"Songs That Were Poems": A night when music and poetry joined hands in Yaiza.
The municipality of Yaiza continues immersed in the celebration of its patron saint festivities in honor of Our Lady of Remedies, festivities that, in addition to tradition and devotion, offer a wide range of cultural activities each year. Among them, music occupies a prominent place and, on this occasion, the voices of the Yaiza Vocal Group once again took center stage.
On Friday night, the members of the group, led by their director, Nuvi Tavio, chose a very special setting for their concert; the historic Casa Benito Pérez Armas, a beautiful 18th-century colonial mansion that has now become a Cultural Center.
And there could not have been a more appropriate setting for the proposal they had prepared.
"Songs That Were Poems" was the title chosen for a concert conceived with many hours of work, but also with great doses of illusion, affection, and enthusiasm. A project in which every detail was designed to offer the public something different, without ever losing the essence of music and, above all, adapting it to the possibilities and richness of choral singing.
The stage was transformed for the occasion. A library served as a backdrop for the group's voices, creating an intimate and evocative atmosphere that invited the audience to get lost in the words and melodies.
As Nuvi Tavio herself explained, the intention was precisely to offer the public a different proposal, always seeking new paths within choral singing. And so, poems that were once born on paper took on a new dimension by becoming music and being interpreted by the voices of the Yaiza Vocal Group.
During the concert, works such as "Gran Canaria" by the Gomera writer Pedro García, "Esta es mi Tierra" by the Valladolid poet Francisco Pino, or "Se equivocó la Paloma" by the Cadiz writer Rafael Alberti, among others, could be heard.
The composition by the Argentine author Eladia Blázquez, "Si Buenos Aires no fuera Así," also had its space, another of the pieces that contributed to making the evening a journey through different places, feelings, and ways of understanding poetry and music.
And for the closing, Nuvi Tavío had reserved a work especially recognized and loved by the public, "Gracias a la Vida," by the great composer Violeta Parra, a song that has traveled the world and of which countless versions have been made. Among them, one of the best known is, without a doubt, the one performed by another great of Latin American music, Mercedes Sosa.
The Yaiza Vocal Group was not alone on stage.
The concert also featured the magnificent performance of a trio of female flutists, who surprised the audience with their interpretive quality. Three women united by music and from different places; Cielo Guzmán, from Argentina, Rosalinda Pradillos, from La Mancha; and Yaiza's compatriot, Sara Valiente.
The trio offered a selection that was received with public recognition, which rewarded their performances with numerous ovations. Among the selected pieces were "Soy de Aquí" by the well-known Canarian musician Benito Cabrera, "Cuenca del Repasador," a composition by Charly Guzmán, Cielo Guzmán's father, among other pieces.
Precisely this last piece had a very special meaning. Cielo Guzmán, visibly moved, shared her feelings with the audience as she performed a composition by her father far from her homeland. It was one of those moments when music ceased to be simply music to also become memory, feeling, and emotion.
Much more than a concert.
"Canciones que fueron Poemas" was much more than a succession of songs. Behind each performance there were many hours of rehearsal, dedication, and effort. And behind all of it, a woman who lives choral singing with authentic passion; Nuvi Tavio.
Her work as a director goes far beyond marking entrances, tempos, or nuances. Tavio knows her choristers, knows how to bring out the best in each of them, and works to ensure that each voice finds its place within the ensemble. Her great endeavor is to achieve that her members shine with their own light, but that, at the same time, they know how to merge into a single voice when it is time to sing as a group.
That work, often silent and away from the spotlight, ends up becoming visible when the voices take the stage.
And that is precisely what happened last Friday at the Casa Benito Pérez Armas.
The members of the Yaiza Vocal Group demonstrated that behind every concert there is enthusiasm, commitment, and many hours of preparation. A dedication that the audience knew how to recognize and appreciate through their applause.
Nuvi Tavio and her choristers had achieved their goal; to offer a different night, to unite poetry and music, and to demonstrate, once again, that choral singing has the capacity to move, surprise, and convey feelings.
"Songs that were Poems" came to an end, leaving in the air the feeling of having attended something more than a concert. It was a night of music, poetry, memories, and emotions, further enriched by the extraordinary participation of the flute trio.
A night in which the voices of Yaiza once again demonstrated that, when there is work, enthusiasm, and affection behind the music, the result can become something truly special.
And if something became clear upon leaving that colonial mansion converted into a stage, it is that the Yaiza Vocal Group, under the direction of Nuvi Tavio, continues to work so that each concert is different, so that its choristers enjoy and make others enjoy, and, above all, so that each of their voices can continue to shine with its own light.
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