In the photo: Oriol Escursell Domènech, director and founder of Nilak, Mayte Martín, singer, Vicenta Ndongo, actress, Raquel García-Tomás, composer, and Conrad Roset, illustrator, with their respective Premi Nacionals de Cultura awards. Photo: Carlos Baglietto
On May 30, the National Council for Culture and the Arts (CoNCA) awarded the 2024 National Culture Awards of the Generalitat de Catalunya to flamenco singer Mayte Martín, composer Raquel García-Tomás, actress Vicenta Ndongo, illustrator Conrad Roset, and the itinerant performance space Nilak in a proclamation and award ceremony at the Casino de l’Aliança del Poblenou in Barcelona.
Raquel García-Tomás (Barcelona, 1984) was honored “for her excellence in musical composition with a unique voice, the result of solid training and aptitude for contemporary innovation, which allows her to achieve a balance between experimentation with sound and visual resources without losing the ability to move a broad audience.” The year 2023 was a landmark for García-Tomás, thanks especially to the premiere of the opera Alexina B. at the Gran Teatre del Liceu, although her previous opera, Je suis narcissiste, had already demonstrated why she is one of the country’s most outstanding composers.
Composer Raquel García-Tomás expressed gratitude for having allies throughout her career since she first wanted to learn to play the piano in the Barcelona neighborhood of Besòs and emphasized that with this award, she wants to express her “commitment to the country’s culture and to those who do not have” the privileges she has achieved, either by making marginalized stories visible or fostering the consolidation of creative teams that represent real diversity.
What better way to celebrate the award than the premiere on May 31, at L’Auditori of the work “Tres elegies per a baríton i orquestra,” performed by the OBC, a piece co-composed by García-Tomás, Joan Magrané, and Octavi Rumbau, composers who had already collaborated early in their careers in the work Dido Reloaded / Go!, Aeneas, Go!, a production driven by Òpera de Butxaca i Nova Creació.
Alexina B. nominated for the Alícia and the Max Awards
It is worth noting that the opera Alexina B. has been nominated in three categories for the 2024 Alícia Awards (Premis Alícia – Acadèmia Catalana de la Música), with nominations in the categories of Authorship, Interdisciplinary, and Best Live Performance. The awards ceremony will take place on June 20 at L’Auditori de Barcelona.
Alexina B. has also been nominated in three categories for the 2024 Max Awards (Premios Max – Fundación SGAE): Best Musical or Lyrical Show, Best Musical Composition for Stage Performance, and Best Costume Design. The awards ceremony will be held on July 1 at the Auditorio de Tenerife and will be broadcast live on RTVE.
