The Adar Festival unfolds from Belmonte another edition of art and music in rural settings
The organizers consolidate the artists' residence in the village of Leiguarda and expand its visual and musical part, which begins today with a concert in the monastery of San Antolín de Bedón (Llanes).
The Adar festival, which takes its name from the entity that forged it, the Association for the Development of the Arts in the Rural Environment, has begun its fourth edition. An atypical festival insofar as it departs from the classic summer events to merge the passion of its creators, Guillermo Laporta and Josefina Urraca, for music and contemporary arts adding to all this the defense of rural life. A fusion that they are eager to share with whoever appreciates them as much as they do and that, in some way, they want to emerge as a fertilizer for those rural corners.
In fact, the two creators -she from Palencia and he from Huesca- are musicians by profession and diversify their time between New York, where they live and work half the year, and the small town of Leiguarda, in Belmonte de Miranda, where they have settled and where this festival is taking root and growing healthily. This is what is evident in a fourth edition that has a lot of novelty.
Residents of Leiguarda and festival organizers unload a sculpture by American Sarah K. Williams / F. A.
"It is a privilege for us that a project that started modestly, as a somewhat audacious idea, is already in its fourth edition and every year with more activities. More people involved and more disciplines integrated. Little by little we are achieving the main objective of the project, which is to energize and revitalize the rural areas of Asturias through what we do best: art and classical music," says Guillermo Laporta. Laporta ratifies that their interest and the struggle they are focused on is "to create something original and valuable for both the inhabitants of the area and the artists involved".
Regarding the edition that began a few days ago, the promoters say that "this year we have consolidated the two aspects of the festival. The first is the artist residency in Leiguarda, which will culminate with a final concert on the 18th, in which we will install greenhouses to place the musicians and a grand piano in the middle of the mountains". In addition, the festival is expanding the visual part. "with art installations in Grado and a new outdoor sculpture in Leiguarda, created by American Sarah K. Williams." A second aspect of this edition is what they have called Festival Adar en Ruta, and that means that they will also dynamize Llanes, Cornellana, Pola de Somiedo and Grado.
Set up of one of the greenhouses where the musicians will play / F. A.
This first outing will take place today, with a concert at the Monastery of San Antolín de Bedón (Llanes) at 7.30 pm. It will be attended by musicians and artists with an international career, such as Jone de la Fuente (violin), Almudena Rivas (viola), Natania Hoffman (cello), Mario Molina (piano), and Guillermo Laporta (flute) and Josefina Urraca (piano). The festival presents a repertoire that includes works by Mozart, Debussy, Vivaldi, and contemporary composers such as Andrea Casarrubios. The one in Llanes will be followed by performances in San Salvador (Salas) on Tuesday (8 p.m.), on Wednesday in the Pola de Somiedo Market, and on Friday in Leiguarda, with a variety of events starting at 221.30, including an "open mike" in the Hórreo Casantos; Saturday will be an afternoon of activities in Grado and on Sunday a closing concert in the surroundings of the Leiguarda Church (7.30 p.m.) and the end of the festival. As they do not fail to remark, "The Adar Festival is not only a platform for artistic expression, but also an engine for socio-economic development and promotion of rural tourism in Asturias".
