MARCO GARCÍA DE PAZ
Choir / Choral Conducting
Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae. Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548 – 1611 )
The 2024 work program will revolve around the Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae of Tomás Luis de Victoria. The Office of Darkness is a special form of liturgy practiced during Holy Week, with its name coming from the custom of gradually turning off the lights in the church during the celebration. This liturgy, which consists of readings, psalms and responsories, takes place in darkness, symbolizing the period of the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ. During the celebration, the candles are extinguished one by one, representing the progressive darkness that accompanied the biblical events of these days. The Office of Darkness has a penitential and reflective character, intended to immerse the faithful in the contemplation of the sadness and suffering of Jesus. Furthermore, it contributes significantly to the solemnity and spirituality of the Holy Week liturgy. The Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae can also be considered one of the musical monuments of this liturgy, with its mention that invokes the figure and work of Tomás Luis de Victoria (1548-1611), one of the most illustrious composers of the Spanish Golden Age.
Open Call for choral conducting: classes from 21 to 25 July
Higher degree in Violin and Chamber Music from the Higher Conservatory of Music of the Principality of Asturias and in Direction from the Higher Music Center of the Basque Country. He currently develops his work as a teacher at the Conservatory of Music of the Principality of Asturias, where he teaches chamber music, choir and conducting techniques. In addition to his facet as an instrumentalist, he also has a solid choral formation. He began in music at the “Escolanía de Covadonga”, continued his studies at the “Schola Cantorum” of the Cathedral of León and trained as a choral director in the courses of the Federation of the Basque Country with maestro J. Duijck. He has completed his studies in choral conducting with G. Baltés at the Higher Music Center of the Basque Country. Other fundamental personalities in its formation have been J. Busto, P. Phillips among others. He is director-founder of the choir “El León de Oro” of Luanco. with whom he has performed throughout Spain and abroad. He has twice been proclaimed winner of the “National Grand Prize for Choral Singing”, in its 2003 and 2006 editions. He collaborates with such prominent figures as Peter Phillips and the “Tallis Scholars”. As a conductor, he received the award for best conductor at the XXVIII International Choral Competition «Prof. Georgi Dimitrov”, held in Varna (Bulgaria) in 2005 and at the IX “Internationale Koorwedstrijd van Vlaanderen” – Maasmechelen (Belgium) in 2007