“I have been working in the United States for 30 years as a choir director and I have never had the opportunity to take a group of my own to Spain, let alone Galicia. I’ve finally made it.” Fernando Malvar from Vigo expresses himself like this before his dream is about to come true. In a few days, he will perform on Spanish soil with the Los Angeles Children’s Choir, which won a Grammy for best choral recording last year with conductor Dudamel for Mahler’s 8th Symphony. These days, they begin a tour of Spain that includes two stops on Galician soil: in Vigo and Compostela.
Three years ago he was about to fulfill his dream but COVID-19 got in the way, postponing it. “The plane leaves this Tuesday (today) and I don’t wait to get inside,” he comments on the phone with an illusion that does not fit through cables or bytes.
“I thought that the best way to take the Choir to Galicia was to follow the Camino de Santiago. We start in Bilbao and continue through León, Burgos, Santiago, Vigo and Salamanca ”, he adds.
In Santiago, they will sing on the 25th of June, Sunday, at 20.30 hours in the Monastery of San Martín Pinario; while in Vigo the performance will be on martes 27 in the Cathedral at 21.00 hours. In this one, they will collaborate with the Coro A Xunqueira de Pontevedra, directed by María Luisa Sánchez; and with the Coro Xuvenil Cantiga, from Ourense, by Cristina María Rodríguez.
With regard to the Children’s Choir of Los Angeles, of the 450 members in nine formations that make it up, a total of 91 will travel divided into three formations. The youngest is 12 years old and the oldest is 18. Precisely, this is the age limit up to which they can be part of it.
Most of the repertoire is a capella, although piano is also included “and at the concert in Vigo we will sing with a bagpipe player”, explains Fernando Malvar, who has chosen works that “I think the public in Spain will like. One of the characteristics of my choirs is that they sing with a great diversity of styles. I want to demonstrate it on the show.”
Thus, the public will find classical music, including Spanish composers such as Pablo Casals. Also “there will be a piece from the Cantigas de Alfonso Xl but written by the Spanish composer Pedro Osuna who lives in Los Angeles. Of course, there will be gospel, Broadway themes and even traditional Galician music”, he details.
Of this last group, he reveals that they will interpret the “Foliada de Santiago” as well as another piece by Native Americans.
The story behind this composition is that “a friend I studied with in Ohio researched and located this tune. He arranged it in such a way that he respects the way of singing. We use a different vocal technique and accompany it with a hand drum. It sounds impressive, really”, emphasizes Malvar.
As for whether the choir’s professional life changed a lot as a result of last year’s Grammy, Fernando laughingly asserts that it did, to add: “The aftermath has been incredible. In the United States, once you win an award, the recognition sticks. There is much more interest for us to sing at concerts, festivals… even the number of people who want to participate in the group has increased notably. I still can’t believe it.”
Last year they performed a concert with Billie Eilish, who had been part of the choir, from which they just released a live making-of documentary. In addition, they have just finished off the production of “Othello” with the Los Angeles Opera and when they return from their trip to Spain they will sing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. We don’t stop, the demand for us to sing has risen. The more experience for children, the better. At the moment, I can’t say no to anything.”
Regarding the trip to Spain, he explains that the children “really want to go because the Spain brand here in Los Angeles is very strong. They want to know the country and since it is mine and by going to my land they have an enormous curiosity. They have asked me to take them to the neighborhood where I grew up, in Bouzas. I will do that”.
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