Lviv-based sound engineer Volodymyr Punko has become part of an international music project that was honoured with a Latin Grammy Awards prize in the Best Instrumental Album category.
The project in question is the album “Y el canto de todas”, created in collaboration between Spanish guitarist Rafael Serrallet and the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra. The album was recorded in Lviv.
Volodymyr Punko worked on the album as a sound engineer, overseeing the entire technical process: recording, selecting takes, editing, mixing and final mastering.
“I bear a very responsible task – the full technical and creative production cycle: recording, selecting takes, editing, mixing, mastering. And so, during air-raid alerts under rocket-filled skies, I am grateful for the trust. Long live music!” Volodymyr Punko shared on his social media.
The album was recorded in Lviv during the full-scale war in Ukraine. According to Punko, the team did not publicise the project, waiting for the statuettes to arrive. This category provides for three awards – for the artist, the producer and the sound engineer.
In the end, two Latin Grammy awards came to Lviv: one for Volodymyr Punko as recording and mixing engineer, and one for the conductor of the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra symphony orchestra, Serhii Khorovets, as music producer.
The project “Y el canto de todas” is dedicated to the music of women composers from Latin America. The album includes works by Violeta Parra, Chabuca Granda, María Luisa Anido, Consuelo Velázquez and other composers, and all the pieces have been given a new sound in arrangements for guitar and orchestra, with the guitar as the central instrument.
“I have no words. When words cannot express a thought, music speaks for them,” commented Spanish guitarist Rafael Serrallet on the victory.
“We are surrounded by music written by women, without even realising it. This project was created to restore their names and their place,” Serrallet noted.
The victory of the album “Y el canto de todas” in the Best Instrumental Album category highlights the high level of Ukrainian musicians and technical specialists, and for Lviv it is confirmation of its status as an important cultural centre where projects of international calibre are created.