The Alhambra Guitar Foundation presented yesterday, 26th March, its III International Guitar Excellence Award to RNE’s Radio Clásica in a ceremony held at the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, in Madrid. With this recognition, the Foundation highlights the work of the radio station in the dissemination of music and, in particular, its contribution to the promotion of the Spanish guitar at an international level.
The ceremony was attended by prominent representatives from the world of music, culture and communication. During the event, the attendees were able to enjoy the performance of the guitarist Julia Trintschuk, winner of the first prize at the Alhambra International Guitar Competition (CIGA) in 2024, who gave a brilliant performance that demonstrated the richness and versatility of the instrument and its ability to surprise a totally devoted audience.
In its previous editions, the International Guitar Excellence Award has been granted to prestigious figures and entities, such as the legendary guitarist Pepe Romero and the Victoria and Joaquín Rodrigo Foundation. With this third edition, the Alhambra Guitar Foundation reaffirms its commitment to excellence and the dissemination of the classical guitar as a fundamental pillar of the universal musical heritage.
For Eva Sandoval, new director of Radio Clásica: ‘To receive this award for Excellence from the Alhambra Guitar Foundation is an honour, and, moreover, in the months before Radio Clásica celebrates its 60th anniversary. Six decades with the same objective: to preserve, disseminate and transmit to future generations great music, that very important universal intangible heritage which is what unites us all here today’.
Sandoval also stressed that ‘throughout our history we have taken great care in disseminating music written for the guitar, one of the most widely played instruments in the world. Its polyphonic quality, its warm timbre and its great capacity to adapt to the classical and popular repertoire, give the guitar a great versatility that has won the affection and love of musicians and listeners of all kinds’.
For his part, the president of the Alhambra Guitar Foundation, José Botella Trelis, ‘to give the Award of Excellence to Radio Clásica is to recognise all its work over 60 years, where many masters of the Spanish guitar have been interviewed on its programmes. Radio Clásica has taken great care in the dissemination of the guitar and for musicians and listeners it has been part of their lives as a means of listening, knowledge and promotion’.
The event was attended, among other personalities, by the General Director of Radio Nacional de España, Roberto Santamaría; the Deputy Director of the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, José Luis Turina; Cecilia Rodrigo, daughter of Joaquín Rodrigo and director of the Fundación Victoria y Joaquín Rodrigo; the violinist Agustín León Ara; part of the members of the board of the Alhambra Guitar Foundation and a large representation of presenters, editors and publishers of the Radio Clásica programmes. It was also attended by several internationally renowned guitarists and representatives of academic and cultural institutions from all over Spain.
For more information: José Luis Ruiz del Puerto, Artistic Director of the Foundation
Telephone 610 43 77 06 / Email: dartistico@fundacionalhambraguitarras.org