It is always said that the Valencia Region is the land of music, a nest for bands. Berklee College of Music has set up a campus in Valencia because here they breathe art all around. But what about the figures?
In absolute figures, there are a total of 1,686 artistic formations within the musical societies; with a slightly more detailed breakdown, there are 1,075 bands, 174 orchestras, 233 choirs, 133 chamber groups, 52 big bands and 19 tabal i dolçaina groups. 40,000 musicians and 60,000 music learners present in 90% of the municipalities with more than 200 inhabitants.
The results, break with some of the preconceived ideas in relation to the exclusive association of the musicians of the Community to wind instruments and music bands. The weight of orchestras, choirs, chamber groups and even big bands are becoming more and more relevant and contradict this belief.
The following analysis arises when taking the data to the national territory. If the figures were extrapolated to the whole of Spain, they would have to be multiplied by 9. Thus, with the 1,686 artistic groups, the result would be 15,174. According to Rodríguez, the census of artistic groups reveals the specific weight and strength of a collective with associations with more than 200 years of social, educational and cultural trajectory. In fact, the 40,000 musicians of the Community account for 50% of Spain.
