Premiere of ‘Aer’ in Valencia, Spain – Josue Vergara [SUMMARY]

On Sunday, June 22, 2025, the short film Aer and its soundtrack, by Valencian composer Josué Vergara, were presented at the Palau de la Música in Valencia in Valencia, Spain. Our colleague Frederic Torres attended the event and has prepared this summary article for us.

 

AER. Presentation of the short film at the Palau de la Música in Valencia and performance of the soundtrack. June 22, 2025.

Aer means Air in Latin, and is the title of the piece that Valencian composer Josué Vergara wrote in 2018 as an anthem for the Spanish Air and Space Force. It was premiered live in a duet version for piano, played by the composer himself, and the indispensable solo voice of soprano Solenne Cavero, on June 21 of that same year, in the Courtyard of Honor of the Army’s Headquarters, during the 40th Awards Gala, in the presence of high-ranking civil and military officials (the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, among others).

 

But Aer is also the title of the short documentary film that Vergara himself and the heads of El Claroscuro Films, led by Vicente Porfilio, presented at its “debut” on Sunday, June 22, at the Palau de la Música in Valencia, before an invited audience that literally packed the hall (more than a thousand people), braving the stifling weather caused by the malevolent combination of high temperatures and relative humidity. Starting at 18:30h, after the customary photos taken at the photocall set up for the occasion in the lobby of the Palau, in front of a giant reproduction of the iconic image conceived by painter Pepe Royo for the poster, inspired by the wings of the Winged Victory of Samothrace on a striking blue background, the composer appeared on stage with Swiss punctuality (the country where he grew up from childhood until he returned home at the age of twenty) to briefly perform his central theme on the piano, before taking the floor and explaining the genesis of the film project that was to be seen next, and its evolution over the years.

 

 

The author spoke of the scale of the commission and the boost it could give to his career, explaining to the expectant audience, who were speculating about what they were about to see and hear, the reasons that had led him to consider making a film about this artistic experience, reflecting the complicated creative process behind a work of such significance. He also spoke of the internal debate when choosing the ideal approach, emphasizing the complications in the form of writer’s block that this commitment entailed, until his doubts were dispelled by the clear-sighted advice of Roberto “Little” García-Arroba, now a colonel (whom Vergara met when he was a pilot and held the rank of lieutenant colonel at a conference on leadership, at which point they became friends, leading the officer to become a decisive presence in the initiative).

 

Faced with the artist’s uncertainties, he urged him to be himself, providing him with the ideal and necessary direction to follow, the maxim that “less is more” (which, although rooted in ancient philosophy, was popularized in the early decades of the 20th century by the influential German-American architect and industrial designer Ludwig Mies van der Rohe), which gave Vergara a contemporary perspective characterized by the reduction of elements in the interest of simplicity directly linked to effectiveness and, above all, beauty.

 

Vergara conveyed from the podium his difficulties in channeling the feelings of a pilot in mid-flight, in what he imagined would be being alone in the immensity of the celestial expanse, the ideal space from which to approach the immensity of Creation, and how to approach the form of such a special and significant composition. As can be read in the program published for this purpose with a reproduction of Royo’s painting, the composer wondered about “how to compose the air, its melody, the harmony of its spirit.” In the end, relying conceptually and emotionally on the aforementioned motto, Vergara managed to begin his work by appealing to his sensitivity, so that the first notes began to flow from the piano until they converged in the ethereal voice of the soprano. It is this meticulous and patient artistic process that the artist captures in images (a task no less arduous than that which would lead to the composition of the anthem), until reaching the subsequent orchestral dénouement with the recording, in September 2024, of the symphonic version of the anthem by the Valencia Orchestra, conducted by Jaume Santonja, and the collaboration of the EncantaVeus choir, as well as, of course, the soprano Cavero.

 

Next, following remarks by Lieutenant General Francisco Braco, Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force (JEMA), and Vicente Llimerá, director of the Palau de la Música, the short film was screened before an expectant audience. In it, and in a very personal way, Vergara and the team from El Claroscuro Films, led by Porfilio, who is also the director of photography and editor, manage to portray the insecurities, fears, and feelings that the composer had referred to in his presentation, and how his encounter with the concept of “less is more” helped him overcome the challenge, always with the “aviator spirit” suggested by García-Arroba on the horizon.

 

Once that first enormous obstacle has been overcome, the images that follow belong to the expressive imagination of the artist, here unfolding as a filmmaker, capable of surprising us with new age parameters, which already had their reference point in a previous project. This is the case of the artistic video presentation of his 2020 album Naked, in which, with the music of one of the tracks (“The Reflection of the Mirror”), Vergara created a visual work (with the collaboration of Israel Sánchez-Beato) with an identity similar to that seen in Aer, superimposing everyday moments, sensations, and even daydreams (that magnificent shot of Cavero’s voice coinciding with the movements of Vergara’s mouth, as if he were the one singing). In this case, they are almost always related to nature, with scenes in which the author is seen playing the piano in a river (the Turia) or melting into the forest floor while caressing the earth with his fingers. Without disregarding others of a more transitional and everyday nature, such as driving his car through the city at night, as well as those that correspond to the evocation of the “aviator spirit,” the best reflection of which is probably that shot that combines in the same frame the composer playing the piano during the takeoff of a Eurofighter jet, the pure essence and embodiment of the intentions of those responsible.

 

 

After the screening of the short film, which was shown at various local festivals such as the Alicante Film Festival and Docs València (where the composer gave an illustrative masterclass last May alongside Valencian director Agustín Rubio, about their joint work on the 2020 film Non-living – read more), but also international ones, such as the Kyoto Independent Film Festival and the Los Angeles Short Film Awards, where it won, and with an audience as surprised as it was devoted, Vergara programmed a series of extras about the making of the film in the form of a making-of (which can also be seen on the elclaroscuro.film website).

 

They reveal some interesting shots about the logistics of the shoot, including locations such as the Turia River as it passes through the Valencian town of Riba-roja, the Air and Space Museum in Madrid, the Ala 14 air base in Los Llanos, Albacete, and, of course, the Palau de la Música itself, where the project came to a happy conclusion with the recording of the symphonic version of the anthem, as mentioned above. Funny and curious moments from a film shot with a camera equipped with anamorphic lenses, in order to obtain images shot at 24 frames per second, giving the story texture and cinematic quality (the panoramic format is revealing in this sense), thus culminating the visual part of the event.

 

Finally, a version for piano (this time performed by Judith Kertesz) and string quartet (from the Valencia Orchestra) of the piece was offered, featuring the Coro enCANTa 8 veus choir (a small representation of eight voices from the choral formation of the symphonic version), and of course, soprano Solenne Cavero. In it, the audience was able to enjoy the composition isolated from the images and appreciate the elegant subtleties displayed by the artist, who was able to strike a chord with those present by renouncing the martial tones of other eras, placing a military entity such as the Air Force in a spatial more in keeping with the 21st century and in line with an inspiration based on “the dreams of thousands of aviators who sought to navigate the skies between land, seas, and stars,” as encouraged by the original idea of the anthem by García-Arroba. And that is exactly what Vergara’s composition offered.

 

The epilogue, in the form of a subsequent “wine reception” offered to military guests, family members, and various friends, brought this unique event to a close, reconciling its magnitude with the composer’s human qualities and talent, multiplied by his kind and attentive reception. This is no small feat in these times.

Article and photos by Frederic Torres

 

Videos of the event: