"The operas on the Les Arts stage are very attractive, but performing in prisons is one of the most rewarding projects we have done." The speaker is Jesús Iglesias Noriega, artistic director of the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in València, which has always been characterized by trying to bring music closer to those groups that, for one reason or another, do not have easy access to culture.
The 'Les Arts és Inclusió' project, which began to be considered before the pandemic, is part of this line of work. "We had planned a meeting with the director of the Picassent center, but three days before they locked us in the house." With the lifting of restrictions, which was slower in prisons, the activity was launched and has already held two editions.
The first edition (2022) took the artists of the Center de Perfectionament and the teachers of the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana (OCV) to perform in concerts and recitals in the prisons of Picassent, Albocàsser; and on last year's tour (2003), the program extended to the Alicante prison of Villena.
Iglesias Noriega still remembers the impact that a chat with the inmate had on him on one of the exits. "This is the first time I've been out of prison in 12 years," he told her. And the fact is that apart from the musicians performing in the prison assembly halls, some prisoners - those who have the authorization of Penitentiary Institutions - also go to carry out workshops in the majestic Palau designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava.
Last month, Albocàsser inmates witnessed the last session of 2023 of 'Matins a Les Arts', offered by the artists of the Center de Perfectionament, in addition to visiting the different spaces and rooms of the theater and learning 'in situ' how it works. Quite an experience.
The artistic director of the Palau highlights that the prisoners are accompanied by officials and, "although we have seen many films, you don't have the feeling that there is something strange in the audience." Iglesias Noriega highlights the good acceptance of this type of activities and how the inmates show interest and are grateful that, "you simply treat them well and make them feel that they are important." In this sense, one of the most repeated comments they hear when, after the performances they have the option to chat with the audience - as happens when they go to Albocàsser - is that "for an hour they feel free and not "They have the feeling of living locked up."
However, Iglesias Noriega turns the tables and points out that the experience is not only rewarding for the inmates. It is also, the artist points out, for the musicians and technicians who perform and prepare the show in a room with so many scenic limitations. "Some workers have stopped me in the hallways of the Palau to thank me for the initiative," he says in a conversation with La Vanguardia.
The artistic director indicates that there was even a musician who did not like the idea of playing in front of people who have committed crimes for ethical and conscientious reasons; "Then, after living the experience, he converted." "Many prisoners explain to you that they like music, they are interested, or they tell you that they worked in something related to the sector. They try to approach us," he says.
Iglesias Noriega defends this type of projects as necessary; 'Les Arts és Inclusió' has also taken singers and pianists from the current promotion of the Center de Perfectionament on a brief tour of residences for the Third Age in the three provinces of the Valencian Community. "We owe it to everyone," he defends as a philosophy.
For this reason, Iglesias Noriega expresses to La Vanguardia that he would like to "enrich" this type of activities and, although he knows that it is not easy, make the project grow and consolidate.
