The Barx Music Band
The music band is the main ensemble of the Societat Unió Musical Santa Cecília de Barx. Its origins go back to the second half of the 19th century, when the village had a 17-piece ensemble that played at local festivities and in neighbouring towns: by 1886 it was already parading with 21 musicians at the Moors and Christians festivities in Alcoi.
Today the band has a stable membership of between 45 and 50 musicians, a significant number of whom hold professional or higher-level music qualifications. Javier Donet has been its conductor since January 1997, the first musician from Barx to take the podium since 1975.
The Banda Jove
The Banda Jove (youth band) was created in 1996 as a stepping stone between the Music School and the main band. There, students put into practice as an ensemble what they learn in class and prepare to join the senior band.
Where you can hear us
- The Santa Cecília concerts in November and the Christmas concert.
- The village festivities, especially the summer Moors and Christians celebrations.
- The “Retrobem la Nostra Música” campaigns and musical exchange programmes, which take the band to towns across the Valencian Community and the rest of Spain.
- Band competitions: first prize at the 5th Mediterranean Competition (Valencia, 1988) and second prize in the second section at the 2005 and 2006 Provincial Competitions, held at the Palau de la Música in Valencia.
Among its most memorable performances are the oratorio Apocalipsis at the Collegiate Church of Gandia (1984), the Paris concerts of July 2005 — on the Champs-Élysées and at the Parc Montsouris — and its appearance in the British film Solo (2016), shot in London and in Barx, for which the band performs the soundtrack.
You can read the full story of the ensemble in the Band history, check upcoming performances on the Events calendar and follow our day-to-day activity in the news.