SDAD. MUSICAL INSTRUCTIVA SANTA CECILIA DE CULLERA (Valencia)

Director:
SALVADOR SEBASTIÁ LÓPEZ

Band profile

The band was founded by Antonio Chornet in 1907. In 1929, it won second prize in the first section of the Valencia International Music Bands Contest. In 1933, it won three first prizes at the Narbona competition in France. The band returned to the special section of the Valencia competition in 1949. In 1957, the band obtained first prize in the special section of the Castellon competition.
The band then went on to repeatedly win second prize in the special section of the Valencia competition until it finally won first prize in 1975. The band then won awards with honorable mentions in 1984,1989 and 1992.
In Kerkade in Holland, the band won first prizes in 1978 and 1981. In 1990, the band won first prize in the Glasgow competition in Scotland. The band performed in Strasbourg in 1993, and a year later won first prize with honorable mention in Requena. More recently, the band won first prize in the honor section of the Valencia International Music Bands Contest in 1997 and 1999.
The band's first director was Antonio Chornet, and he was followed by Emilio Campos, Pascual Sanchis, José Mª Machancoses, Julio Ribelles, Eduardo Cifre, Luis Sanjaime, Cristóbal Soler Almudever and Alvaro Albiach Fernández. The instructors have been another important part of the band history and these have included: Manuel Palau, José Ma Navarro, Ramón Corell, Lucas Conejero, Vicente Prats, Vicente Lillo, José Orti, Víctor Martín, and José Mª Cervera Collado.

Director profile

Salvador Sebastiá López was born in Burriana in 1972. At the Valencia conservatory, he studied clarinet (honorable mention), chamber music, piano, musical theory, accompaniment, harmony, counterpoint and fuega (honorable mention), composition and instrumentation (honor prize), choir directing (honorable mention), and orchestral directing. He has studied composition and orchestral directing with José Collado since 1992. In the 1998 Elche contest, he was given a special mention and awarded a seasonal concert by the orchestra.
He was awarded a grant by the Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (IVAM) to participate in the courses of operatic directing given by Gianluigi Gehnetti with the Accademia Chigiana de Siena (Italy), in 2000 and 2001.
His compositions include 'Preludi per un aniversari' - an obligatory piece in the Castellon 2002 competition.
With the Banda Sociedad Filarmónica Burrianense (1988-1997) he won first prizes in the 1988 Castellon provincial competition and the 1988 Altea competition. Between 1997 and 2000, he worked with the Jove Orquestra de Castelló and the Orquestra Plana Baixa.
He has been invited to direct the Banda Municipal de Castellón, Franz Schubert orchestra, the Cervera Lloret orchestra, the Camerata Sedici, the Ciudad de Elche, the West Bohemian Symphony in the Czech Republic, and the Sinfónica de Ramniccuválcea in Rumania. This year, he has directed the Orchestra della Magna Grecia of Taranto in Italy, and the Mexican Orquesta Clásica. Since 2001, he has directed the Banda and Orquesta Sinfónica Santa Cecilia de Cullera.