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History of the Conservatory of Music Óscar Esplá of Alicante

On January 20, 2008, the 50th anniversary of the setting up of the Óscar Esplá Superior Music Conservatory in Alicante, the main musical center of the city and province, has been recognized since its founding. And international, supported by the quality of the teaching staff and the high number of students left from their classrooms, who are now concert artists or professionals located in different Conservatories, schools and groups around the world.

The gestation of a musical center in Alicante emerged as a result of the constant cultural concerns of the Caja de Ahorros del Southeast of Spain.The initiative was led by its Director General, Don Antonio Ramos Carratalá, who presented it to the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Don Román Bono Marín, alleging the great musical tradition in the city and the need to have an appropriate place to be able to provide youth The study of diverse musical disciplines. This project was first exposed in the Report of the Fund of 1956, unanimously approved, on June 12, 1957, the creation of the Musical Institute of the Southeast and resting the address of the same in Ricardo Ruiz Baquero.

The Institute had a great reception by the Alicante, since the course, which began on January 20, 1958, had a registration of 360 students and a budget, set by the Caja, of 128,000 pesetas. The subjects that could be studied were: Solfeo, singing, dance, piano, violin and guitar; Then incorporated the harmony, counterpoint, aesthetics and history of music. The closing of the course took place in the Monumental Theater, on June 1, with various students from the piano, violin and singing classes, the Children’s Choir and the Orfeón Alicante. The anthem «Idealidad» by Ruiz Baquero, dedicated to the work of the Savings Bank, was released, being considered, from that premiere, as an official anthem of the Musical Institute.

In 5 September the Board of Directors agreed to obtain from the composer Óscar Esplá the pertinent authorization to give the Institute its name, given the eminent figure of this illustrious Alicante; To the affirmative its answer this Center happened to be called, from 31 of October, Musical Institute «Óscar Esplá». In his first visit to the Institute that bore his name, the master Esplá donated the original autographs of the Devil’s Christmas Eve and the Southern Sonata.

The official inauguration took place on February 4, 1959, with the blessing of the local, located in the central street of San Fernando No. 30, continuing with a brilliant tribute to the master Esplá, held in the Hall of Acts, which began with a few words Of Don Antonio Ramos Carratalá, reading a few pages written by Esplá (who could not attend the event) about the city of Alicante and its artistic manifestations. Then, the recital dedicated entirely to the work of the composer and interpreted by teachers of the center. The Spanish Cadences and Berceuse were heard by the pianists Carmen Rueda and Milagros Sogorb; The guitarist José Tomás interpreted Levantinas Impressions, Mari Carmen Jordán the songs of Spanish Lyrica, Rogelia Galiana danced the Levantine sketches and violinist Josefina Salvador played the first movement of the Sonata Op. 9, closing the act the Orfeón Alicante. The first public performance of the students in the Hall of Acts took place on May 24, 1959.

The year 1960 was going to be the beginning of a series of important changes for the future of the Center, since Ramos Carratalá had a conversation with the Minister of Education, Don Jesus Rubio, about the desire of the Savings Bank that the Institute could Obtain the category of Professional Conservatory. Master Esplá was appointed Director on July 31, continuing negotiations with the Ministry and making important changes in the Center, among which he highlighted the call for competitive examinations for teachers, drafting the programs of these tests and the General Regulations of the Institute.

The first competitions to the chair were held in 1961 and the places called were: piano, violin, singing, harmony, solfeggio, guitar, dance and history and aesthetics, presenting a total of 37 candidates to cover them. The tribunals were presided over by the master Esplá and had the following personalities: Federico Mompou who acted as permanent vocalist, Julio Gómez, Conchita Badía, Regino Sáinz de la Maza, Fernando Remacha, Dolores de Pedroso and Antonio Iglesias. The chairs granted were: Jaime Mas Porcel (piano), Josefina Salvador (violin), José Peris (harmony), Rafael Casasempere (solfeo), José Tomás (guitar) and María Padilla (aesthetics and music history). The chairs of singing and dancing were declared deserted, and they were held temporarily by Mrs. Carbonell Jordán, Ortega and Galiana until the new call for competition. Assistant teachers were also appointed to José Mira Figueroa (piano), Carmen Riera and Carmen Rueda (solfeo) and Ruiz Baquero (singing).

The achievement of the prestigious guitar award «Andrés Segovia», won by professor José Tomás in 1961, raised the first international music scene to the Institute, with the first inscription of a foreign student, the Argentine Guillermo Florens. In addition, the teacher Esplá established cycles of conferences and concerts by the teachers of the Center; Thus, it was common to see in the programs José Tomás, Josefina Salvador, Mas Porcel, Mira Figueroa and others.

Alicante had the privilege of celebrating in 1962 a Congress of non-official Spanish Conservatories to manage with the Ministry many questions concerning musical education and their situation. The minutes of the sessions included taking the Óscar Esplá Institute as a model of a pedagogical center, a circumstance that contributed favorably to the award of the Professional Conservatory degree, by Decree of the Ministry of Education approved on December 21, 1962. Thanks to this decree Musical life in Alicante took a major turn, since, among other things, the students did not have to go to other Conservatories to obtain the official titles. The programs of the different specialties and subjects were maintained, being very similar to the official plan of Madrid. The same master Esplá manifested that the chairs that were not in property would go to opposition and the other squares, to contest. The first course that started with the granting of the Professional Degree registered an enrollment of 277 official students and 72 free.

After completing the new reorganization of the Center, the workforce was constituted by 19 professors, of whom 8 were professors. For the first time the wood and metal wind specialties, percussion and musical initiation were included.

Great importance and solemnity were the opening acts, where the teacher Esplá gave a lecture on some aspect of the music and then took place the delivery of diplomas to the students who had obtained the qualification of outstanding and the winners of the Extraordinary Awards. The act used to finish with a recital offered by some professor of the Institute. They also gave lectures and courses at the prestigious Hall of Acts musicians like Jean Fournier, Henrick Crafoord, Luis Galve, Rosa Sabater, Pilar Bayona, Roberto Bravo, Ramón Coll, Leopoldo Querol, Rita Bouboulidi, Esteban Sánchez, Miguel Zanetti, Trinidad Sanchís, Marisa Robles, Regino Sáinz de la Maza, María Fux, Isabel Rivas, Isabel Penagos, Rafael López del Cid and others.

The violinist Josefina Salvador was awarded the Ysaye Foundation of Belgium medal and appointed as the Delegate for Spain of that institution in March 1971. In the act of delivering the award she interpreted the Sonata in F major of Locatelli- Ysaye and the Sonata of Esplá. In addition, it premiered for the first time in Spain the elegiac Poem, Saltarela carnavalesca and the Sonata of Ysaye. The Institute was insufficient for the enrollment increase each year. Faced with the impossibility of admitting all the demands, the 72-73 course was the first one in which they had to realize tests to accede to the official studies. The preferences of the students were piano, guitar and dance, but that year there was a considerable increase of the brass registration.

In the Council of Ministers of January 25, 1974, a decree was issued which granted validity to the teachings of Higher Degree in the Institute; The consequence of the decree was the massive enrollment of students, which caused that the Savings Bank had to condition the building of the street San Fernando with 23 classrooms, being inaugurated the 5 of November of 1975 with a total of 1,754 registrations. The course was opened by Vicente Perelló, the new professor at the Center.

The year 1976 began very negatively, since 6 of January passed away in Madrid the teacher Esplá. The directors who succeeded him were Gerardo Pérez Busquier (1976), Vicente Perelló (1981), Josefina Salvador (1985), José Vicente Cervera (1986), Jesus Mula (1987), Sara Guarinos ), Roberto Trinidad (1998), Juan Iborra (2004) and José Vicente Asensi (2012).

The Conservatory passed to the State Administration in 1981. For this the staff of the faculty was enlarged, new specialties were added and a year later were held oppositions in Madrid in order to cover the professor chairs in property. The facilities of San Fernando Street did not have sufficient space for the constant increase of the students, having to be enabled in the decade of the 80 some classrooms of the School Benalúa and soon others in the zone of Campoamor, until the transfer to a building of Mount Tossal , Place that occupies in these moments.

The Conservatory has granted decorations and tributes to relevant individuals or entities who have collaborated with the Center. The first medal, in 1988, fell to Manuel Sánchez Monllor, Deputy Director of Social Works of the Savings Bank of the Mediterranean. Also awarded were the Concert Society of Alicante (1990), José Tomás (1992), José Peris (2000) and Vicente Perelló (2000).

Since 1999, it enjoys autonomy as a Center for Higher Education by decree of the Valencian Government, dated 9 February, counting in the 2016-2017 academic year with 80 teachers and 368 students enrolled.

Ana María Flori López is a Musicologist, Professor of the Superior Conservatory of Music of Alicante and PhD in Music.

ÒSCAR ESPLÁ SUPERIOR MUSIC CONSERVATORY OF ALICANTE

C/ Catedrátic Jaume Mas i Porcel, 2. 03005 Alicante (España).

Phone: 966 47 86 65

e-mail: 03010739@iseacv.gva.es

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