THE BASQUE NATIONAL ORCHESTRA WRAPS UP ITS CONCERT SEASON UNDER CONDUCTOR MIKHAIL AGREST AND ACCOMPANIED BY GUEST CELLO SOLOIST DANIEL MÜLLER-SCHOTT

The Basque National Orchestra is gearing up for the final programme of the 2009-2010 Concert Season under the baton of first-time guest conductor Mikhail Agrest. In addition to Agrest's conducting debut, cellist Daniel Müller-Schott will be joining the Orchestra for the first time in a performance of Edward Elgar's Concerto for Cello and Orchestra. The world premiere of Haizea alde by Joseba Torre is another one of the programme highlights. The concerts, each of which will preceded by a Pre-concert Conference, are slated for May 31 and June 3 in Donostia-San Sebastián, June 1 in Pamplona, June 2 in Bilbao, and June 4 in Vitoria-Gasteiz. This last concert will mark the end of the BNO concert season.

The outstanding careers of both Mikhail Agrest and Daniel Müller-Schott have earned them an international profile. Mikhail Agrest joined the Mariinsky Theatre in 2001, and has appeared with Leipzig's Gewandhaus Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Müller-Schott has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Boston Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the BBC Philharmonic and the Orchestre National de France, among others, under such renowned conductors as Askhenazy, Eschenbach, Dutoit, Previn and Masur. Daniel Müller-Schott also takes part in the "Rhapsody in School International", an initiative started by pianist Lars Vogt with support from the German Arts Foundation Kulturstiftung der Länder. The aim of the programme is to infuse young people with an enthusiasm for classical music, giving them the chance to meet outstanding figures in the field of classical music (www.rhapsody-in-school.de); in this context, on Thursday, June 3, Müller-Schott will teach a class for the students at the San Alberto Magno German primary school in San Sebastián.

World premiere of Haizea alde. The programme for these concerts includes a premiere performance of Joseba Torreo's Haizea alde commissioned by the Orchestra. In the words of the composer, this piece is a "fusion of parameters, a synthesis which gives shape to a whole, diverse and contrasting, intense, deep and unexpected like the sea, the sea, whose perpetual present leads to a future intimately bound to the ability to imagine and desire, to sail with the wind." This commission is part of the Orchestra's commitment to the creation and promotion of Basque music. Between 1986 and today, this commitment has materialised in a total of 13 works by the following composers: Carmelo Bernaola, Félix Ibarrondo, Luis de Pablo, Antón Larrauri, Francisco Escudero, Rafael Castro Peña, Tomás Aragüés, Ramon Lazkano, Gabriel Erkoreka, Zuriñe Fernández Gerenabarrena, Antonio Lauzurika and Joseba Torre. Schumann Symphony No. 1 "Spring" will complete the concert programme.

Pre-concert Conferences. Before each of the concerts in the final programme of the season there will be a Pre-concert Conference. On this occasion guest speakers will be musicologist Itziar Larrinaga in Donostia-San Sebatián, Public University of Navarra (UPNA) professor Marcos Andrés Vierge in Pamplona, music critic Carlos Villasol in Bilbao and composer Sabin Salaberri in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

Concerts
May 31 and June 3: Kursaal Auditorium. Donostia-San Sebastián. 8:00 pm. Pre-concert Conference. Foyer, Kursaal Auditorium. 6:45 pm
June 1: Baluarte Auditorium, Pamplona. 8:00 pm. Pre-concert Conference. Sala Gola, Auditorio Baluarte. 6:45 pm
June 2: Palacio Euskalduna, Bilbao. 8:00 pm. Pre-concert Conference. Sala B1 Euskalduna. 6:45 pm
June 4: Teatro Principal. Vitoria-Gasteiz. 8:00 pm. Pre-concert Conference. Sala Espacio-Ciudad (opposite the theatre). 6:45 pm

Programme:
Joseba Torre (1968): Haizea alde [14'] (commissioned by the Basque National Orchestra, world premiere)
Edward Elgar (1857-1934): Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in D Minor, Opus 85 [30']
Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Symphony No. 1 in B Flat Major, Opus 38, "Spring" [30']

Mikhail Agrest, conductor
Daniel Müller-Schott, cello