers, there have been some of the most extraordinary musicians of all time such as guitarists Andrés Segovia and John Williams (who participated as a student); composers Óscar Esplá (Música en Compostela first director), Federico Mompou, Xavier Montsalvatge, Carmelo Bernaola, Cristóbal Halffter (both former students), Luis de Pablo, Antón García Abril, and Joaquín Rodrigo; pianists Alicia de Larrocha, Antonio Iglesias, and Rosa Sabater; singers Montserrat Caballé (a student in the 1962 edition), Conchita Badía, and Isabel Penagos; cellist Gaspar Cassadó; violist Enrique Santiago;  conductors Jesús López Cobos and Christopher Hogwood (both former students), and musicologist José López Calo.

This extraordinary pedagogical work promotes the preservation, study, and dissemination of our musical heritage, and it also contributes to the diffusion of our composers and their music abroad.

Due to Música en Compostela’s remarkable work and its unique project, several eminent personalities have become part of its Board of Directors and its “Amigos de Música en Compostela” association. The prestigious University of Santiago de Compostela has elevated these courses to the highest academic recognition and conferred to its founder, Andrés Segovia a Doctorate “Honoris Causa.”

Many names have been part of Música en Compostela’s sixty one years of history. Among them, Mr. José Eugenio de Baviera y Borbón, Infante de España; Cardinal Quiroga Palacios; Ms. Margarita Pastor de Jessen; Mr. Pedro Barrié de la Maza and Ms. Carmela Arias y Díaz de Rábago, Counts of Fenosa; Mr. Carlos Romero de Lecea, Count of Fontao; Cardinals Suquía Goicoechea and Rouco Varela;  Mr. Echeverri Barreiro, Mr. Suárez Núñez, Mr. Villares Paz, Mr. Villanueva Prieto, and Mr. Casares Long, Presidents of the University of Santiago de Compostela; Mr. Ángel Porrto Anido, Mr. Xerardo Estévez Fernández,  Mr. Xosé A. Sánchez Bugallo, and Mr. Ángel Currás Fernández; and musicians, professionals, businesswomen and men, most especially Mr. Ramón Castromil Ventureira, Mr. Manuel and Mr. José San Luis, Dr. José Daporta González and his wife, pianist Ms. Rosita López Comunión, Mr. Manuel Beiras García and his wife Ms. Mina Torrado Moldes, Mr. José Otero Otero, and the Santiago-based businesses Televés S.A. and Cotaredo, deserve special credit.

In addition, former Governor of Galicia Mr. Manuel Fraga Iribarne; Mr. José Filgueira Valverde, and  Mr. José Carlos Valle Pérez; Mr. David Ferrer Garrido; Mr. Isidoro Guede Fernández; Mr. Eugenio Fadrique González; Mr. Bernardo Alfageme Pérez, Ms. Esclavitud García Cidón de Freyre; Ms. Mercedes Goicoa Fernández, pianist and former President of the Royal Academy of the Arts of Nuestra Señora del Rosario in La Coruña; and the doctor and musicologist Enrique Jiménez Gómez, member of the Royal  Academy of the Arts of Nuestra Señora del Rosario in La Coruña, and correspondent academic at the Royal Academy of the Arts of San Fernando in Madrid, have been invaluable contributors to the courses.

Since 1968, H.M. Queen Sofia, back then H.R.H. Princess Sofia, became the Honorary President of Música en Compostela´s Board of Directors. Past presidents of the Board included H.E. Mr. José Manuel Ruiz Morales, Ms. Margarita Pastor de Jessen Mr. Carlos Romero de Lecea, Count of Fontao; Mr. Xerardo Estévez Fernández and Mr. D. Gerardo Fernández Albor, former Governor of Galicia. The current president is Ms. María Amparo Dobarro Ramos. The Board of Directors includes the University of Santiago de Compostela´s President; the Mayor of the City of Santiago de Compostela; the Cultural Secretary of Galicia´s Government;  H.E. Mr. Agustín León Ara (Vicepresident, Artistic director, member of the Royal Academy of the Arts of San Fernando, and world renowned violinist); Ms. María Dobarro Ramos (President); Mr. Carlos Romero Moreno (Secretary and Treasurer), Mr. José María Arias Mosquera, Mr. José Luis Lorenzo García Cánido; and the Hazen Hosseschrueders Foundation represented by Mr. Felix Hazen San Juan.

In addition to the classes,  Música en Compostela offers an extraordinary concert and lecture agenda. Students also enjoy cultural tours around Santiago and other nearby cities such as Tui and Pontevedra and can take advantage of books and scores edited for free by the Música en Compostela courses.

Música en Compostela´s trajectory has been recognized with numerous awards including an Honorary Medal by the Royal Academy of the Arts of San Fernando in Madrid (1997) for “its continuous work in ensuring that Spanish music is better known everywhere in the world” and, most recently, the Fundación Excelentia Prize (2018).

Música en Compostela also witnessed the creation of the chamber music ensemble Filgueira Valverde and the String Quartet Música en Compostela.

In 2018, Música en Compostela was awarded in its "Efemérides" category by the prestigious "EXCELENTIA Foundation", in recognition of the work done over 60 years.

Clase de violonchelo. Maestro Elías Arizcuren 39 IMAGES
CATEDRAS AND TEACHERS

VOICE:

Ana Mª Sánchez


GUITAR:

Jose María Gallardo del Rey


MUSICOLOGY:

Ismael Fernández de la Cuesta y

José Sierra Pérez


ORGAN:

Roberto Fresco


PIANO:

Josep Mª Colom


CHOIR:

Carmen Cruz Simó


COMPOSITION and SYMPHONIC MUSIC ANALYSIS:

David del Puerto


VIOLA AND CHAMBER MUSIC:

Ashan Pillai


VIOLIN:

Agustín León Ara


VIOLONCELLO:

María de Macedo


 

 

Bibliographical References

Antonio Iglesias Álvarez:

 

“MÚSICA EN COMPOSTELA”

(1958-1974). Vol. I

 

Editado por el Consorcio de la Ciudad de Santiago, 1994.


Antonio Iglesias Álvarez:

 

“MÚSICA EN COMPOSTELA”

(1975-1994). Vol. II

 

Editado por el Consorcio de la Ciudad de Santiago, 1995.


Antonio Iglesias Álvarez:

 

“MÚSICA EN COMPOSTELA”

(1995-2007). Vol. III

 

Editado por el Consorcio de la Ciudad de Santiago, 2007.