The Malaga Symphony Orchestra will offer a concert of Sacred Music at the Felipe VI Auditorium to benefit ASDIES, the Association for the Disabled of Estepona.

‘The Echo of the Divine. Music for the Soul’ will take place on Saturday, March 8, at 8:00 pm. It will be conducted by Juanma Parra and will feature the mezzo-soprano Julia Merino and the countertenor Manuel Ruiz.

The City Council of Estepona informs that the Provincial Symphony Orchestra of Malaga (OSPM) will offer a concert of sacred music for the benefit of the Association of People with Disabilities of Estepona, AsDi-Es. It will take place on Saturday, March 8, at 20:00 hours, in the Felipe VI Auditorium.

The concert will feature Julia Merino, mezzo-soprano, and Manuel Ruiz, countertenor. Maestro Juan Manuel Parra will be in charge of the direction. The program, consisting of pieces by composers such as Mozart, Vivaldi, Bach, Pergolesi and Handel, will be performed without interruptions.

Tickets are priced at 10 euros (+ booking fee) and can be purchased at www.enterticket.es or at the Auditorium box office from one hour before the concert.

Program

‘The Echo of the Divine. Music for the Soul’

1.- Betulia Liberata K. 118 – Overture (W. A. Mozart) – Orchestra.

2.- Vedró con mio diletto (A. Vivaldi) – Manuel Ruiz, countertenor.

3.Erbarme dich, mein Gott (J. S. Bach) – Julia Merino, mezzo-soprano.

4. Stabat Mater No. 1 (G. B. Pergolesi) Julia Merino, alto and Manuel Ruiz, countertenor.

5.La Clemenza di Tito – Overture (W. A. Mozart) – Orchestra.

6.- Sol da te (A. Vivaldi) – Manuel Ruiz, countertenor.

7.- Ah scostati… Smanie implacabile (W. A. Mozart) – Orchestra.

8.Il Re Pastore (W. A. Mozart) – Orchestra.

9.- Empio, dirò, tu sei (G. F. Haendel) – Manuel Ruiz, countertenor.

10.- Laudate Dominum KV. 339 (W. A. Mozart) – Julia Merino, mezzo-soprano.

Orquesta Sinfónica De Málaga

The Orquesta Sinfónica de Málaga is based at the MVA Cultural Center, located in Ollerías street, in the downtown district of the city of Málaga. Founded in 1945 by maestro Pedro Gutiérrez Lapuente, it is one of the oldest orchestras in Spain. Its main objectives are the dissemination of music and support for the formation of new artistic values.

It has offered countless concerts in its history, with the participation of renowned soloists such as Gaspar Cassadó, Henryk Szeryng, José Cubiles, Alfredo Kraus, Montserrat Caballé, Ainhoa Arteta, Dwayne Croft, Anna Netrebko, Yusif Eyvazov and Andrea Bocelli; and with conductors such as Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Michael Thomas, Miquel Ortega, José Luis Temes, Marco de Prosperis, Miguel Romea, Carlo Bernini, Marco Boemi and Eugene Kohn.

Its activity has focused mainly on the classical repertoire, although its current artistic offer includes symphonic flamenco with concerts given with artists such as Estrella Morente, Vicente Amigo, David Dorantes and Manolo Sanlúcar; pop with singers such as Laura Pausini, Vanesa Martín and Raphael; jazz, with its occasional collaboration in the Malaga Jazz Festival; and film music with its annual participation in the Malaga Fantastic Film Festival (FANCINE) and in the International Film Music Festival Movie Score Malaga (MOSMA).

Among its latest projects are the participation in Starlite Festival and Tío Pepe Festival as main symphony orchestra; the closing concert of the V Bienal de Arte Flamenco de Málaga with the premiere of the work Mairena Clásico; the tours Siempre Así Sinfónico, Raphael Sinphónico, Raphael RESinphónico and Soto Sinfónico; the participation in the Amazon Prime Video program ‘Escena en Blanco y Negro’; and the Gala of the 35th edition of the Goya Awards.

Juanma Parra, conductor.

Maestro Juanma Parra, after graduating in piano and music history, began his orchestra conducting studies under the tutelage of maestro Miquel Ortega (Barcelona), with whom he tackled a large part of the lyrical repertoire. At the same time, he perfected his symphonic repertoire with maestro Jordi Mora at the Escuela Superior de Música de Cataluña (ESMUC). As a complement to his training, he received advice and attended classes from masters such as Antoni Ros Marbà (Barcelona), Bruno Aprea (Rome), Alberto Veronesi (Milan) or Gianluigi Gelmetti (Siena), the latter having a great influence on his career.

Despite his young career, he has conducted orchestras such as the Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Moldova, the Cordoba Symphony Orchestra, the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, the Malaga Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra della Fondazione Bulgaria Classic of the Accademia Chigiana of Siena, the Concerto Malaga Orchestra, the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Burgos or the Philharmonic Orchestra of Spain. He has worked with voices such as tenors

Edgardo Rocha, Aquiles Machado, Alessandro Fantoni, Kazuki Yoshida or Carlo Raffaelli; sopranos Shoko Okada or Elizabetta Zizzo; baritones Luca Bruno or Italo Proferisce.

Julia Merino, Mezzosoprano.

Julia Merino, thanks to the Elizabeth Sweeting Scholarship, is currently completing her Master’s Degree in Opera at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (London) with professors Janice Chapman and Marcus van den Akker.

As a soloist she has worked with various national and international orchestras. Some of the performances to highlight in Spain would be oratorios with the Orquesta Filarmónica de Málaga and the Orquesta de la Universidad de Jaén, as well as participations with the Orquesta Sinfónica de Málaga in projects such as Amor Brujo (Falla) or the Festival Metalírica at the Teatro Echegaray (Málaga). She has also participated in the Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander during the past summer 2024.

Julia made her operatic debut with the Northen Opera Group (Leeds, UK) in the production of the opera ‘Frida’ in summer 2023. Upcoming operatic projects include the role debut of Fanny Price in the opera ‘Mansfield Park’ (Jonathan Dove), as well as the role debut of Dido in ‘Dido and Aeneas’ (Purcell), both productions taking place in London. In addition, in the coming months she will participate in a Zarzuela recital co-organized by the Instituto Cervantes (Leeds, UK), as well as in a piano and singing recital at the Sociedad Económica de El País (Jaén, Spain).

Within the field of oratorio, she will make her debut as mezzo soloist in Mendelssohn’s ‘Elijah’ in March 2025.

Manuel Ruiz, Countertenor.

Born in Córdoba, after graduating in viola at the Conservatorio Superior de Córdoba, he moved to London to continue his postgraduate studies in viola and singing at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama under the direction of Andrew Wacs and David Pallard.

He has been a disciple of Richard Levic in Basel (Switzerland), and currently, of countertenor Carlos Mena and soprano Auxiliadora Toledano.

His recent successes include Carmina Burana under the direction of Carlos Padrissa in the homonymous production of La Fura del Baus. He is currently immersed in the show il Primo Uomo, a tribute to the figure of the castrati, which will take him to the Early Music Festival of Seville (FeMÀS) in March 2025.