Wednesday, 10 April 2019

The colombian cultural activist, Julia Salvi, will be honored by the Italian State

The Colombian cultural activist, Julia Salvi, founder of one of the main organizations promoting classical music in Colombia, the Salvi Foundation, will be honored this Friday, April 12th, in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, by the Italian State.

At the hands of the President of the Senate of the Italian Republic, Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, and in the presence of the Italian Ambassador to Colombia, Gherardo Amaduzzi, the President of the Salvi Foundation will be condecorated as "Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella d'Italia", in a private ceremony at the Casa del Marqués de Valdehoyos.

As president of the Salvi Foundation and the Cartagena International Music Festival, Julia Salvi has given great importance to the promotion of cooperative relations between Italy and Colombia in the field of arts and culture, which has resulted in a valuable social impact and the generation of new job opportunities.

As examples of the above, it should be noted that since its origin in Colombia in 2005, the Salvi Foundation has had a strong relationship with Italy and has offered training opportunities in the Italian artisan tradition of making musical instruments, with the participation of Italian teachers who periodically give seminars in Colombia. In this time, five Italian teachers have been involved, 20 Colombian luthiers have been trained, dedicating themselves today to this craft in different regions of the country, and six Colombian luthiers have carried out exchanges in Italy.

It is also recognized that since 2013, the general direction of the Cartagena International Music Festival has been in charge of the Italian cultural manager, Antonio Miscenà. During his tenure, more than 100 Italian artists and disseminators have had a strong presence at the Festival and important artistic exchange alliances have been established between Italy and Colombia. Among these, the collaboration with the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi, which allowed the presentation of the operas The Marriage of Figaro in 2017 and Così fan tutte in 2019 in Cartagena, and also contemplates the staging of Don Giovanni in 2021, to complete Mozart's Italian trilogy.

These last initiatives, just as an unprecedented exhibit and forum surrounding the italian school of musical instrument making (carried out this year in Cartagena with the cooperation of the Italian Trade Agency – ITA) have relied on the support of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Italy, as well as the Italian Embassy and the Italian Institute of Culture in Bogotá.

Thanks to the profound life experiences that allowed her to build a strong bond, Julia Salvi today defines Italy as her "intellectual" homeland, from which she acquired a passion for the tradition of artisan work in the field of musical instruments, as well as an interest in the improvement and design of scenic spaces, two areas of knowledge that have been fundamental in the development of the Cartagena International Music Festival, which last January successfully completed thirteen years, thanks to the support and commitment of important national and international companies and institutions.

Behind this work is the base on which the Salvi Foundation was born, created by Julia Salvi with her husband (now deceased), the harpist and businessman Victor Salvi, in order to support musical circulation and formation in the world. In Colombia, this has been reflected in various educational initiatives associated with the programming of the Cartagena International Music Festival, the Luthery and Wind Instrument Centers, and the Salvi Lecture on the Harp, among others.

Ceremony: Friday, April 12th, Cartagena de Indias, Casa del Marqués de Valdehoyos (centro histórico), 7:00 p. m.