The Sounds in Nature Festival, SoNna Huesca, celebrates its grand finale this weekend at the Cartuja de Nuestra Señora de las Fuentes with two concerts: Galician artist Xoel López on Friday and Madrid native Malú on Saturday. Both performances are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Xoel López's concert will be the 150th in the short but brilliant history of the festival, which has been organized by the Huesca Provincial Council since 2020.
The fifth edition of the Sounds in Nature Festival, SoNna Huesca, is preparing for its traditional closing at the Cartuja de Nuestra Señora de las Fuentes with concerts by Xoel López on Friday the 13th and Malú on Saturday the 14th, both at 7:00 pm. While the Madrid-born artist's concert is likely to be nearly sold out, tickets are still available for both events on the DPH website, www.dphuesca.es/sonna-invitaciones . Advance tickets are priced at €25 and €30 respectively.
The closing concert will once again showcase the spectacular Cartuja de las Fuentes in Sariñena, which will be the center of attention for two days. However, the presence of SoNna Huesca will necessitate the cancellation of the guided tours organized by the Provincial Council of Huesca (DPH) every Saturday and Sunday, which attract nearly 7.000 tourists annually. Those interested will have to wait until the following weekend, after the Sounds in Nature Festival has concluded.
It is worth remembering that the Carthusian monastery, founded in 1507 by the Counts of Sástago, was the first of the Carthusian monasteries built in the Kingdom of Aragon, and the fifteenth in Spanish territory. Located within the municipality of Sariñena, and near Lanaja, it is nestled in the heart of the Monegros region, at the foot of the Sierra de Alcubierre mountain range.
Declared a Site of Cultural Interest and a Historic-Artistic Ensemble in 2002, it is one of the most important collections of Baroque paintings in Aragon. Its mural frescoes were painted by Friar Manuel Bayeu, Goya's brother-in-law and a monk of this community. The Provincial Council of Huesca (DPH) continues its restoration of the monastic complex; in the last year, the work carried out has represented a total investment of approximately €660.000. Both the small cloister and the interior courtyards have been restored, and the buttresses supporting the church have been reinforced.
The SoNna Huesca caravan
Xoel López's concert will be the 150th SoNna Huesca festival, a milestone after five successful editions that have traversed the vast territory of the province of Huesca, which, at 15.000 square kilometers, is the sixth largest province in Spain. Over the past five years, the festival has visited all ten districts of the Alto Aragón region, showcasing emerging and high-quality artistic talent, and has set its stage in nearly one hundred memorable locations.
Last weekend, the SoNna Huesca traveling festival wrapped up its fifth edition in the Monegros towns of Fraella (Grañén) and Alberuela de Tubo. Still in the Monegros region, Sariñena will take over this weekend for the grand finale, featuring the only two ticketed concerts of 2024.
Since Mercedes Peón inaugurated this year's edition on June 29th at the Huesca Center for Art and Nature, the Sounds in Nature Festival has toured 25 municipalities with a variety of small and medium-sized performances throughout the summer weekends. The festival, organized by the Provincial Council of Huesca (DPH), acts as a cultural driving force and unifying element for the region, showcasing and highlighting its value. This year, it has introduced new venues to the public, including the village of Cardiel in Fraga; the Hermitage of Our Lady of La Ganza in Calasanz; the Centenera Mill in Graus; the Laus Winery in the Somontano region; the Valonga Estate in the Bajo Cinca region; the Sanctuary of San Úrbez de Nocito in Nueno; the Fountain of Memories in Fraella, Grañén; and the Milano Real-Cometa Roja Museum in Binaced. These new locations join others already featured in the festival's four previous editions.
Almost a third of the artists programmed for the 5th SoNna Huesca festival came from beyond Spain's borders. From the Mediterranean came Daniela Pess (Italy), Ana Lua Caiano (Portugal), Aïta mon amour (Morocco), and the Matthieu Saglio Quartet (France). From across the ocean came Soema Montenegro (Argentina), Caribefunk (Colombia), and Anna Trea (Brazil). And from the African Sahel, Trio da Kali (Mali). Exquisite acts, little known in Spain, with a few exceptions. Among the Spanish artists, notable performers included Mercedes Peón, Uxía, Javier Ruibal, Musgo, Ombligo, Clara Peya, Blanca Altable, Queralt Lahoz, Judit Neddermann, and Ester Vallejo.
But while the SoNna Huesca traveling program focuses on emerging artists, the festival always reserves for its closing performance at the Cartuja de Nª Sª de las Fuentes in Sariñena proposals from established artists on the national scene, such as Juan Perro, Rozalen, Amaral, Antonio Orozco, Miguel Ríos, Manu Chao or Rodrigo Cuevas, among others.
Xoel López, concert 150
The headliner of the 150th SoNna Huesca concert perfectly fits the profile. Galician artist Xoel López is not only an established figure with over 20 years in the business and hits like “Lodo” and “Tierra,” but he also draws from folk music, a common thread among the artists at the Sonidos en la Naturaleza Festival.
Xoel López is one of the most accomplished and representative artists on the current Ibero-American independent music scene. Each album is an exercise in creative freedom and, at the same time, a biographical chapter. From the young man who sang in English with the Elephant Band and later as Deluxe, to being recognized as Best National Artist at the 2013 Independent Music Awards. That was the culmination of his years touring Latin America, which resulted in Atlántico and his project La Caravana Americana , featuring musicians from more than a dozen countries in the Southern Cone. Later came Paramales (2015), Sueños y Pan (2017), Si mi rayo te alcanzara (2020)...
His latest album, Caldo Espírito (2023), which he's presenting at SoNna Huesca, is the sixteenth of his career and the fifth as Xoel López (formerly Deluxe). A complex and intimate work, it showcases his compositional maturity and was written in a nearly deserted village in Ourense. The singer-songwriter's voice takes center stage, conveying profound emotions through lyrics that explore intimate reflections intertwined with commentaries on contemporary society. A landscape of singer-songwriter, rock, and roots music.
Malú as the grand finale
The following day, Saturday, a woman will once again close out an edition of SoNna Huesca at the Cartuja de Sariñena, just as Rozalén did in 2021, although that year there was a final concert in Chalamera. This woman returns to the stage after having been a household name as a teenager or young adult: María Lucía Sánchez Benítez, Malú ; daughter of Pepe de Lucía and niece of Paco de Lucía. At 17, she released her debut album, Aprendiz (1998), which, it should be remembered, spent sixty weeks on the charts and sold over 300.000 copies, earning her a triple platinum record and catapulting her to immediate success. After Aprendiz came twelve more studio albums, which garnered her 16 platinum and 6 gold records. But for the last ten years, her career has been somewhat intermittent.
Malú is celebrating the 25th anniversary of her debut album, Aprendiz , with a tour coinciding with the release of her latest work, A todo sí , in which she reinterprets her greatest hits. This tour aims to be a journey through the long and prolific career of the Madrid-born singer, but far from the intimate nature of these types of concerts, Malú arrives accompanied by a nine-piece band in search of a resounding celebration.
"A todo sí-25 años de aprendiz" is the tour that celebrates Malú's return to the stage with a production meticulously crafted and a repertoire featuring songs never before performed live and others that the artist had not performed for years.
