The Basque National Orchestra performed the 9th BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards Extraordinary Concert

The Basque National Orchestra performed the 9th BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Awards Extraordinary Concert in homage to the award winners. This important event was Robert Treviño's first performance as music director and his debut appearance in Madrid. With a dedicated orchestra, the concert was a success, making Treviño's first performance truly shine.

The concert was attended by Bingen Zupiria, the Basque regional government's Minister for Culture and Language Policy and the Basque National Orchestra's president; Francisco González, president of the BBVA bank; the Spanish Secretary of State for Research, Development and Innovation; and Rafael Pardo, director of the BBVA Foundation. From the field of music, the Orchestra was honoured with the presence of the pianist Joaquín Achúcarro with his wife Emma; composers Gabriel Erkoreka and Fernando Velázquez; the accordionist Iñaki Alberdi; and the orchestra directors José Ramón Encinar, Víctor Pablo Pérez and Pedro Halffter.

The programme featured pieces by Wagner and Strauss, the debut performance in Spain of The Light of the End by Sofía Gubaidulina, winner of the Frontiers of Knowledge Award for Contemporary Music. The Basque National Orchestra is once again performing the work of the composer Sofía Gubaidulina, which it first played in 1996. A special link was forged between Gubaidulina and the Orchestra in 2010, when they recorded a special CD, Kadenza. The concert programme was completed by the Prelude to the first act of Richard Wagner's Mastersingers of Nuremberg, and the symphonic poem A Hero's Life by Richard Strauss.