The 41st edition of the Sagunt a Escena festival (1-25 August), organised by the Institut Valencià de Cultura (IVC), this year incorporates a wide variety of musical genres and styles, from flamenco to urban music, folk, jazz, electronic and pop music, with a wide range of concerts and sessions to be held both at the Teatre Romà and in the streets and squares of Sagunto.

The festival’s artistic director, Inma Expósito, stressed that music “has always formed part of our festival’s programme. Thus, the expressive essence of María del Mar Bonet, Estrella Morente, Philippe Jaroussky, María Arnal and Silvia Pérez Cruz have given us lasting resonance and we hope that this year we will enjoy them again”.

He also explained that the Teatre Romà, with its atmosphere steeped in history, offers exceptional acoustics for enjoying live music. In this sense, this year’s programme includes two very different singers, but with prodigious voices in their respective genres, Valeria Castro and Carmen Linares.

“Their concerts at the Teatre Romà promise to raise the audience’s spirits by allowing them to enjoy the best music of the present in a setting that will transport them back in time,” said Expósito.

On 10 August, the national monument will host the end of the tour of Valeria Castro’s first album, ‘Con cariño y con cuidado’. The young singer-songwriter from La Palma has made her way onto the music scene thanks to her exquisite sensitivity. In September 2023 she received her first Latin Grammy nomination in the category of Best Author’s Song for ‘La raíz’, about the volcano of her island.

“Sagunto dresses up for the night to welcome one of the most vibrant young voices of the moment, Valeria Castro. Full of youth and vitality with a stage charisma and vocal dynamics that confirm all the praise she has received”, Expósito explained.

For her part, on 14 August, the living flamenco legend Carmen Linares will perform as a guest artist in the joint proposal by the Israeli choreographer Sharon Fridman and the bailaor Eduardo Guerrero, ‘Jondo. Del primer llanto, el primer beso’.

“The presence of Carmen Linares represents a generational contrast, a cycle of musical life, culminating in the best possible way: singing Lorca, making her mastery count”, the director pointed out.

An artist of international renown, the cantaora has written in gold letters the last 40 years of the history of Spanish musical culture, singing our poets, such as Juan Ramón Jiménez, Miguel Hernández and Federico García Lorca, whose characters Rosita, Don Perlimplín, Mariana, Adela and El Director are the inspiration for the five dance scenes that make up this production.

Throughout her career, Linares has won some twenty major awards, including the 2001 National Music Award, the 2006 Medal of Fine Arts, the 2018 Berklee University Mediterranean Music Award, the 2022 Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts and the 2023 Latin Grammy Award.

Selection of new talents

The Off Romà section offers a unique opportunity to discover new talents free of charge and with free access. On the opening day of the festival, 1 August, the jazz and house trumpet duo Trumpetz will be in charge of a musical action on the ascent to the castle that will serve as a welcome party.

Also making a musical contribution to the programme on 23 August at the Glorieta will be Colomet, who is emerging as a promising figure on the Valencian pop and urban music scene.

In Sagunt she will present her 2024 album ‘Blau’, a fresh approach based on reggaeton, electronic sounds and urban pop. Colomet is the project of Paloma Aparici, whose energetic and dynamic performances captivate a young audience through the fusion of styles and rhythms conducive to dancing.

She will be accompanied by the young Esther from Vinaròs, who in 2021 released her first EP, with which she received critical acclaim with nominations for Revelation Artist at both the Carles Santos and Ovidi Montllor awards. In December 2022 he released his debut album, ‘Las cartas que nunca quemé’, with which he positioned himself as one of the leading voices of Valencian pop.

Finally, on 25 August, as a festive finale to the programme, DJ Madnel will present a hybrid proposal at La Glorieta in which he will break down the barriers between musical genres. In his set, he aims to investigate the relationship between body, space and audiovisuals by incorporating underground elements such as drag art, clubbing and urban dance into the stage space.

Inka Romani and WaackEngy, vogue and wacking dancers, among other urban dances, will experience movement rituals to the rhythm of DJ Madnel’s fusion in a fun and stimulating atmosphere.

The Sagunt a escena festival is sponsored by Sagunt és Viu, the Sagunto Tourism Department, Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, Caixa Popular, the Port Authority of Valencia, Saggas and Fertiberia. Also collaborating are Adetursa, NPS, Valencia Plaza, Coca-Cola, Cercanías Renfe, Adif and Tiendas de la Estación.

Report by ‘24/7 Valencia’ team

Article copyright ‘24/7 Valencia’

More info: https://saguntaescena.ivc.gva.es/es/