Lluís Cabrera: "If they think they can sink the Taller de Músics, they're sorely mistaken."

BarcelonaLluís Cabrera is leaving, they say, and you don't believe it. Yes, he's leaving the Taller de Músics; or at least, the presidency of the foundation. Perhaps he'll go live in Arbuniel, the town in Jaén where he was born in 1954 and from where he left to settle in Barcelona, where he participated in the anti-Franco neighborhood struggles in Nou Barris and in the creation of the Enrique Morente Flamenco Club in the Verdum neighborhood. Well, yes, he's hanging up his boots, and from now on the president of the Taller de Músics Foundation will be Joan Manuel Tresserres (Rubí, 1955), who was Minister of Culture and Media between 2006 and 2010 during the government presided over by José Montilla.

Cabrera himself confirmed that he was leaving it at an event held this Friday at the Byron bookstore in Barcelona, packed to overflowing with musicians, artists, journalists, politicians... Montilla was there, as was former president Artur Mas. "Catalan will not be lost as long as there are people like President Montilla and me, who always speak in Catalan," Cabrera would later say. Also present were the Secretary of State for Culture, Jordi Martí, and the artist Frederic Amat, creator of the poster for the 45th anniversary of the Taller de Músics (Musicians' Workshop). Esther Vera, the director of ARA, a newspaper located near the Raval neighborhood, was also there, as was the music school that Cabrera has championed with such tenacity and joy since 1979. "Nobody gave us a second thought," Cabrera recalled. And here he is, speaking about a book he's just published on the 45th anniversary of the Taller de Músics, a kind of commentary (with an invaluable photographic collection) in which he can't help but criticize musical associations and institutions that, according to Cabrera, have done outreach work while "forgetting the advocacy work," as he points out at the Byron in a conversation moderated by Nando Cruz, the best Catalan music journalist. Thankfully, in the book (and in the talk) he doesn't say what he thinks of the press. The music community breathes a sigh of relief as they document the event. You wouldn't want to be Cabrera's target when he's doing the Kamehameha dialectical.

The colt of Aburniel

Cruz tries to tame "the wild colt of Aburniel," to keep the answers short, as they've agreed on a half-hour dialogue. Cabrera respects the agreement to be brief... until the untamed rage stirs within him. "How is it that theater, dance, film, and circus have walked all over us? What's wrong with us?" he blurts out, lamenting the disarray and neglect suffered by music in small venues. "What's wrong with us?" he insists, raising his voice but without losing the composure of the tribal chief. "We need tax breaks and private sponsorships, and we have to demand public investment for those of us who put on small-scale concerts. What's wrong with us? We have to get moving, the party needs dancing!" he says, combining a smile with forcefulness, surely as dignified and roguish as when he visited the offices where important matters were decided, always fighting one battle after another. It seems as if even those who might feel targeted would applaud him.

This is the outspoken Lluís Cabrera who is also capable of admitting his mistakes, as when he recalls that the Taller de Músics (Musicians' Workshop) hadn't been diligent enough in demanding fair compensation for the musicians who represent the school each year at the Mercè festival, and who staged a walkout in the last edition. "You can't pay 40,000 euros to certain artists and only 1,000 to a group of young musicians. The ratio can't be 40,000 to 1,000!" he asserts with the serene demeanor of someone who knew the score before God existed.

Cabrera has a prodigious memory. "We know there are forces trying to control, manipulate, and direct what we do, but we won't be intimidated. Dissent, questioning established norms, has always accompanied us on our journey," he writes in one of the three epilogues he signed in the book. Nando Cruz questions him about these controlling forces. "Nando and I met in Marinaleda, at the La Fiebre del Cante festival," Cabrera says, emphasizing the shared commitment to activism between them. However, his answer avoids names. He prefers to recall "Soviet-like attempts" that, in his opinion, would have sought to eliminate the Taller de Músics and reduce higher music education to just two schools. He doesn't name them, but they would be the Esmuc and the Liceu Conservatory. He does, however, point out that "Esmuc doesn't impose exclusivity on its professors," who can also teach at the other schools, including the Taller. "But the other one does [impose exclusivity]," he says.

And then Lluís Cabrera, who argues that defeats must be accepted in order to rise again, commands everyone's attention when he exclaims: "If they think they'll sink the Workshop, they're sorely mistaken. They won't be able to because it's impossible; there's life, plenty of life," he concludes. A few minutes later, Tresserres takes the microphone to announce the change in leadership of the board of trustees of the Taller de Músics Foundation. "I'm counting on Lluís always being by our side," he says, and proclaims a single programmatic point: "To maintain the values and the way of doing things that has characterized the Taller de Músics for 45 years." In other words, to prepare to fight one battle after another.