Llíria inaugurates the 1st “Llíria City of Music” International Orchestra Conducting Competition; an ambitious event that aims to make the city an international referent for music throughout the week.
The designation of Llíria as UNESCO Creative City, granted in October 2019, is an opportunity to project the city to the rest of the world and grow the capital of the municipality as City of Music.
This is how it is transmitted by its mayor, Joanma Miguel, who is clear that the city must structure music, tourism, and the economy to continue consolidating its model.
Llíria has been known in Valencia as the City of Music. Is it a pressure to be “City of Music” now?
It is mainly an opportunity. UNESCO offers us not only a platform of international projection for our musical history, for our societies, but also a platform to spread all that we are and all that enriches us as a city.
But, in addition, it is a responsibility, a commitment to the values that music conveys and, above all, to the training and promotion of all those people who make this a lifestyle.
The designation “Llíria City of Music” is much more than music, right?
Indeed. Llíria is the city of music, our musical societies are a standard, but we are many more things. Llíria is heritage (with Iberian, Roman, Arab, medieval sites…); Llíria is culture (with a strong fabric of musical associations, theatre, painting…); Llíria is tourism, it is gastronomy, it is commerce, and it is sport.
I want to invite all the people who visit us to discover our city: to walk through our streets, to travel back in time with our monuments, to taste our traditional products and to take home all the hospitality of the town of Llíria.
The UNESCO platform allows us to export all our strengths to the rest of the world. We must work to combine them, with music as the common thread, to project them to the rest of the world and strengthen ourselves as a city.
The City Council, despite the current situation, keeps relying on culture.
We are trying to work to continue offering a steady and quality cultural schedule. In the last year, there have been months that the situation has forced us to suspend cultural activity and, when we have been able to hold events and concerts, we have done so with maximum-security measures.
The cultural sector is being one of the most affected by this crisis and, from the administrations, we must bet on promoting cultural activity. Health has been ahead for many months, but we also need culture, because it enriches us, educates us, and fosters values that, today, are very necessary to our society.
Regarding the conducting competition, it is an event that can help develop the careers of the young participating conductors.
It is the most attractive part of the competition, and it is what has made us have 188 registrations from 35 different countries. Through this event, we show our ability to help; in this case, young orchestra conductors can acquire a greater international projection and a boost for their careers.
How has Llíria prepared for the competition?
The Culture area has done a great job of organizing the entire competition and, in addition, they have worked to spread this great event to the specialized and general public. And, during this week, we will continue to be with the media.
We are a great city and this week we are hosting music. We must transmit our hospitality and that all those who visit us have a good memory of this cosy and music-lover city of Llíria, a feeling that is present, day by day, in our streets.
