ORCHESTRA

The current Navarra Symphony Orchestra was founded by Pablo Sarasate in 1879, so it is the oldest orchestral ensemble active nowadays in Spain.

Maestro  Ernest Martínez Izquierdo was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Director in 1997. During these years, the Orchestra has gone through deep changes, pursuing always artistic excellence as its main goal. The Navarra Symphony Orchestra embraces a wide repertory, cooperates on a regular basis with worldwide known soloists and conductors and it is considered one of the best Spanish orchestras frequently invited to nationally and internationally renowned concert halls and festivals. In the lasts seasons the Orchestra has visited Bilbao, Madrid, Warsaw, Dortmund and Paris and a China Tour with five performances.

In recent seasons, the NSO has been invited three times to the prestigious Theatre des Champs-Elysées in Paris with musicians such as Daniella Barcelona, ​​Juan Diego Flórez and Roberto Alagna. In 2009, the NSO spent a month in Paris for the production of "Cyrano de Bergerac" with Placido Domingo in the title role, at the Théâtre du Châtelet, which also offered a symphonic concert with great success. In May 2010, the NSO was back in Paris offers five functions of the opera Magdalena H. Villalobos, also in this 2011 at  the Théâtre du Châtelet where we offered the opera "Il Postino" working  again with Placido Doming and a  symphony concert with Japanese violinist Akiko Suwanai.

Also in his role as cultural ambassador of Navarra recently held a concert tour of 7 concerts at the 5 of the most important music cities in China with its founder music D. Pablo Sarasate accopained by chinese violinist Tianwa Yang.

The Orchestra runs a concert season with more than 2,200 subscribers in Pamplona, which means it is the Spanish orchestra with the highest percentage of subscribers within the population of its surrounding area. It is the orchestra in residence of the Gayarre singing competition and the Sarasate violin competition, and cooperates frequently in opera seasons and lyric performances, both in Pamplona and other cities of Spain and abroad.
 
Additionally, the Navarra Symphony Orchestra maintains an important pedagogic activity through a wide program of concerts for children.
 
Institutional and benefit concerts and  performances around Spain and Europe, in which it assumes the role of cultural ambassador of  Navarra. Recently has recorded the Complete Works of Pablo Sarasate with Naxos, add up an extremely tight agenda which turns the Navarra Symphony Orchestra into one of the Spanish orchestras with higher levels of activity.

The Navarra Symphony Orchestra receives public subsidies of the Navarra Government and the Pamplona City Council and is sponsorized by private companies such as, Diario de Navarra, Gas Natural Fenosa.

Unicef Concert

Entrega Medalla de Oro de Pamplona