The Marina Alta Film Music Festival, SONAFILM, is just a few days away from starting its sixth edition, consolidating itself as one of the essential events on the summer cultural scene in the region. The Teatre Auditori de Beniarbeig has hosted the presentation of the complete program of the festival, which will take place in 2024 2 to August 24. The presentation was attended by Anna Gallart, Councilor for Culture of Beniarbeig, Raquel Mengual, Councilor for Tourism of Ondara, Raúl García de la Reina, Councilor for Culture of Dénia, Guillermo Sendra, Councilor for Culture of Calp, and Javier Gil, director of SONAFILM.
There will be a total of five large concerts prepared for this year, each with a unique musical style related to audiovisuals, in addition to various educational activities. The novelty of this 2024 is that The concerts will last throughout the month of August, instead of celebrating them on consecutive days. The director of Sonafilm has explained that this decision is due to the need to give the public the opportunity to enjoy the events scheduled during the weekends, these being the most accessible days for the majority of the population.
The festival organization thanks the companies and entities that, through sponsorships and collaborations, have been a key part of launching this new edition together with the participating municipalities.
Concerts and tributes from Sonafilm 2024
Ondara
The great tribute of this edition will be dedicated to the legendary John Williams, the most awarded Hollywood composer and author of the unforgettable soundtracks of The Wars, Indiana Jones o Jurassic Park. «El cine moderno no se entendería sin la música de John Williams», ha explicado Gil en la presentación. Esta será la última cita, el 24 de agosto, como viene siendo costumbre, en la Ondara bullring, primera localidad en apoyar el festival desde 2019.
Under the title "Tribute to John Williams", the show is organized by the Department of Tourism of the Ondara City Council and will tour the most outstanding creations of the artist. The music will be performed by the Universal Symphony Orchestra, together with the choirs of the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the CODA Children's Choir, under the direction of maestro José Martínez Colomina. There will thus be more than 150 musicians on stage, the largest lineup in the history of the festival.
Teulada Moraira Auditorium
The film music festival will also pay tribute to the renowned Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi, master of oriental film music and frequent collaborator of highly regarded filmmakers such as Zhang Yimou (The House of Flying Daggers) or Wong Kar Wai (Wishing to love). It will be on August 2 in the Teulada Moraira Auditorium (Carrer d'Orba, 2, Teulada, Alicante), where the Universal Chamber Orchestra will offer "an aesthetic delight that transitions between Umebayashi's works for romantic cinema and martial arts stories set in medieval China", as explained by the responsible.
Calp
In addition, prominent Spanish composers such as Zacarías M. De La Riva (Below zero, The adventures of Tadeo Jones), Manuel Gil-Inglada (Sesame Street, To know and to win, The Lunnis), Darío Palomo (Love is forever), Vicent Ortiz Gimero (The Farads) and Paula Olaz (Under therapy). All of them will be the protagonists of “Film Music: Made In Spain 2”, on August 16 at Auditori de Calp. This is the second part of one of the most celebrated shows in the last edition of SONAFILM, a symphonic film music concert unique in our country, since it is dedicated entirely to compositions created for Spanish audiovisuals. The Councilor for Culture of Calp wanted to emphasize the free nature of the event, which is why the public's presence is required one hour before to ensure their seat in the auditorium, which has about 550 seats.
Dénia
Another notable event will be the show "TV Series Songs", created exclusively for SONAFILM and which will be held on August 9 at the Teatre Auditori Center Social (C/ Calderón, 4) in Dénia. In this montage, the pop rock band Moanin' Project will perform songs from successful television series such as The House of Paper, Narcos, Friends o The fantastic car.
Beniarbeig
Silent cinema will also have a relevant role in the sixth edition of SONAFILM, with a new project where a film will be projected at the same time as the soundtrack is performed live, just as it was done in the past. The chosen title is Nosferatu from 1922, which can be seen on August 10 at the Teatre Auditori de Beniarbeig (Av. De la Rectoria, 24).
Complete programming
TRIBUTE TO SHIGERU UMEBAYASHI
- Date: 2 for August
- Place: Auditori Teulada Moraira, 20:00 p.m.
- Tickets: 8 euros in www.auditoriteuladamoraira.es
- Description: Oriental cinema has one of its greatest sonorous and aesthetic exponents in the Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi, world famous for his work in the filmography of established Chinese filmmakers such as Wong Kar-Wai (wishing to love, 2046) or Zhang Yimou (The House of Flying Daggers, The curse of the golden flower).
Umebayashi, recognized in our country with the nomination for the Goya Award for Best Soundtrack in 2016 for his award-winning musical contribution to the film 'The Bride' by Paula Ortiz, would win the same year with the Feroz Award for Best Original Music for this title. The admiration he arouses within the European industry earned him a BAFTA Award nomination in 2021 for his inspired score for the video game 'Ghost of Tsushima' and his music has been the subject of live tributes, with exclusive galas at international festivals such as the FMF in Krakow or the World Soundtrack Awards in Ghent.
The Universal Chamber Orchestra, directed by José M. Colomina, will perform one of its most exotic concerts to date, with a first-class cast featuring soloists such as Laura Cruz (Soprano), Andreu Trijero (Ethnic Flutes), Pau Botella (Trumpet) or first swords of the Valencia Orchestra such as Manolo Segarra (Concertino) and David Forés (Cello).
TV SERIES SONGS
- Date: 9 for August
- Place: Teatre Auditori Center Social de Dénia, 20:00 p.m.
- Tickets: 10 euros in www.sonafilm.es
- Description: SONAFILM is pleased to announce the return of one of its most refreshing concerts, with the notable participation of the pop rock band Moanin' Project. Attendees will be able to enjoy a show created exclusively for the festival, where original songs from some of the most iconic television series of all time will be performed, such as "Vikings", "True Detective", "Narcos", "Friends », «Fantastic Car», «The A-Team», «Starsky and Hutch» or «La Casa de Papel», among many others.
NOSFERATU LIVE CONCERT
- Date: 10 for August
- Place: Teatre Auditori de Beniarbeig, 20:30 p.m.
- Tickets: 10 euros in www.sonafilm.es
- Description: The town of Beniarbeig debuts at SONAFILM with a new project that celebrates silent cinema, accompanied by a soundtrack performed live, just as it was done in the past. The film that will be shown will be “Nosferatu” from 1922 and the person in charge of putting music to it will be the pianist and specialist in this genre, Jorge Gil Zulueta.
"Nosferatu", directed by FW Murnau and released in 1922, is one of the masterpieces of silent cinema and a milestone in the history of horror cinema. Loosely based on the novel "Dracula" by Bram Stoker, this film is renowned for its somber atmosphere, innovative cinematographic techniques and Max Schreck's iconic performance as the vampire Count Orlok. Despite legal problems that almost led to the destruction of all its copies, "Nosferatu" has endured as a fundamental reference of German Expressionism and a source of inspiration for generations of filmmakers.
LET'S TALK ABOUT FILM MUSIC: MUSIC IN ANIMATION CINEMA
- Date: 16 for August
- Place: Multiespai l'Androna Room in Balearia-Dénia, 11:00 am
- Tickets: Free entrance, until capacity is completed
- Description: In this talk, the composers invited to the “Made in Spain 2” concert will debate and present their point of view on the particularities of creating music for animated films. In this way, they will act as speakers, sharing their experiences and knowledge about this fascinating field. The theme of the talk will be focused on all audiences, making the world of music in animation accessible and understandable to a wide and diverse audience.
FILM MUSIC: MADE IN SPAIN 2
- Date: 16 for August
- Place: Calp Auditorium, 20:30 p.m.
- Tickets: Free entrance, until capacity is completed
- Description: «Made in Spain 2» is the second part of one of the most celebrated shows in the last edition of SONAFILM. This is a unique symphonic film music concert in our country, as it is entirely dedicated to compositions created for Spanish audiovisual production. As in 2023, renowned national composers will participate and, on this occasion, the guests are Manel Gil-Inglada ("Barrio Sésame", "Saber y Ganar", "Los Lunnis"), Darío Palomo ("Amar es para siempre" , "The Caged"), Zacarías de la Riva ("Bajocero", "Las Aventuras de Tadeo Jones"), Paula Olaz ("Bajo Terapia") and Vicent Ortiz Gimeno ("Los Farad"), whose music will be performed by the Universal Symphony Orchestra, SONAFILM's resident orchestra, under the baton of José Martínez Colomina.
TALK ABOUT JOHN WILLIAMS, THE TOTAL FILMMAKER
- Date: 23 for August
- Place: House of Culture d'Ondara, 20:00 p.m.
- Tickets: Free entrance, until capacity is completed
- Description: This year 2024, SONAFILM continues to focus on the presentation of books dedicated to music for audiovisuals. On this occasion, the event will be attended by film music specialist Conrado Xalabarder, director of the website www.mundobso.com and who has just launched the book “Music in Cinema”.
Xalabarder (Barcelona, 1964) is one of the largest and most recognized specialists in film music internationally. He is the creator of MundoBSO, the largest website of annotated soundtracks in the world, on the Internet since 2001, and the author of several books, including 'Encyclopedia of Soundtracks', 'Film Music: An Optical Illusion' and 'The Musical Script in Cinema'.
TRIBUTE TO JOHN WILLIAMS
- Date: 24 for August
- Place: Ondara Bullring, 23:00 p.m.
- Tickets: 25 euros in www.sonafilm.es
- Description: The music of John Williams will star in the closing concert on August 24 at 23:00 p.m. in the Plaza de Toros de Ondara (Alicante). The show is organized by the Tourism Department of the Ondara City Council and will showcase the artist's most outstanding creations. The music will be performed by the Universal Symphony Orchestra, together with the choirs of the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the CODA Children's Choir, under the direction of maestro José Martínez Colomina. In total, more than 150 musicians will take the stage, in what will be the concert with the largest lineup in the history of SONAFILM.
Universal Symphony Orchestra
The Universal Symphony Orchestra is SONAFILM's resident orchestra and specializes in film and video game soundtracks. With international projection, the group has a long professional career in large-scale shows, among which productions dedicated to great sagas of the audiovisual world such as “Assassin's Creed”, “Dragon Ball” or “The Legend Of Zelda” stand out. among many others.
The principal conductor of the orchestra is José Martínez Colomina, whose career includes various national and international awards and recognitions. In 2010 he obtained a double degree in Symphony Orchestra Conducting and Wind Orchestra Conducting from the Royal Schools of Music of London (LRSM) in London, achieving the highest qualification. He currently works as a professor at the Higher Conservatory of Valencia and professor of Direction.
Great orchestra, and good show. 👏🏼👏🏼 I would only ask that it start earlier... at 9. I go every year... and this one is new when I enter. They offered you some “cushions”…? Better yet... save your money, after more than 2 hours of concert. your butt can go….🙅🏼♀️.