a book exploring the brightest women of Alicante during the Silver Age, alongside a soprano and piano recital featuring works by Clara Schumann and Alma Mahler. The duo, organized by the Fundación Mediterráneo, serves as the opening act for International Women’s Day.
This event begins with presentations by professors and researchers and takes place at the Foundation’s Alicante headquarters at Avda. Doctor Gadea, 1, on a Wednesday evening. The speakers include Helena Establier and Mónica Moreno, renowned researchers from the University of Alicante, who contributed to the research paper that underpins the book Modern, warriors and pioneers. Alicante women in the Silver Age (2021). The publication is a collaborative effort between the Akdeniz Foundation and the university publishing service in Alicante. Rosa Penalty serves as a vice president of the Akdeniz Foundation and supports the event as a speaker. The book’s publication followed a joint effort between the Akdeniz Foundation and the Alicante University Publishing Service, aiming to illuminate a history often neglected in collective memory.
Fundación Mediterráneo has long supported a review of the female perspective from Alicante’s Silver Age. As Peñalver notes, the Foundation is proud to preserve the legacy of women who helped shape the state’s cultural and social fabric, even though their presence was scarce. During this era, women who were poets, painters, scientists, teachers, social activists, masons, politicians, and trade unionists carved out distinct spaces with their own tensions and boundaries, yet their contributions deserve recognition rather than erasure. The central question remains: who were these women, and in what domains did they excel?
To address this, the Foundation commissioned researchers Helena Establier and Mónica Moreno to explore Alicante’s Silver Age from a feminine lens. Their work culminated in a publication that seeks to acknowledge a debt society owes to these remarkable figures.
During the evening, Establier and Moreno will discuss the feminine dimension of Alicante’s Silver Age, where poets, painters, scientists, educators, social activists, masons, politicians, and unionists all occupied their own, sometimes controversial, positions within a broader social tapestry.
recital
Following the talk, a soprano and piano recital will unfold. Maria Reina Navarro and Gloria Revert will perform a program featuring some of the finest composers of the nineteenth century, including Clara Schumann, Alma Mahler, Amy Beach, Nadia Boulanger, Cécile Chaminade, and Pauline Viardot. The recital highlights the enduring talent of women who have often stood in the shadow of male counterparts in music history.
Describing the recital as a celebration of talent and the enduring beauty of these composers, Navarro and Revert emphasize that achievement persists regardless of circumstance.
Maria Reina Navarro is a soprano with deep roots in Alicante. Her studies span the Geneva, Zurich, and Lausanne conservatories, and she holds a degree in musicology from the University of Geneva. She pursues a career as a soloist and voice teacher while collaborating with diverse musical communities. Her stage appearances have included international venues such as the Opéra Bastille, the Auditorium of Radio France, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and multiple theaters across Europe.
Gloria Revert is recognized as a pianist soloist from Alicante, with performances at numerous competitions for young artists. She has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician at venues like the Alicante State Council Auditorium, the General Society of Writers and Publishers in Barcelona, and cultural centers in Madrid, Castellón, Murcia, Novelda, Castalla, Biar, and Benissa. Her career also includes international appearances in Germany and Hungary, continuing a long tradition of presenting high-caliber piano performances.
This entry will be free to attend until full capacity is reached.