Route 66 Idiomas attended the competition for the seventh time, supporting the organizers of the oldest wind band contest in the world (this was the 129th edition!).
In addition to translating all the contest information (thanks to our translators Claire Huston and Inma Zarranz) we also accompanied the bands from overseas. Claudia Morren, Claudia Holzhäuser and Jesús Poveda did a great job solving any issues the non-Spanish bands had. This meant the only thing the visiting bands had to worry about was their performances and trying to win! Marina Ruiz also deserves credit: she was at the Palau de la Música during the contest to help all the bands (Spanish and foreign), directing them to where they had to be and making sure they were there on time.
René Clerx and Yuki Shintaku attended every day to act as interpreters at the jury table. In addition to the two Spanish members of the jury (José Luis Estellés and Pilar Jurado) there were also members from Holland (Pieter Jansen), Denmark (Peter Ettrup Larsen) and Japan (Satoshi Yagisawa), so the interpreters were there to prevent any communication problems between them. However, overall, the members of the jury understood each other pretty well. At this level of musical excellence everybody uses the same vocabulary. Because it was Satoshi’s first time in Valencia, Yuki also made sure he got to visit all the best spots in the city and enjoy the great cuisine. “Pinchos” were his favorite food :-). Also, a word of thanks to the organizers of the “Certamen”. Working with Dani Belloví and Paco Montesinos went smoothly!
We hope to see everybody again next year! We’re already keen to know which foreign bands will be invited to compete with the fantastic Spanish bands!