This Saturday, November 17th, the Matinées de Miramón season welcomes the saxophone quartet Sigma Project to its stage at the Basque Orchestra headquarters. The concert, bearing the title of Utopías, is presented as a coming-together of tradition and modernity: in this experience, the saxophone becomes a translator of sonorities, a vehicle for the expression of ancient senses with new languages.

Understanding the transcription as "musical renaissance", SIGMA PROJECT will perform several transcriptions for saxophone quartet of pieces from the 14th, 16th and 17th centuries by the contemporary Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino from his cycle Pagine (2001) and Canzionere da Scarlatti (2002). One particularly outstanding feature of these transcriptions is the almost educational slant with respect to the original.

Completing the programme are works by Félix Ibarrondo and Ramon Lazkano dedicated to SIGMA PROJECT. Aikan, composed by Félix Ibarrondo in 2009, and Jalkin by Ramon Lazkano, performed for the first time that same year, complete "Utopías". According to Ibarrondo, Aikan (a completely made-up word) naturally fits into the mosaic of his work; these are "internal impulses that express themselves and overflow in sound and find reality in the very particular timbre of the saxophone". Ramon Lazkano defines his Jalkin, a commission from the Fundación BBVA for Sigma Project, as "an attempt to capture the sediment of a sound that links us to our memory and inscribes us in time". This Saturday both composers will take to the stage at the BNO headquarters to present their works to the audience.

With the name of SIGMA PROJECT, in 2007 the saxophone soloists Andrés Gomis, Josetxo Silguero, Ángel Soria and Miguel Romero, firmly committed to present-day musical creation, set themselves the task of causing a revolution in the Spanish chamber music scene. Their quest to update both the repertoire for saxophone and the space and mise-en-scène of the concerts has attracted the interest of composers who, in close collaboration, have proceeded to give highly unusual performances. Always open to new projects, collaborations and interrelation with other disciplines, SIGMA PROJECT continues to stand out for its reflection, study and investigation of sound, in a constant search for and application of new technologies. Soon to be performed are the concerts IZARBIL by Félix Ibarrondo with the ORCAM and Concert per a quatre, by Josep Maria Mestres Quadreny with the OBC, both composed for saxophone quartet and symphony orchestra, and dedicated to SIGMA PROJECT.

The Basque National Orchestra, in collaboration with Telecinco Cinema and Apaches Entertainment, presents the original soundtrack from the motion picture "The Impossible" in a unique concept to be held on 22nd to September within the framework of the San Sebastian International film Festival.

The Basque National Orchestra will perform music from the soundtrack of "The Impossible". The concert will be conducted by Fernando Velázquez, composer of the original score. The programme will also feature two other works composed by Velázquez for J.A. Bayona films, "The Orphanage" and the short film "El hombre esponja".

The concert of the soundtrack from "The Impossible" will accompany the the film's premiere at the San Sebastián Film Festival, where it will be screened as part of the Official Selection. The star of the film, Ewan McGregor, will be present to accept the Donostia Award for lifetime achievement.

This is not the first time the Basque National Orchestra has flirted cinema. As part of the Film Festival, the Orchestra has recorded the musical score for two silent films: "The Crowd" (King Vidor), composed by Carmelo Bernaola, and "Wings" (Zamecnik). The Orchestra has also performed a number of concerts of motion picture music under the baton of Argentinian composer Lalo Schifrin, author of the score of "Mission Impossible". The Basque National Orchestra recorded the theme music for the Film Festival in both 1991 and 1992, and recorded the soundtrack for the film "El mal ajeno", also composed by Fernando Velázquez, author of the score for "The Impossible".

The concert will take place on 22 September at 12 noon at the Orchestra headquarters in San San Sebastián, at Paseo Miramon, number 124. Admission is free but guests will be required to secure an invitation at the "info-shop" information tent set up specifically for the Film Festival in San Sebastián's Plaza Okendo from 15th to 21st September, open from 10am to 8pm. Seats will be available until they run out. One invitation per person.

"The Impossible" will be released in Spain on 11 October 2012 by Warner Bros Pictures International. Spain.

The 4th edition of Music Laboratory was presented at Miramón. Focusing on contemporary composition, this year's edition is organised in collaboration with MUSIKAGILEAK, the Association of Basque Navarrese composers. Attending the press conference were BNO General Director Iñigo Alberdi; Iñigo Aizpiolea on behalf of Musikagileak; the Director of this edition of Music Laboratory Nacho de Paz; the five composers taking part in the project, and Josetxo Silguero, soloist in one of the featured works.

Music Laboratory is a space for artistic experimentation which the Orchestra makes available to musicians in the Basque Country. The three previous editions focused on young soloists, up-and-coming conductors and viola players on their way to becoming professionals. All three groups had the opportunity to work with the Orchestra under the guidance of leading figures in each speciality. Five composers from Musikagileak will have their turn this year, and the opportunity to hear their most recent compositions played by the Orchestra. These composers are Mikel Urquiza, Aurélio Edler-Copes, Javier Jacinto, Juan José Eslava and Maria Eugenia Luc.

The Music Laboratory is the result of an initiative launched by BNO Principal Conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada as a project aimed at supporting young musicians at the beginning of their careers. In its first edition, which took place in April 2010, several soloists from the Basque Youth Orchestra (EGO) had the opportunity to work under the direction of conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada. Following a number of work sessions, they debuted together with the orchestra in a concert held at the BNO headquarters at Miramón. The second edition took place in March of this year. A group of young conductors from around the world worked with Andrés Orozco-Estrada and then conducted the Orchestra as part of the Miramón Matinées concert series. The 3rd Music Laboratory took place in autumn 2011, led by a viola soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic for over 20 years and conductor Wolfram Christ, in collaboration with students from Musikene.

Now, the focus will turn to composition, this time at the hand of MUSIKAGILEAK, the Association of Basque Navarrese composers. The event will take place on 5th September with a conference/round table beginning at 6pm. The five composers participating in this Music Laboratory conduct a discussion on: "The challenge of composing for orchestra in the 21st century: paradox, utopia or opportunity?" At 8pm the Basque National Orchestra will give a concert featuring the five selected pieces and a performance by soloist Josetxo Silguero. All of the works will be conducted by Nacho de Paz. Admission is free of charge.

After the first season concerts, from August 29th to September 1st the Basque National Orchestra returned to its Miramón headquarters to record volume 15 of the Basque Composers Collection. This monographic CD, the last of the collection, is dedicated to the work of Carmelo Bernaola. After 15 CDs featuring Basque music recorded for posterity, this last CD brings the Orchestra's most ambitious recording project to an end, leaving us with a valuable collection of some of the finest Basque music.

The music director for the record was Juanjo Mena, disciple of Bernaola himself and conductor associated with the BNO since the late 90s. The CD also features a solo performance by violinist Leticia Moreno.

The collection, which got under way in 1997 includes CDs dedicated to Pedro Sanjuán, Valentín de Zubiaurre, Beltrán Pagola, Luis de Pablo, Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga, Aita Madina, Tomás Garbizu, Aita Donostia, Pablo Sorozábal, Francisco Escudero, Andrés Isasi, Jesús Arámbarri, José Mª Usandizaga and Jesús Guridi.

This latest record, like the rest of the CDs in the collection, will be released on the Swiss recording label Claves. The entire Basque Composers Collection has been supported by MONDRAGON.

The CD will be presented in December.

Today, Friday 4 May, Jorge Drexler is at the Basque Orchestra's headquarters in Miramon to record a song with the Orchestra for his next music project.

An enormously original project: the Uruguayan singer will accompany the launch of his new CD and its appearance on the shelves with a brand new application of his own creation for tablets and smartphones. Users will be able to interact with a song and create almost never-ending versions of it. The Orchestra will contribute by recording the song in sections.

At an informal meeting with the media, Jorge Drexler explained that the project involves a group of three songs "editable by the listener", the second of which, "Madera de deriva" was recorded with the Basque Orchestra. In this case users will find a combinatorial sound structure, while in the other two songs they can mix the words or poetry according to a series of coordinates established by the author. Artistically speaking, this project drives Drexler yet another step ahead. The initiative has its precedent in Raimond Llull's "Ars combinatoria", a project still at the development stage, the results of which will be presented in September.

The originality of the project lies in that, for the first time since 1920, it surpasses the phonogram, a non-editable file, to replace it with a live file, composed on software, to create intelligent songs.

The recording is conducted by the composer and director Fernando Velázquez. Velázquez previously conducted the Orchestra on the recording of the original sound track of El Mal Ajeno (For the Good of Others), by Oscar Santos, in 2010, among other collaborations. He will also arrange and conduct the next KlasikAT, a coming together between the Basque Orchestra and the pop rock group, Ken Zazpi.

The UK-based Gramophone Magazine, one of the world's most prestigious classical music magazines, has selected Kadenza as one of the Editor's Choice top 10 CDs in the magazine's April edition. Every year critics for the magazine shortlist a series of CDs for the Gramophone Awards. The Gramophone Awards - often called the Oscars of the classical music world - are the most significant honours bestowed on the classical record industry.

In this issue, "Kadenza" shares nomination with a recording dedicated to Rautavaara and produced by the Helsinki Philarmonic Orchestra; a disc that gathers Tchaikovsky's works, recorded by the Orchestre National du Capitole of Toulouse and conducted by Tugan Sokhiev; and a monographic dedicated to Lutoslawski and interpreted by the BBC Symphonic Orchestra, conducted by Edward Gardiner. It is undoubtedly about first-level publications by world-class orchestras and conductors.

Kadenza is the result of a new commitment by the Basque National Orchestra to world-class contemporary music, in this case represented by Sofia Gubaidulina (Chistopol, Tatarstan, Russia, 1931). 

Accordionist Iñaki Alberdi and cellist Asier Polo are the stars of this disc, together with a chamber group of the Basque National Orchestra. One of the highlights of the disc is the hard work by these two soloists, together with Gubaidulina, under the baton of Jose Ramon Encinar.

Recorded under the Dutch label ET'CETERA, this CD contains four tracks (Seven Words, In Croce, Kadenza and Et exspecto), offering the perfect sampling of Sofia Gubaidulina's work.

Kadenza was presented to the media on December 20, 2011 at Iesu church in Donostia-San Sebastián. The event featured a live performance by Iñaki Alberdi, Asier Polo and a chamber group of the Basque National Orchestra, playing several cuts from the disc.

The Basque National Orchestra kicks off its 30th anniversary year with a bang, featuring Austrian multi-percussionist Martin Grubinger (Salzburg, 1983). The top ranking percussionist on the international scene will play for the first time with the BNO at a season concert. Rhythm is an integral part of this young musician's life 24 hours a day. Not only can he play almost every existing percussion instrument in the world, but also manages to turn everything he touches into percussion. Energy and contagious passion define the performance of a musician who prepares for his percussion events both musically and athletically, whether a solo recital, a performance with a symphony orchestra or any other concert format. The dynamic energy and versatility of Martin Grubinger, who records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon, has added a whole new dimension to percussion. In his debut with the Basque National Orchestra, as part of the sixth season concert programme, conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Grubinger will perform Frozen in Time, a concerto written specifically for him in 2007 by young Israeli composer Avner Dorman

The Basque National Orchestra turns 30 this year. It was in early January 1982 that the first musicians were invited to take part in the auditions set up for the purpose of creating a new orchestra. The BNO was officially founded on 20 April that year and has continued to make a name for itself as one of the leading orchestras in Spain. Today the BNO boasts 7000 season subscribers and more than 150,000 viewers who have enjoyed the BNO's 100-plus concerts a year (Season Concerts, Miramón Matinées, KlasikAT, Family Concerts, Concerts for Schools, concert tours, exchange programmes, Orkestra Herrietan, etc.). The Orchestra also has numerous recordings to its name.

To commemorate the anniversary, the Basque National Orchestra has opted to create new music through TESELA, a project that will see the light of day over course of the next 12 months. TESELA will premiere a series of eight works by eight accomplished composers from around the world. Tesserae or tesselas (Tesela in Spanish) are the small tiles used in a mosaic, the leit motiv in this particular mosaic being Basque culture. This initiative has been made possible by the exclusive support of Fundación BBVA, an institution deeply committed to the promotion of cultural creation. In this Season Concert Programme, the Orchestra will premiere the first of the pieces, Zortziko, written by English composer Michael Finissy. The project itself will be presented at the end of January, coinciding with the second premiere and the presence of the composer.

The Orchestra also kicks off the year with a well-deserved tribute to its founder and first president, Imanol Olaizola. The event took place on 13 January at the Kursaal Auditorium in San Sebastián as part of the 6th Season Concert programme, conducted by Andrés Orozco-Estrada.