After nine cities and 12 presentations of the choir between surprise events and official concerts, our tour of Spain ended on Saturday in the city of Madrid. More than a concert, our time at the Ateneo was a celebration full of reunions and love, because the Spanish capital is the perfect place for friends and families to meet again, plus for the first time we could rest three days in a row from buses and planes, and wow, sleeping in the same bed four nights in a row was my new dream at that moment 馃槄
Luego de nueve ciudades y 12 presentaciones de la coral entre eventos sorpresas y conciertos oficiales, nuestra gira por Espa帽a termin贸 el S谩bado en la ciudad de Madrid. M谩s que un concierto, nuestro paso por el Ateneo fue una celebraci贸n llena de reencuentros y amor, porque la capital espa帽ola es el lugar perfecto para que amigos y familias puedan reencontrarse, adem谩s de que por primera vez pudimos descansar tres d铆as seguidos de los autobuses y aviones, y vaya que dormir en la misma cama cuatro noches seguidas era mi nuevo sue帽o en ese momento 馃槄
I confess that when I entered the Ateneo de Madrid I fell in love with its beauty, but at the same time I was surprised that the hall was so, so small, and there were no platforms for the choir to sing, we would all be at floor level. Good thing I got to sing in the front row, because our director is very short and if I had to sing further back I probably wouldn't see her. This picture above was from the rehearsal, I really felt uncomfortable, we were very cramped and we were still missing our special guests, approximately 30 more people who live in Spain and neighboring European countries who were part of the group and who wanted to sing once again. "30 more people", the stage started to feel the adrenaline 馃槄
Les confieso que al entrar al Ateneo de Madrid me enamor贸 su belleza, pero a la vez me sorprendi贸 que la sala fuera tan, tan peque帽a, y no hab铆a tarimas para que el coro cantara, todos estar铆amos a nivel del suelo. Que bueno que me toca cantar en la primera fila, porque nuestra directora es muy bajita y si me tocara cantar m谩s atr谩s seguramente no la ver铆a. Esta fotograf铆a de arriba fue del ensayo, realmente me sent铆a inc贸modo, est谩bamos muy apretados y todav铆a faltaban nuestros invitados especiales, aproximadamente 30 personas m谩s que viven en Espa帽a y pa铆ses vecinos de Europa que formaron parte de la agrupaci贸n y que deseaban subirse a cantar una vez m谩s. "30 personas m谩s", el escenario comenz贸 a sentir la adrenalina 馃槄
Strangely enough, the music worked its magic and at the time of the concert we all came in and there was even some space left over. It was almost the last day of Holy Week, but in addition to singing our sacred repertoire we did a lot of Venezuelan popular music and some madrigals that are part of the repertoire and history of the choir, precisely so that former members could sing along with us. 400 people were left outside the hall, and the most surprising thing is that some people waited while the concert was going on in case they had a chance to enter, and that surprised me a lot, it is incredible the amount of Venezuelans and choirs from Madrid who wanted to see our work. Some of them were lucky when those 30 people came up to sing because there were more seats available for the audience.
Extra帽amente la m煤sica hizo su magia y a la hora del concierto todos entramos y hasta sobraba algo de espacio. Era casi el 煤ltimo d铆a de la Semana Santa, pero adem谩s de cantar nuestro repertorio sacro hicimos mucha m煤sica popular venezolana y algunos madrigales que forman parte del repertorio y de la historia de la coral, precisamente para que los ex miembros pudieran cantar junto a nosotros. 400 personas quedaron fuera de la sala, y lo m谩s sorprendente es que algunas personas esperaron mientras andaba el concierto por si ten铆an oportunidad de entrar, y eso me sorprendi贸 mucho, es incre铆ble la cantidad de venezolanos y coros de Madrid que quer铆an ver nuestro trabajo. Algunos tuvieron suerte cuando subieron esas 30 personas a cantar porque hubo mas butacas disponibles para el p煤blico.
I have to highlight the fact that energies were very high because we had practically had two days off. On Thursday we traveled from Burgos to Madrid and in the evening I went for a walk with my friends from Hive and on Friday we had a coffee morning at the hotel because it was raining and then an institutional commitment with our headquarters of El Sistema in Madrid. On Saturday morning, before this concert another reunion with a friend who lives in Portugal and that we had three years or more without seeing. This change of routine provided an important break for our voices, which shone more than ever that night. I don't know how that small room didn't fall down with so much sound 馃ぃ
Tengo que destacar el hecho de que las energ铆as estaban muy altas porque pr谩cticamente hab铆amos tenido dos d铆as libres. El jueves viajamos de Burgos a Madrid y en la noche sal铆 a pasear con mis amigos de Hive y el viernes tuvimos una ma帽ana de caf茅 en el hotel porque llov铆a y luego un compromiso institucional con nuestra sede de El Sistema en Madrid. El s谩bado en la ma帽ana, antes de este concierto otro reencuentro con una amiga que vive en Portugal y que ten铆amos tres a帽os o m谩s sin ver. Este cambio de rutina le proporcion贸 un descanso importante a nuestras voces, las cuales brillaron m谩s que nunca esa noche. No s茅 c贸mo no se cay贸 esa peque帽a sala con tanto sonido 馃ぃ
Of course it was a very emotional experience, because although we still had all day Sunday free to walk around the city, share with our friends and hug our relatives in Spain, this concert meant the end of a very important stage for all of us. It was an important concert, even for the audience and many important musical ties were consolidated. For me, it was the first experience outside my country, and it was very pleasant because the same language is spoken. At this moment I only feel grateful to God, to life and to all the people who in one way or another were part of this experience. There are a lot of really good and loving people, and in this group of people is where I am focused at this stage of my life where I want to leave behind everything that has hurt me. I have a couple more experiences to share about the city of Madrid, but musically, this concert at the Ateneo will be a very valuable treasure for all of us who were there 鉂わ笍
Por supuesto que fue una experiencia muy emotiva, porque aunque a煤n ten铆amos todo el d铆a Domingo libre para pasear por la ciudad, compartir con nuestros amigos y abrazar a nuestros familiares en Espa帽a, este concierto significaba el fin de una etapa muy importante para todos nosotros. Fue un concierto importante, incluso por el p煤blico asistente y se consolidaron muchos lazos musicales importantes. Para m铆, fue la primera experiencia fuera de mi pa铆s, y fue muy grata porque se habla el mismo idioma. En este momento solo siento agradecimiento, a Dios, a la vida y a todas las personas que de una u otra forma formaron parte de esta experiencia. Hay mucha gente buena de verdad y que quiere de verdad, y en este grupo de personas es donde estoy enfocado en esta etapa de mi vida donde quiero dejar atr谩s todo lo que me ha hecho da帽o. Tengo un par de experiencias m谩s que compartir sobre la ciudad de Madrid, pero musicalmente, este concierto en el Ateneo ser谩 un tesoro muy valioso para todos los que estuvimos ah铆 鉂わ笍
The photographs that were not taken by me have been shared with us by the recording team of our institution for our personal use.
Las fotograf铆as que no fueron tomadas por m铆 nos la ha compartido el equipo de grabaci贸n de nuestra instituci贸n para nuestro uso personal.