Musical tradition in Torroella de Montgrí has its origins in the Middle Ages, when the town was granted a royal charter. In the 15th. century, the establishment of a renowned musical chapel at the church had a profound influence on musical life in Torroella. Subsequently, several choirs and cobles came into being, and these remained fully active from the 18th. century to the Civil War of 1939-45, filling every corner of the town with music. The Torroella de Montgrí International Festival of Music had its beginnings in a series of just five concerts held in 1980 in the historic settings of the Gothic church of Saint Genís, the Gothic-Renaissance porticoed Town Square and a former Augustinian monastery. The Festival has maintained Western classical music as the mainstay of its yearly programme, although other types of music, non-Western cultures and non-musical activities have been included in recent years. It is a policy designed to highlight the musical heritage of Catalonia and the rest of Europe, but also including the great variety of traditions and human experience that the word "music" has come to represent in the modern world.