The Atlantic Choral Festival closes its 39th edition with three choirs at Los Dolores

The XXXIX Atlantic Choral Festival of Isla Cristina said goodbye on Sunday, October 18, with a concert at the parish of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores. On stage performed the Coro de Voces Blancas «Isaac Cueto Burgos» and the Coral Polifónica «Padre J. Mirabent», both from Isla Cristina and conducted by José Alfonso Jara Biedma, together with the Coral Voces del Mar, from Huelva, under the direction of Antonio López Pérez.

The Coro de Voces Blancas performed, among other pieces, «Laudate Dominus», by Taizé; «Te Deum Guaraní», by Ennio Morricone, and «Kyrie», by Bruno Coulais. The Coral Polifónica «Padre J. Mirabent» sang the «Ave María», by Caccini; the «Salve Rociera», by the Isla Cristina native José Monclova, and «Señor del Universo», by Albinoni. The Coral Voces del Mar completed the night with «Ave Verum Corpus», by Mozart, and «Jesus bleibet meine Freude», from cantata 147 by Bach, among others. The festival has been held over three days, from October 16 to 18, with different ensembles around vocal music. The three evenings were presented by the young Isla Cristina native María José Martín Contreras and each participating group received the Caballito de Mar, the emblem of the competition designed by the local sculptor and Culture technician Francis Zamudio Barroso.

The mayor of Isla Cristina, Jenaro Orta, closed this thirty-ninth edition accompanied by the deputy mayor and councillor for Culture, Jerónimo Sosa; several members of the Municipal Corporation, and the priest Javier García. According to the mayor, this closing also meant the end of a personal stage of eight years, in which seven editions of the festival have been held, and he thanked the work of the municipal technicians and of those who have been at the head of the choirs, whom he called «the soul of the festival». He also acknowledged the dedication of Jerónimo Sosa during the last four years and that of his predecessor in the Department of Culture. Orta stated that the municipal support for the competition will continue: «They are going to keep betting on the Atlantic Choral Festival because it is ours, it belongs to Isla Cristina and that is how it has to be». And he added, addressing the audience: «The festival is made for you, so that you enjoy it, so that you take a little piece of Isla Cristina wherever you come from and continue to be our ambassadors».