Spanish saxophonist Ángel Soria Díaz made his return to Jamaica this December as the featured performer in Xaymaca, a concert directed by Jamaican composer Peter Ashbourne. The event, which took place on December 4, was spearheaded by the Embassy of Spain in collaboration with The Spanish-Jamaican Foundation (SJF).
During his visit, Soria continued his work with the Alpha Institute by leading workshops on conducting techniques and the reading of scores as well as working on two particular performance pieces, “Adestes Fideles” and “Ave Maria” by Franz Schubert. He also conducted a workshop with the National Youth Orchestra of Jamaica (NYOJ) in preparation for the concert.
At Xaymaca, Soria conducted the NYOJ, showcasing the results of the workshop with Alpha as well as premiering a new piece for saxophone and orchestra by Ashbourne, accompanied by the Samuel Felsted Chamber Orchestra.
In 2015, on his first visit to Jamaica, Soria hosted a week-long classical music workshop with Alpha, an Embassy-SJF led initiative.
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