CONCERTS COSTA BLANCA
.. in support of quality concerts and musical events in the Marina Alta
In May 2010, at the Espai La Senieta theatre in Moraira, Wilhelmina Hardee and Mary Heaviland arranged a concert given by students and professors from "The Curtis Institute of Music" (Philadelphia) - one of the world's leading conservatories. The mayor, Antonio Bertomeu, who was present, made a promise to accelerate the completion of the new theatre in Teulada where they could perform on their return in 2011.
This sell-out "Senieta" concert was followed by a harp and trumpet recital in September by two well-known Hungarian artists and promoted by Günter Klasen. Following this concert, Wilhelmina (Willy) Hardee approached John G. Deacon (ex-EMI, Philips Classics and founder of Conifer Records) who arranged to bring his friend pianist Agustín Anievas back for a third appearance in the area. Anievas (major EMI artist and former professor of piano at Brooklyn College, University of New York) came in October 2010 and performed three sold-out and highly praised concerts of Chopin and Schumann at the Espai La Senieta.
Thus, somewhat informally, was Concerts Costa Blanca born !
In the spring of 2011 the Ayuntamiento Teulada Moraira opened their new 625-seat Auditoium, when the director of "The Curtis Institute of Music" Roberto Diaz (viola) together with 2 professors, Pamela Frank (violin) and Mikael Eliasen (then head of the Opera Department of Curtis) and 5 top graduate students came to play in this magnificent new theater, May 25th.
A sell-out concert followed and they were greeted by an enthusiastic standing ovation. We recall, also, the sensational performance by the "Dover Quartet" who, within weeks, were selected for the world´s No1 quartet competition at the Wigmore Hall in London. Shortly afterwards the Dover Quartet swept up the first and all subsidiary prizes at the 2013 Banff International String Quartet Competition www.doverquartet.com
It has been our great fortune that the wonderful talents of the graduates and their professors from The Curtis Institute have continued to visit us over many years since and to have performed to full houses.
We hope to to continue to welcome them here in Spain.
In 2014 we were enormously privileged to have been able to engage the Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang - a Curtis graduate and who, at 19 years old, became the gold medal winner of the 2009 Van Cliburn Competion. His career continues to advance in strides across the muical world and with notable appearences at the Verbier Festival, the London Proms and with Valery Gergiev in Moscow and St Petersburg. His first CD, Schumann, Liszt, Janácek, Brahms, available on BIS www.bis.se. His second CD, Prokoviev 2, Tchaikovsky with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra, 2019.
Another huge favorite, the ever-popular German-based New Orleans-style "Bourbon Street Stompers", returned to the Auditorium Teulada Moraira in 2019 for the 7th year. They also performed for us in Palma de Mallorca, Alicante, Benissa and Alfaz del Pi. (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) (www.bourbonstreetstompers.com).
Since our creation, Concerts Costa Blanca has established close relations in Valencia with the Opera House, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia, as well as the Concert Hall of the Palau de la Musica. During this time many group -bus trips have been organised by Wilhelmina Hardee and John Deacon to both Operas and Concerts. These have included Tosca (· times), La Cenerentola, Don Giovanni, the Beethoven 9th, Carmen, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, I due Foscari, La Bohème, Cosi fan Tutte, La forza del Destino, Paarsifal, Nabucco, Die Zauberflöte, Peter Grimes, Lucrezia Borgia, Idomeneo, Manon Lescaut, I Vespri Siciliani, Il Trovatore, Medea, Don Pasquale, Simon Boccanegra, Der Ring des Nibelungen, El Gato Montès, Litaliana in Algeri, Rigoletto, Madame ButterflyLa Trovatore, Macbeth, Don Carlos, Samson and Dalila, A Midsummer Night´s Dream, the Verdi Requiem, Mahler 3, El duo de la Africana, L´elisir d´amore, Die Walküre, Simon Boccanegra and Turandot etc, etc.
We have enjoyed some major artists, including Placido Domingo, Vittorio Grigolo, Jorge de Léon, Bryn Terfel, Liudmyla Monastyrska, Stephen Milling, Waltraud Meier, Gregory Kunde, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Violeta Urmana, Marina Rebeka, Daniela Barcellona, Jessica Pratt, Oksana Dyka, Sonya Yoncheva, Jessica Nuccio, Matti Salminen, Simon O´Neill, Maria José Montiel and Valery Gergiev, Roberto Abbado and Riccardo Chailly, etc.
We have partnered with the Conservatorio Professional de Musica de Mestre Berenguar in Teulada and take 2 music students with us to every Opera by bus. The Valencia Opera House pays for one student and Concerts Costa Blanca pays for the other student.
We also have supported one of their piano students, Silke Ribes, to take a three week virtual piano course with "The Curtis Institute of Music" in Philadelphia, USA.
Initially most operas were conducted by Zubin Mehta and the late Lorin Maazel who, together with the Intendant Helga Schmidt, raised the Valencia Opera House, within less that 10 years, to amongst the highest echelons of world opera performance. A truly remarkable achievement and one which has greatly improved the quality of life for thousands of people. Our subscribers have been very lucky to have attended so many of their productions. We have taken nearly 9000 of our subscribers over the past 8 years to the Opera in Valencia. The opera orchestra is widely regarded as being one of the best in Spain and numerous record companies, notably Decca (Universal Music), have been in Valencia recording and filming their productions on numerous occasions.
At the Palau de la Musica we have attended many orchestral concerts by the excellent Valencia Orchestra under Yaron Traub, whose achievements with this orchestra have been truly outstanding.
We attended performances of Messiah, Mahler 9 and Shostakovich 5th (with Gergiev), Elgar 2nd, Beethoven 5th, and Emperor concierto with Barenboim and Trifonov, a concert of English music and a recital by Lang Lang, as well as the Beethoven 4th piano concierto with Haochen Zhang and de Orquesta de Cámera de la Comunidad Valencia, with director Daniel Abad Casanova.
We keep our subscribers informed of the dates etc. of the live transmissions from The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, at the Condado Theater in Denia and now also in the shopping complex at Ondara. Anyone who wishes to subscribe to this mailing may go to www.concertscostablanca.com and click on the button SUBSCRIBE or send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and give us your name, telephone number and e-mail address. Please also invite your friend to join us.
Concerts Costa Blanca will continue its endeavours to bring further high-quality artists and concerts as well as operas in Valencia to this region and we hope you will continue to support our ventures.
We are a non-profit organisation, designed to improve the cultural life of the area by bringing excellent concerts and operas to the community and thus enhance the quality of life for us all.
Asociación Concerts Costa Blanca:
Wilhelmina Hardee (president)