The Cercle del Liceu hosted last night the relaxed meeting between the US Ambassador to Spain and Andorra, Julissa Reynoso, with a group of personalities from Catalan culture. The event was attended by, among others, the sculptors Jaume Plensa and Santi Moix; writers Eduardo Mendoza - who chatted animatedly with the Dominican-born, New York-raised Reynoso about jazz and salsa; Carme Riera and Sergio Vila-Sanjuán, chief editor of the Cultura/s supplement of La Vanguardia.
The architect Carme Pigem, from RCR Arquitectes studio, and Pritzker prize winner in 2017, was also present. Àngels Margarit, director of the Mercat de les Flors, was the representative of the world of dance and the film sector had the director Belén Funes, winner of the Goya award for best novel direction for La hija de un ladrón, as well as the veteran actor and theater director Josep Maria Pou.
Pepe Serra, director of the MNAC, Elvira Dyangani, director of the Macba, Emmanuel Guigon, of the Museo Picasso and Marko Daniel, of the Fundación Miró departed together with the editor Joan Tarrida, responsible for Galaxia Gutenberg and María Serrat, general director of the Conservatory of the Liceu. The pianist Albert Guinovart enlivened the evening together with the incredible voice of the baritone Carles Pachón.
Francisco Gaudier, president of the Cercle del Liceu, presented the American ambassador with a book commemorating the 175th anniversary of the oldest social club in Barcelona, and Reynoso did the same with a copy on jazz. With extensive experience in diplomacy, the ambassador has served in the Biden-Harris administration as an adviser to the president and as chief of staff to Jill Biden.
She was also a partner at the international law firm Winston and Strawn in New York and a law professor at Columbia University. An activist for women's rights, Reynoso was amazed at the Rotonda del Cercle del Liceu, which contains twelve beautiful oil panels by Ramon Casas, and stopped especially at the painting of the woman driving a car with bright headlights by name L'automòbil, dated in 1901.
