The executive director of Festival Amazonas de Ópera (FAO) Brazil, Flavia Furtado, was awarded the Grand Prize of CONCERTO magazine, while the general director of Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo of Colombia, Ramiro Osorio, was designated as Honorary Academician of the Academy of Performing Arts of Spain.

Two important recognitions were given to directors of theatres part of Ópera Latinoamérica. Flavia Furtado, executive director of the Amazonas Opera Festiva of Brazil, won the CONCERTO 2023 Grand Prize in the public vote, held between November 27 and December 17 on the CONCERTO magazine website.

Furtado was nominated for her work leading the festival and supporting the opera market in Brazil. In total, 6,149 people participated in the voting, being able to choose between the three nominated by the jury in each of the seven categories. The result of the vote by the jury, made up of eight journalists and music critics, will be announced in the January and February edition of CONCERTO magazine.

In the same competition, the production of O guarani, by Carlos Gomes, presented at Theatro Municipal of São Paulo, won the Lauro Machado Coelho Opera Prize. The production received 1,693 votes, 44.8% of the total, surpassing Contos de Júlia, from the Espírito Santo Erudite Music Festival, and O Contrator dos Diamonds, by Francisco Mignone, from Amazonas Opera Festival.

On the other hand, one of the most important entities for cultural management in Spain, the Academy of Performing Arts, awarded this Monday, November 27, at a gala in Madrid, Spain, the distinction of Honorary Academician to Ramiro Osorio Fonseca, director general of Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo of Colombia. This recognition is given annually to professionals of the performing arts from Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries who have stood out throughout their career and who have contributed to the growth of specialties such as theatre, dance, circus, acting and stage creation, among others.

The Spanish Academy of Performing Arts was created in 2014 with the aim of promoting the progress of all sectors of the performing arts. So far it has managed to bring together more than 700 professionals and has named 38 honorary academics, among whom are the lyrical singer Plácido Domingo, the choreographer Nacho Duato, the dancer Eva Yerbabuena and the actor Antonio Banderas.

The appointment of Ramiro Osorio as an honorary academic is a recognition of the work that has been done in recent years to establish bridges between the artistic creation of Spain and Colombia. In 2022 and 2023, for example, Teatro Mayor had Spain as the guest of honor. Notable artists such as Pablo Sainz-Villegas, the National Dance Company and the National Ballet of Spain have performed at the theatre. Additionally, Teatro Mayor made co-productions such as Amo y criado, with the Iber-American Festival of the Golden Age of the Community of Madrid: Clásicos en Alcalá and Teatro Libre de Colombia, and the opera ‘La vida es dolor‘, with the Iber-American Festival of the Golden Age of the Community of Madrid: Classics in Alcalá and the French orchestra La Chapelle Harmonique.