A new concert season begins!

• The 24/25 season kicks off next Sunday, September 22, with Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2, performed by pianist Albert Guinovart. The program also includes Pictures at an Exhibition by M. Mussorgsky, in collaboration with visual artist Borja González, and Mediterrani by Juli Garreta, commemorating the 150th anniversary of his birth and the centenary of his death.

• This inaugural concert, exceptionally scheduled on a Sunday, will be conducted by Xavier Puig, principal conductor of the Vallès Symphony Orchestra (OSV), and will mark the start of a rich and varied season.

• This year, the Symphonic Series at the Palau offers 17 different symphonic programs, a total of 22 concerts, including 4 world premieres. It is a co-production between the Vallès Symphony Orchestra and the Orfeó Català-Palau de la Música Catalana Foundation, establishing itself as one of the leading symphonic programs in Catalonia. With a strong innovative character, it promotes local talent and proximity, fostering dialogues with other artistic disciplines to bring classical music to new audiences of all ages.

• The season blends great classics of the symphonic repertoire such as Beethoven, Mozart, Rachmaninoff, Bach, Mahler, and Tchaikovsky, with 20th and 21st-century composers like Rodrigo, Gershwin, Bernstein, and John Williams, and premieres by Arnau Tordera, Raquel García-Tomás, Xavier Pagès, and Marcos Fernández. Additionally, two of last year's most innovative and successful programs will be repeated: Symphonic Pop-Rock and Video Games in Concert. The season also highlights opera with four titles under the direction of the Fundació Òpera a Catalunya and a concert by Vespres d'Arnadí dedicated to Bach.

• This season, the OSV invites a wide range of artists and performers, including Albert Guinovart, Borja González, Toni Marsol, Luis Posada, Marta Mathéu, Arnau Tordera, Elisabet Franch, Mélanie Laurent, and Soyoung Yoon, as well as ensembles like Kebyart, the Orfeó Català Youth Choir, and the Girls' Choir and Cor de Teatre.

Symphonic Series at the Palau: A Record-Breaking New Season

The Symphonic Series at the Palau, co-produced by the Vallès Symphony Orchestra (OSV) and the Palau de la Música Catalana, celebrates its 29th edition, firmly established as a reference on the Catalan music scene. This program, renowned for its quality and innovation, combines formats and content that make classical music accessible to all audiences, with a special focus on local talent. This is made possible by the loyalty of an ever-growing audience, as well as the support of OSV's main collaborator, the Banc Sabadell Foundation.

This year’s program offers a wide range of styles, including classical, contemporary, and baroque music; film music, westerns, pop-rock, video games, and musicals; choral music, and opera. Under the baton of Xavier Puig, the OSV presents 17 different productions and 22 concerts running from September to June, featuring both national and international artists.

It is worth noting that the previous season of Symphonic Series at the Palau achieved the best results in its history, surpassing the previous attendance record by 8,300 people. With a total of 30,908 spectators and an average occupancy of 83%, tickets sold out on six occasions: two performances of the opera Turandot, the innovative Video Games in Concert, Sílvia Pérez Cruz Gardel, Tangos and Milongas, Symphonic Pop-Rock, and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

Rachmaninoff, Mussorgsky, and Garreta Open the Season

On September 22, 2024, the 29th season of the Symphonic Series at the Palau begins with a concert that blends Russian, French, and Catalan traditions, under the direction of Xavier Puig. The OSV kicks off the Garreta Year with the revival of Mediterrani, as a prelude to Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 performed by Albert Guinovart. In the second half, Pictures at an Exhibition by Modest Mussorgsky (orchestrated by Ravel) will be performed. The interpretation will be enriched by the collaboration of visual artist Borja González, who will create live images on a sand table, projected onto a large screen behind the orchestra, offering a visual dialogue that complements the music of the Russian composer. The concert promises to be a multisensory journey.

Local Talent, Opera, Premieres, and Major Challenges

The season continues with Musical Classics (05/10/24), a proposal directed by Marc Timón, a true expert in the genre, offering a journey through iconic titles such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, Cabaret, West Side Story, The Lion King, and La La Land, among others. Performers Albert Bolea, Ana San Martín, and Sylvia Parejo will lead the vocals, all seasoned singers trained at the Institut del Teatre. The evening will also feature the saxophone quartet Kebyart, one of the most promising ensembles on the current music scene, which will premiere the Concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Orchestra by Marcos Fernández.

In late October, the first opera of the season, Puccini's La Bohème (26/10/24 and 09/11/24), will be conducted by Daniel Gil de Tejada. As usual, the opera performances at the Palau are presented with the Fundació Òpera Catalunya (FOC) and feature the Sabadell Opera Choir. This year, four operas will be performed throughout the season. Puccini’s Tosca (07/12/24), under the musical direction of Sergi Roca Bru, will conclude the Puccini Year; in spring 2025, Verdi’s Nabucco will be performed twice (01/03/25 and 15/03/25), again conducted by Sergi Roca Bru; and the lyrical offering will close with Bizet’s Carmen, also performed twice (10/05/25 and 17/05/25) under the direction of Andrés Salado. A total of six fully staged opera performances will be presented with the complete cast of the Òpera a Catalunya production.

The strictly symphonic programming this season will be headlined by the first-ever OSV performance of Mahler’s First Symphony "Titan” (29/03/25). Conducted by Andrés Salado, the program will also include Schubert's Symphony No. 5, promising an evening of intense classical music. Among other highlights, the Eroica Symphony by Beethoven (24/05/25) will feature Mozart's Concerto for Flute and Harp, with Mélanie Laurent (harp) and Elisabet Franch (flute) as soloists. Franch will also take the lead in the Zorba Suite for Flute and Orchestra by M. Theodorakis, conducted by Xavier Puig.

Two concerts that sold out last season return with renewed strength: Symphonic Pop-Rock (02/03/25), where the Cor de Teatre, accompanied by vocalists Alba Pérez, Alex Dee, Marc Antolí, and narrator Enric López, along with the OSV, will present symphonic versions of pop and rock hits by artists like Elvis Presley, Gloria Gaynor, Queen, Bruce Springsteen, and Abba. The concert will be conducted by Rubén Gimeno. Another eagerly awaited concert, Video Games in Concert! (05/04/25), will once again offer two sessions (5:30 pm and 9:00 pm). After last year's overwhelming success, this year's program will feature recent additions like Fallout, Civilization, and Starfield. The concert will be conducted by Adrián Ronda in collaboration with Games&Symphonies.

Finally, the baroque ensemble Vespres d'Arnadí will present a concert dedicated entirely to J.S. Bach on April 26, 2025, featuring the Orchestral Suites and Violin Concertos, maintaining the space dedicated to baroque music within the cycle.

Film Music, Thematic Programming, and New Productions

In the realm of film music, a new production titled Western Music (23/11/24 and 30/11/24) will feature an original script by Jordi Cos, narrated by voice actor Luis Posada. The concert will also feature baritone Toni Marsol, the Orfeó Català Youth Choir, and the Cantiga Choir, conducted by Rubén Gimeno. Together, they will perform some of the most iconic soundtracks of the genre: The Magnificent Seven by Elmer Bernstein, High Noon by Dimitri Tiomkin, Silverado by Bruce Broughton, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Ennio Morricone, and Dances with Wolves by John Barry, among others.

The season will close with Hollywood: The Golden Age, from Korngold to Williams (07/06/25), conducted by Andrés Salado and featuring internationally renowned violinist Soyoung Yoon as the soloist, performing Korngold's Violin Concerto. The program also includes some of the most legendary soundtracks of classic cinema, such as Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, and Citizen Kane. Audiences will discover the influence that Austrian composer Korngold had on composers like Bernard Herrmann and John Williams, creating a bridge from the golden age of film music to the present day.

The Vallès Symphony Orchestra is distinguished by its ability to fuse the symphonic repertoire with other artistic disciplines, an identity reflected in two new premieres coming in January as part of the concert titled *Concierto de Aranjuez & Arnau Tordera Sinfònic* (18/01/25). Among the novelties are *Concierto Trifásico* for electric guitar and orchestra by Xavier Pagès Corella, and *Ovnis en Montserrat* by Arnau Tordera, with the collaboration of the Cor de Noies from the Orfeó Català. Another work by Tordera, *Una voz hecha de mil voces*, will also be performed, a piece commissioned by Palau Vincles, the social project of the Palau de la Música Catalana, in 2021, featuring the choirs of Palau Vincles. 

Next, the OSV will present *Ballets by Tchaikovsky* (08/02/25), which includes the fourth premiere of the season: *Ceci n’est pas un vals* by Raquel García-Tomás, the season's guest composer at the Palau, a commission shared with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia, the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, and the Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera. This program, conducted by Isabel Rubio, will also feature *Badder Gyrations*, a piece by trans composer Florence Anna Maunders. The concert will be accompanied by the narration of *Tchaikovsky's Curse*, a script written by Elisabet Franch (flutist of the orchestra), weaving together segments from *The Sleeping Beauty*, *Swan Lake*, and *The Nutcracker*.

**The OSV on tour**

This season, the Vallès Symphony Orchestra will take its music to various towns with two notable performances. The *Festival of Waltzes and Dances* (21/12/24) will kick off the Christmas tour, under the direction of chief conductor Xavier Puig and featuring soprano Marta Mathéu, who will share performances on tour with another soprano, Andrea Martín. This concert will offer a musical review of the year alongside classic waltzes and polkas by Strauss and other composers, as well as pieces of zarzuela and Catalan music. The program will be performed in 9 more cities across Catalonia during December and January (Terrassa, Sabadell, Lleida, Girona, Rubí, Puigcerdà, Reus, Vic, and Sant Boi de Llobregat).

For the 14th Holy Week Tour, the OSV has prepared a special program featuring Bernstein's *Chichester Psalms* (06/04/25), a concert designed by Xavier Puig that engages various religious traditions, with sections sung in Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic. The program also includes significant works such as Samuel Barber's *Adagio*, Aaron Copland's *Fanfare for the Common Man*, and Karl Jenkins's *The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace*. This tour will involve local choirs: the Granollers Chamber Choir (conducted by Josep Vila), the Auditori Enric Granados Chamber Choir (conducted by Xavier Puig), the Igualada Mixed Choir (Francesc Minguella, conductor), and the URV Choir (Montserrat Rios, conductor). This special concert, with its main performance at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, will also be presented in five other cities: Terrassa, Lleida, Igualada, Granollers, and Tarragona.