The Foundation Choir is to accompany Victor Manuel at his forthcoming concert in Asturias

Víctor Manuel San José Sánchez

Víctor Manuel (Mieres, 1947) is considered one of the most important singer-songwriters on the Spanish music scene and has released dozens of albums over six decades. He took his first steps in music in 1963 at just sixteen years of age, performing in local and regional competitions. He began to reap success shortly afterwards, between 1967 and 1969. Some of his most emblematic compositions belong to this period, such as La Romería, Paxarinos and El abuelo Vitor. He also composed Asturias at that time, although it was not released until 1976. Later, his album Soy un corazón tendido al sol (1979) included one of his best-known songs, Solo pienso en ti, with which he topped the charts. Throughout his long-standing career, he has recorded other hits such as La Puerta de Alcalá (a duet with Ana Belén) and Contamíname, for which he won the Ondas Award for Best Song in 1994. He garnered another Ondas Award, this time for Best Tour, together with Ana Belén, Miguel Ríos and Serrat. In 2011, he received the honorary Asturian Music Yearbook Award (Spanish acronym, AMAS) in recognition of his long-standing musical career. Following his 75th anniversary tour and his subsequent 2023 Tour, he is currently immersed in the Víctor Manuel Symphonic project that will take him to cities such as Valladolid, Gijón and Burgos, among others, and which will culminate at the Teatro Real in Madrid.

Joan Albert Amargós

Joan Albert Amargós (Barcelona, 1950) is a composer and conductor who has written numerous chamber and symphonic works. A pianist and clarinettist, his style is marked by the use of melody, rhythmic counterpoint and the use of the fullest range of harmony. He stands out as a jazz and flamenco arranger, a role in which he has been recognized by the Spanish Academy of Music as Best in Spain on ten occasions, between 1999 and 2011. In this field, he has worked for prominent artists such as Víctor Manuel, Plácido Domingo, Alfredo Kraus, Camarón de la Isla, Joan Manuel Serrat –with whom he created the Serrat Sinfónico album in 2003–, Paco de Lucía, Miguel Poveda and Estrella Morente. He has also worked with some of Europe and America’s leading orchestras.

In 1988, he won First Prize for Contemporary Jazz Composition for his work Hasta siempre Jaco. In 2002, the Government of Catalonia granted him its National Award for Music for the opera Eurídice y los títeres de Caronte and for his Flamenco en orquestra project. That same year, he received the City of Barcelona Award for the premiere of his Concierto para trombón bajo y orquesta. He was nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for his Northern Concerto (for Recorder and Symphony Orchestra). For this same work he received the Best Classical Music Author Prize at Spain’s 2008 Music Awards. A multidisciplinary artist, also inspired by American symphonism, he is artistic advisor to the Department of Jazz and Modern Music at the Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona.

Princess of Asturias Foundation Choir

In keeping with the traditional love of Asturians for choral music, the Princess of Asturias Foundation established a polyphonic ensemble in 1983 with the aim of elevating its performance to the highest of levels. Conducted by José Esteban García Miranda since 1989, the Princess of Asturias Foundation Choir is considered an outstanding amateur group that enjoys recognized prestige on the international scene. In December 2007, the European Parliament distinguished the Choir via an extraordinary acknowledgement “for its outstanding services to the European Union”. Throughout its history, it has also been conducted by Luis Gutiérrez Arias, Sabas Calvillo, Víctor Pablo Pérez and Luis Vila. Jesús López Cobos, 1981 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, was joint honorary conductor of the Choir until his death in 2018, along with Krzysztof Penderecki, who died in 2020 and who received the same award in 2001.

The Choir has toured Europe, America and the Middle East. In Europe, it has performed in France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Russia, the UK, Greece and Portugal. It has also performed in Jerusalem, Tampa (Florida), Washington, New York –in St Patrick’s Cathedral and at the Lincoln Center– on the occasion of Columbus Day, in São Paulo, Mexico City and Bogotá. Furthermore, in 2004 it was invited to participate at the marriage of Their Majesties King Felipe and Queen Letizia, performing during the traditional offering of the bride’s bouquet to the Virgin in the Royal Basilica of Our Lady of Atocha. It has also performed Cherubini’s Requiem in C minor alongside the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Riccardo Muti, 2011 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts; alongside the orchestra and soloist of the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, conducted by the institution’s artistic and general director Valery Gergiev; excerpts from Richard Wagner’s opera Parsifal; The Dream of Gerontis, Op. 38 by Edward Elgar, under the baton of Rossen Milanov; as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Sergei Prokofiev’s Ivan the Terrible, conducted, respectively, by Pedro Amaral and Mykola Dyadyura. During these years, the Princess of Asturias Foundation Choir has likewise been conducted by outstanding maestros such as Marcus Creed, Friedrich Haider, Ros Marbá, Peter Maag, John Neschling, Yuri Bashmet, Alberto Zedda, Paul Mann, Jesús López Cobos, Krzysztof Penderecki, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Neville Marriner, Marzio Conti, Juanjo Mena and Jonathan Webb. It has also collaborated with the Symphony Orchestra of the State of São Paulo; the Vienna Sinfonietta Classical Orchestra; the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, belonging to the National Network of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela (2008 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts); and the Philharmonic Orchestra (OFUNAM) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (2009 Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities), among others. In 2022, the Choir accompanied the Asturian musician Víctor Manuel at four symphonic concerts, on the occasion of his 75th anniversary tour, which included a performance at the WiZink Center in Madrid before more than eight thousand people.

Oviedo Filarmonía 

Oviedo Filarmonía (OFIL), originally known as the Orquesta Sinfónica Ciudad de Oviedo [City of Oviedo Symphony Orchestra], was founded in February 1999 on the initiative of Oviedo City Council. Its creation responded to the need to support the new musical activities that were being launched in the city, quickly becoming one of Oviedo’s major signs of identity.

Currently, its principal director is Lucas Macías. From 2004 to 2011, its principal conductor was Friedrich Haider, with whom the orchestra made the leap onto the international scene with a tour of Japan and concerts in Paris. Between 2011 and 2017, the orchestra strengthened its links with the city of Oviedo under the baton of Marzio Conti, reaching out to different audiences via a broad variety of projects. Over the years, the Oviedo Filarmonía has accompanied prestigious soloists such as Edita Gruberová, Juan Diego Flórez, Mischa Maisky, Elina Garança, Michael Nyman, Sondra Radvanovsky, Piotr Beczala, Natalia Gutman, Bryn Terfel, Ainhoa Arteta, Midori, Javier Camarena, Ermonela Jaho and Benjamin Bernheim, among many others, and has performed a very broad-ranging repertoire under the baton of conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Alberto Zedda, Arthur Fagen, Paul Goodwin, Shi-Yeon Sung and Joana Carneiro.

The Oviedo Filarmonía celebrated its 25th anniversary this year, marking a significant milestone that was recognized with the Silver Medal of Oviedo, which highlighted its contribution to the cultural life of the city. As the principal ensemble of the Oviedo Spanish Lyric Theatre Festival, the Campoamor Theatre Dance Festival and the Auditorium Concert and Luis G. Iberni Piano Series, the Oviedo Filarmonía is also present in three of the five operas comprising the Oviedo Opera season. It likewise undertakes an intense programme that includes its traditional school concerts and the open-air summer series at the University, as well as the screening of films with live soundtracks and performances in venues such as the Carlos Tartiere football stadium and Oviedo Cathedral Square. In recent years, both the close relationship it maintains with the public as well as its social facet have been strengthened via the streaming concerts of the OFIL Contigo [OFIL With You] programme, the Música en la escuela [Music in Schools] online educational project, and charity concerts. The Oviedo Filarmonía has recorded for various labels, such as Farao Classics, Philartis, Naxos, Eudora Records and Warner Classics International, and has been a member of the Spanish Association of Symphony Orchestras (Spanish acronym, AEOS) since 2003.