obc

Seven-year stint as principal conductor ends with work carrying message of dignity and "rejection" of violence

Musicians from Catalan National Orchestra give their impressions as their five-week Japanese tour picks up steam

Mariàngela Vilallonga attends Catalan production of Turandot in Tokyo in campaign to promote Catalonia's culture, sport, business and tourism

Friday sees the world premiere of La Fura dels Baus director Àlex Ollé's version of Puccini's opera with the Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra

Conductor says he is “extraordinarily proud” to bring orchestra to prestigious Het Concertgebouw hall

Solsona's International Music Academy (AIMS) is a high level international project, which is also the first and only pedagogical music festival in Catalonia. It was created by the German cellist Peter Thiemann in order to bring together classical music students and professors of acknowledged international prestige who play in Europe's main orchestras. It is an intensive education project which takes place in a beautiful rural environment in Solsona, a town near the Pyrenees in Central Catalonia. This year, the 13^th edition of the AIMS festival is held from the 6^th to the 17^th of August, and includes the participation of 65 students from 20 different nationalities. 30 concerts have been scheduled in ten municipalities of Western and Central Catalonia.

Japanese conductor Kazushi Ono was appointed the next main conductor of the Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra (OBC) taking over from the current conductor Pablo Gonzalez in September 2015. The decision to appoint Ono has received the consent of "all parties". The Director of the L’Auditori concert hall, where the OBC is based, hopes that Ono will lead the ensemble to be a worldwide fame orchestra from Catalonia. Ono is currently the main conductor of the orchestra of the Opera National de Lyon and will also be the head of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra in Spring 2015.