Roberto Ugarte Alvarado is proposed by the Board of Directors for the general management of the Basque National Orchestra
The appointment became official following its approval by the Governing Council on Tuesday 8 April.
His joining the Basque National Orchestra represents the return of a talent who has been trained and experienced in managing renowned musical entities.
Roberto Ugarte Alvarado will return home, to Euskadi, to take the lead of the Basque National Orchestra after more than 20 years directing or forming part of the most important musical institutions in Spain. The Board of Directors of the Basque National Orchestra will submit the resolution to appoint Ugarte as General Director to the Governing Council as the body responsible for adopting the appointment.
Ugarte, born in Vitoria-Gasteiz in 1962, is looking forward to this new stage in which he will attempt to position the Basque National Orchestra as a cultural point of reference in Europe. Roberto Ugarte will be taking over from Oriol Roch, who has led the Basque orchestra since 2014. The Board of Directors has expressed its gratitude for his work over recent years for the Basque National Orchestra.
His incorporation into the Basque National Orchestra represents the return of a talent who has been trained and experienced in the management of musical entities, now returning to the Basque Country with a consolidated career only possible due to years of hard work. Roberto Ugarte is excited and, at the same time, eager to contribute to an orchestra he seeks to continue developing artistically while maintaining its prestige. It is worth noting that the Basque National Orchestra continues to be the cultural institution in the Basque Country with the highest number of subscribers to its concerts.
Once the appointment has been approved by the Governing Council, the new director will officially join the orchestra in May.
Roberto Ugarte
Roberto Ugarte is a musician who specialises in the guitar. Throughout his life he has worked as a pianist, guitarist, accompanist, singer in different Renaissance and Baroque music groups, a teacher and choir conductor. The last twenty years have seen him acting more in a management and artistic role as director of major musical entities.
He began his career at the Jesús Guridi Conservatory in Vitoria-Gasteiz, where he studied piano and guitar. In 1995 he was appointed director of the recently created Luis Arámburu Municipal School of Music in Vitoria-Gasteiz, where the number of students, teaching staff and specialities taught increased exponentially, making it a point of reference in the Basque Autonomous Community. He was a member of the board of directors of the Association of Music Schools of the Basque Country from 1998 to 2001. He has worked as Artistic Coordinator of the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra (2001); manager of the Madrid Orchestra and Choir Foundation (2009); Member of the Board of Directors of the Spanish Association of Symphony Orchestras (AEOS), as secretary, member and vice-president (2015 - 2018).
In February 2020 and until 2023, he was the Artistic Director and Manager of the Scherzo Foundation, being responsible for organising the prestigious Cycle Of Great Performers of the Scherzo Foundation, which brings together the most important pianists on the international scene at the National Music Auditorium in Madrid. Since 2020 he has held the position of Manager of the City of Granada Orchestra.
The Board of Directors has agreed to submit to the Governing Council his candidacy for the general management of the Basque National Orchestra.
New stage
This renewal is part of the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one, which should offer new perspectives to the Basque National Orchestra project, so that the orchestra can continue to grow and expand its professional career.
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