Activities at the CGC
- Retreats & Residencies
- Other cultural activities
Dedicated to the development and sustainability of the classical guitar, it is the intention of the CGC to highlight the music of living composers and arrangers and as such scores and recordings made at the centre will be done in collaboration with composers or arrangers, where possible.
The centre will offer artists the opportunity to work in facilities with modern conveniences whilst benefiting from the tranquillity that comes from being off-grid and immersed in a secluded and inspirational natural environment.
The centre’s principal purpose is to provide Music Retreat and Collaborative Residency programmes, where performers and composers - either individually or in collaboration with other artists - create, edit, revise, typeset, and annotate scores and parts, and rehearse and record new works featuring the classical guitar in any combination.
In this context, any reference to new works is not stylistic or as a genre, rather simply a way to refer to music that has not been heard before - either because it is recently composed, recently discovered, or recently rediscovered. This also includes new arrangements of music previously composed, music that has been forgotten or left unplayed, old music presented in new ways, or first recordings of pieces.
The centre will have an in-house guitarist available for collaborations with composers and arrangers, and if required the CGC will provide further instrumentalists or singers for chamber works. The CGC will also provide a sound engineer or recording technician as needed.
The CGC will collaborate with major music notation software and professional engravers to ensure scores and parts are done to the highest professional standards, fully edited and annotated and ready for publication. ALL MUSIC written, arranged, edited and revised, or recorded during one of the centre’s Music Retreats and Collaborative Residency programmes must be for either solo guitar, or any ensemble or chamber music combination that features the guitar. The CGC will compile an archive of scores and recordings of the new works made available to the public.
The centre will offer artists the opportunity to work in facilities with modern conveniences whilst benefiting from the tranquillity that comes from being off-grid and immersed in a secluded and inspirational natural environment.
The centre’s principal purpose is to provide Music Retreat and Collaborative Residency programmes, where performers and composers - either individually or in collaboration with other artists - create, edit, revise, typeset, and annotate scores and parts, and rehearse and record new works featuring the classical guitar in any combination.
In this context, any reference to new works is not stylistic or as a genre, rather simply a way to refer to music that has not been heard before - either because it is recently composed, recently discovered, or recently rediscovered. This also includes new arrangements of music previously composed, music that has been forgotten or left unplayed, old music presented in new ways, or first recordings of pieces.
The centre will have an in-house guitarist available for collaborations with composers and arrangers, and if required the CGC will provide further instrumentalists or singers for chamber works. The CGC will also provide a sound engineer or recording technician as needed.
The CGC will collaborate with major music notation software and professional engravers to ensure scores and parts are done to the highest professional standards, fully edited and annotated and ready for publication. ALL MUSIC written, arranged, edited and revised, or recorded during one of the centre’s Music Retreats and Collaborative Residency programmes must be for either solo guitar, or any ensemble or chamber music combination that features the guitar. The CGC will compile an archive of scores and recordings of the new works made available to the public.
ENGAGING WITH THE PUBLIC:
The public will be able to share and appreciate the work developed and presented at the CGC by attending concerts, watching streamed performances, recordings, and participating in events, workshops, and classes - both on site and remotely. Being invited to witness a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes work of these artists will be an engaging, valuable, and unique experience for the public.
Due to the location, size, and infrastructure at caseta de Serafí, this space won’t regularly be open to the public for exhibitions, workshops, or concerts. However, should it be required, a separate concert space and audience can be provided in the nearby area for musicians wanting to present a concert of their work to the public.
Possible performance spaces range from 14th century hermitages, 17th century churches, mediaeval buildings and courtyards, as well as civic centres and modern recital and concert halls.
The public will be able to share and appreciate the work developed and presented at the CGC by attending concerts, watching streamed performances, recordings, and participating in events, workshops, and classes - both on site and remotely. Being invited to witness a glimpse of the behind-the-scenes work of these artists will be an engaging, valuable, and unique experience for the public.
Due to the location, size, and infrastructure at caseta de Serafí, this space won’t regularly be open to the public for exhibitions, workshops, or concerts. However, should it be required, a separate concert space and audience can be provided in the nearby area for musicians wanting to present a concert of their work to the public.
Possible performance spaces range from 14th century hermitages, 17th century churches, mediaeval buildings and courtyards, as well as civic centres and modern recital and concert halls.
Retreats and Residencies
Either having been invited by the CGC, in collaboration with festivals, competitions or composers’ associations, or having been selected from applications made by the artist, those attending one of the centre’s curated Music Retreat or Collaborative Residency programmes at the CGC will be provided accommodations, rehearsal and recording space, and equipment, in purpose-built structures, providing that important final step between a draft and a final version of a new work.
READ MORE
For all CGC programming, Music Retreat and Collaborative Residency programmes will be clearly defined as follows:
Music Retreats
The composer or arranger of the new work featuring the guitar is also the performer, either a guitar soloist, or an instrumentalist/composer in a pre-formed ensemble featuring the guitar.
During a Music Retreat artists will work alone (or in their pre-formed ensemble) and as such, time spent at CGC won’t be collaborative. For example, a guitarist/composer might come to finish a new piece for solo guitar, or a pre-formed ensemble which includes a composer and guitarist might come to make a new arrangement.
Collaborative Residencies
The composer or arranger of the new work featuring the guitar is not a performer and does not collaborate regularly with a guitarist.
This composer or arranger will collaborate with a guitarist, either as a soloist or in a chamber music setting. These performers will be provided by the CGC if necessary. The CGC could also be used as the location for a collaboration between composers and performers who don’t normally collaborate with each other, organised by the artists themself.
The typical outcome of both a Music Retreat and Collaborative Residency programme will be a score (and parts) that it typeset, edited, annotated, and ready for publication. Most importantly, it will be a score that future performers can be confident is an accurate representation of the composer’s wishes, digitally typeset with clear and standardised notation. Ideally, this will be accompanied by a professional quality audio and/or video recording.
Artists attending Music Retreats and Collaborative Residencies programmes will be divided into groups:
● Invited by the CGC. These programmes will be at the expense of the centre.
● Artists sent in collaboration with festivals, competitions, or composers associations.
For example, a collaboration to engrave, edit and record the winning pieces of each edition of the Art Llobet Composition Competition. In general, these will be paid programmes with agreements made on a case-by-case basis.
● Chosen from applications made through the CGC website and selected by the Selection Committee.
These will be paid programmes. Financial assistance will be offered where possible to those in need.
Applications will be welcomed from any professional artist with a minimum qualification of a Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent demonstrable knowledge and skill-sets. Applications will be welcome from all artists without discrimination on the basis of any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation.
All selections will be made on equal footing, with no priority given to anything other than the merits of an artist's proposed project, how a proposed project best fits with the available infrastructure, and the likelihood of the proposed project happening otherwise.
Examples for Music Retreat and Collaborative Residency Programmes
Example Music Retreat
Nova Vita is a Norwegian based ensemble that focuses on the early romantic guitar’s role in chamber music. Including at least one guitar, the formation of the ensemble is flexible. Nova Vita performs works where the 19th century guitar plays a leading role and adheres to historical performance practice. Their repertoire includes original compositions, and arrangements made in the 19th century, as well as new arrangements and compositions made in this 19th century style.
During a 7-day CGC Music Residency, the musicians would gather at caseta de Serafí
to finalise Runar Kjeldsberg’s new arrangement of Franz Joseph Haydn’s Piano Trio in E Minor, Hob. XV/12.
Originally for piano, violin and cello, Norwegian guitarist Runar Kjeldsberg - the founding member of Nova Vita - has based his arrangement on those made by François de Fossa during Haydn’s lifetime, for two guitars, violin, and cello.
The outcome of this residency will be a fully edited, revised, and annotated score and parts with fingerings as well as phrase and interpretation markings. The score and parts will be digitally imputed in collaboration with a music engraver. The ensemble will also record a professional quality video of this new arrangement, in the natural acoustic of a refurbished stone country house.
Example Collaborative Residency
Each year the Composition Competition in Barcelona, named after the great composer Miquel Llobet, awards three prizes to the best new pieces for solo guitar received from a range of national and international composers, both young and just starting out, and already well established.
Each year, the 3 prize-winning composers would collaborate at the CGC with a guitarist. During a 4-day CGC Collaborative Residency these artists would work together to take these prize-winning pieces and make sure that the score, and premiere recording of the piece are both transmitting the expectations of the composer. This way, any future guitarist looking to interpret this new piece could easily find a well edited, revised and annotated score, with an accompanying video recording, knowing that it was done in collaboration with the composer.
Either having been invited by the CGC, in collaboration with festivals, competitions or composers’ associations, or having been selected from applications made by the artist, those attending one of the centre’s curated Music Retreat or Collaborative Residency programmes at the CGC will be provided accommodations, rehearsal and recording space, and equipment, in purpose-built structures, providing that important final step between a draft and a final version of a new work.
READ MORE
For all CGC programming, Music Retreat and Collaborative Residency programmes will be clearly defined as follows:
Music Retreats
The composer or arranger of the new work featuring the guitar is also the performer, either a guitar soloist, or an instrumentalist/composer in a pre-formed ensemble featuring the guitar.
During a Music Retreat artists will work alone (or in their pre-formed ensemble) and as such, time spent at CGC won’t be collaborative. For example, a guitarist/composer might come to finish a new piece for solo guitar, or a pre-formed ensemble which includes a composer and guitarist might come to make a new arrangement.
Collaborative Residencies
The composer or arranger of the new work featuring the guitar is not a performer and does not collaborate regularly with a guitarist.
This composer or arranger will collaborate with a guitarist, either as a soloist or in a chamber music setting. These performers will be provided by the CGC if necessary. The CGC could also be used as the location for a collaboration between composers and performers who don’t normally collaborate with each other, organised by the artists themself.
The typical outcome of both a Music Retreat and Collaborative Residency programme will be a score (and parts) that it typeset, edited, annotated, and ready for publication. Most importantly, it will be a score that future performers can be confident is an accurate representation of the composer’s wishes, digitally typeset with clear and standardised notation. Ideally, this will be accompanied by a professional quality audio and/or video recording.
Artists attending Music Retreats and Collaborative Residencies programmes will be divided into groups:
● Invited by the CGC. These programmes will be at the expense of the centre.
● Artists sent in collaboration with festivals, competitions, or composers associations.
For example, a collaboration to engrave, edit and record the winning pieces of each edition of the Art Llobet Composition Competition. In general, these will be paid programmes with agreements made on a case-by-case basis.
● Chosen from applications made through the CGC website and selected by the Selection Committee.
These will be paid programmes. Financial assistance will be offered where possible to those in need.
Applications will be welcomed from any professional artist with a minimum qualification of a Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent demonstrable knowledge and skill-sets. Applications will be welcome from all artists without discrimination on the basis of any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation.
All selections will be made on equal footing, with no priority given to anything other than the merits of an artist's proposed project, how a proposed project best fits with the available infrastructure, and the likelihood of the proposed project happening otherwise.
Examples for Music Retreat and Collaborative Residency Programmes
Example Music Retreat
Nova Vita is a Norwegian based ensemble that focuses on the early romantic guitar’s role in chamber music. Including at least one guitar, the formation of the ensemble is flexible. Nova Vita performs works where the 19th century guitar plays a leading role and adheres to historical performance practice. Their repertoire includes original compositions, and arrangements made in the 19th century, as well as new arrangements and compositions made in this 19th century style.
During a 7-day CGC Music Residency, the musicians would gather at caseta de Serafí
to finalise Runar Kjeldsberg’s new arrangement of Franz Joseph Haydn’s Piano Trio in E Minor, Hob. XV/12.
Originally for piano, violin and cello, Norwegian guitarist Runar Kjeldsberg - the founding member of Nova Vita - has based his arrangement on those made by François de Fossa during Haydn’s lifetime, for two guitars, violin, and cello.
The outcome of this residency will be a fully edited, revised, and annotated score and parts with fingerings as well as phrase and interpretation markings. The score and parts will be digitally imputed in collaboration with a music engraver. The ensemble will also record a professional quality video of this new arrangement, in the natural acoustic of a refurbished stone country house.
Example Collaborative Residency
Each year the Composition Competition in Barcelona, named after the great composer Miquel Llobet, awards three prizes to the best new pieces for solo guitar received from a range of national and international composers, both young and just starting out, and already well established.
Each year, the 3 prize-winning composers would collaborate at the CGC with a guitarist. During a 4-day CGC Collaborative Residency these artists would work together to take these prize-winning pieces and make sure that the score, and premiere recording of the piece are both transmitting the expectations of the composer. This way, any future guitarist looking to interpret this new piece could easily find a well edited, revised and annotated score, with an accompanying video recording, knowing that it was done in collaboration with the composer.
Other things we can do....
Once running, Project Golitxa will present a number of :
Live concerts
Solo
Duo
Small chamber ensembles
Audio and video recordings
Solo
Duo
Small chamber ensembles
Artists retreats
Musicians
Composers
Writers
Workshops, lecture and masterclasses
Local Paüls traditions and customs
Instrumental masterclasses
Workshops between composers and performers
Yoga and meditation
Special events
Food and music pairings
Agricultural use
produce its own olive oil for sale
Produce is own fruit and vegetables for in-house use
Produce and preserve native herbs
Designated wilderness spaces (potential to use for carbon offset projects)
Once running, Project Golitxa will present a number of :
Live concerts
Solo
Duo
Small chamber ensembles
Audio and video recordings
Solo
Duo
Small chamber ensembles
Artists retreats
Musicians
Composers
Writers
Workshops, lecture and masterclasses
Local Paüls traditions and customs
Instrumental masterclasses
Workshops between composers and performers
Yoga and meditation
Special events
Food and music pairings
Agricultural use
produce its own olive oil for sale
Produce is own fruit and vegetables for in-house use
Produce and preserve native herbs
Designated wilderness spaces (potential to use for carbon offset projects)