The Premios Ópera XXI, Spain’s leading national opera awards, have recognised the Banco Sabadell Foundation with the Honorary Award for Best Patronage Initiative. The awards ceremony took place on 15 May at the Gran Teatre del Liceu as part of a gala event that brought together leading figures and institutions from the national and international opera world.
The panel of judges, comprising prestigious national and international music critics and journalists, highlighted the work of the Banco Sabadell Foundation, which since 1994 has been “promoting initiatives aimed at building a more critical, fair and inclusive society, with a particular focus on supporting young talent”. They also underscored: “based on the premise that culture and the arts are drivers of social transformation, the Foundation runs programmes at various Spanish opera houses, offering opportunities to new generations of artists to nurture their talent while fostering creativity, knowledge and innovation”.
Sonia Mulero, Director of the Banco Sabadell Foundation, accepted the award and paid special tribute to the work of the institutions, professionals and young artists with whom we collaborate: “This award recognises our commitment to talent and to a culture that creates opportunities, connects with new audiences and contributes to social development”.
“Based on the premise that culture and the arts are drivers of social transformation, the Foundation runs programmes at various Spanish opera houses, offering opportunities to new generations of artists to nurture their talent while fostering creativity, knowledge and innovation”, jury of the Opera XXI Awards
Among the initiatives we are promoting in this field, in partnership with leading organisations, the following stand out:
- Fundació Òpera a Catalunya: we support the ‘Opera in Catalonia’ series, which brings opera to the whole of Catalonia through four major touring productions. We have supported this initiative since 1982, initially through the Bank and later through the Foundation. We also support the Sabadell Opera School, a pioneering and unique initiative with which we have collaborated since its inception in 1996, promoting the professional development of young talent.
• Fundación Amigos del Teatro Real: we run the Crescendo programme, which supports the development of new generations in the world of opera by providing training with top-level professionals and creating genuine career opportunities.
• Fundació del Gran Teatre del Liceu: we support initiatives such as Òh!Pera, which promotes contemporary opera and offers emerging artists a real space for experimentation and development, and LICEUnder35, which brings opera to new audiences while fostering a sense of community.
This distinction encourages us to further strengthen our commitment to culture and the arts and to fostering talent; and we share it with all the people and organisations that help to bring opera to a wider audience.
