Torroella de Montgrí Festival
The Torroella de Montgrí Festival was created in 1981 by Jeunesses Musicales to revive Torroella’s musical tradition, which dates back to the 14th century
Festival de Torroella de Montgrí – Spain
Music and music players are an integral part of the urban landscape of Torroella de Montgrí, a small town located north of Barcelona, 30 minutes’ drive from the border with France. It is a long story that goes back to the Middle Ages, when Torroella was named a Royal Town in 1273, which brought the King and his Court, complete with royal chapel and troubadours, to the town. Since then, music has been part of Torroella’s life. By the late 14th century, the church of Sant Genís had a music chapel that continued until the mid-19th century. From then on, popular music played by groups for dancing filled the gap until the Torroella de Montgrí Festival was created in the early 1980s, under the umbrella of Jeunesses Musicales.
The Festival started in 1981 as a small cycle of concerts held in different parts of the historic centre of Torroella. Very quickly, the Festival’s popularity started to grow, developing a distinctive identity with a programme that combined the great names in classic music with young promises, rediscovering forgotten works of musical heritage while also commissioning and premiering new scores. A formula which has evolved along this basic theme until today.
In 2014, the Torroella Festival created the Sea Jazz l’Estartit: a summer festival that, during four days, brings together the best jazz players that you can hear on the Costa Brava to play in L’Estartit, the fishing village adjoining Torroella de Montgrí. The same year also saw the birth of the Torroella Fringe Festival as a platform for seeing and listening to emerging groups and musicians.
Since the beginning, alongside the concert programmes, the Torroella de Montgrí Festival has offered educational activities aimed at young musicians: Advanced Music Courses, Student Concerts, Chamber Music Courses, Master Classes, Young Player Cycles, the Jaume Aragall Singing Contest. The Fringe can also be put under this heading, as also the Festival’s inclusion in 2018 in the EEEmerging Musical Residencies.
What Torroella de Montgrí does specifically within EEEMERGING+
The Torroella de Montgrí Festival organizes 2 residencies and 2 concerts per year. The Festival is committed to enabling all citizens to have access to cultural activities and since 2017 has formed part of the Apropa Cultura programme, offering a number of seats at the concerts to organisations working with the disabled or with groups at risk of social exclusion, both in preventive programmes and in those requiring direct intervention. In the EEEmerging residencies, the ensembles participate in some social activities to approach the music to groups at risk of social exclusion.
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