Comillas participates in the 2nd edition of UNIVERSIFEST

On the 29th of February, the musical group of University staff who coordinate Comillas Arte, called Gym Tones because they rehearse in the ICADE gymnasium, performed at the fourth session of the second edition of UNIVERSIFEST. The members of the group, created in September 2023 at the initiative of the Organisation and People Service and Comillas Comunidad, wore tracksuits and made a brilliant debut in the Wurlitzer Hall.

Gym Tones, who shared the stage at the festival with the band Underground 22 (from the Universidad CEU San Pablo), is made up entirely of lecturers and researchers from ICADE/ICAI/IIT: Valle Varo García (vocals and piano/ICAI), Ángela Sánchez González (vocals/ICADE), Jorge Portocarrero Quispe (bass/ICADE), Roberto Barrella (vocals/IIT), Miguel Barrusio Recuero (electric guitar/IIT), Devashish Sonowal (acoustic guitar/IIT) and Alejandro Padín Vidal (drums/ICADE).

They performed songs such as The Wall (Pink Floyd), Losing my Religion (Rem), Every breath you take (Police), Dreams (Cranberries), Knocking on heaven's door (Bob Dylan), Shallow (Lady Gaga), La Flaca (Jarabe de Palo), Heart of glass (Blondie) and Californication (Red Hot Chili Pepper).

Entre Comillas took part in the fifth session of UNIVERSIFEST on 14 March. This band is made up of the students of the Combo workshop at Comillas Arte: Martina Olaizola De Diego (bass), Nerea Fernández Heredia (vocals), Javier Viseras Comin (drums), Aurora Collado Álvarez-Balbuena (vocals), Andrea Sanz Zamora (vocals), Inés Iratxe Sáenz de Ugarte De Luis (guitar), Lola Rodríguez (vocals) and Lola Villarejo (vocals).

Among the songs they performed were The one that got away (Katy Perry), Ups I did it again (Britney Spears), Moves like Jagger (Maroon 5), Halo (Beyonce), La casa por el tejado (Fito&Fitipaldis), This is the life (Amy McDonald), Lost on you (L. P.), As it was (Harry Styles), River (Bishop Briggs).

Entre Comillas, who shared the bill with the band Candace, from the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, set the bar very high and gave a concert of great quality.

UNIVERSIFEST was born from the initiative of Pablo Gutiérrez, director of Campus Life at the Universidad CEU San Pablo, which, as a festival of university bands or groups, aims to give space to groups that play both their own songs and covers. This new project aims to generate and consolidate bands of young musicians, offering them a platform for artistic growth and greater visibility. In this way, the interaction between musicians from different environments and styles (pop-rock-author, and related genres) is promoted. UNIVERSIFEST aspires to be a benchmark in the world of university music and aims to promote the careers of young bands.

In this second edition, the Universidad CEU San Pablo (organiser of the festival), Comillas Pontifical University, Francisco de Vitoria University, the Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio and the Ángel Herrera Oria Cultural Foundation took part. This year, in addition, the Universidad Europea and the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca have joined the festival, as UNIVERSIFEST is open to the participation of as many universities and university bands as they wish.

Led by lecturer Carlos Leal, they gave great concerts for the enjoyment of the audience.