Andreˆ©s Orzo-Estrada and the Basque National Orchestra

ANDRˆâS OROZCO-ESTRADA APPOINTED CHIEF CONDUCTOR WITH THE BASQUE NATIONAL ORCHESTRA

Andrˆ©s Orozco-Estrada has been appointed Chief Conductor of the Basque National Orchestra (San Sebastian, Spain). This Colombian conductor (aged 31), who has been living in Vienna for over a decade, will be the Orchestra's chief conductor in the coming years.

The Chief Conductor. Andrˆ©s Orozco-Estrada is a young conductor with a solid international career who can be described as dynamic, with enormous energy, talent and gusto - qualities perfectly complementing the personality of the Basque National Orchestra.
From 2006 until 2009, he was the conductor of the Grosses Orchestra Graz (Austria). He has worked repeatedly as a guest director in Central Europe with orchestras like the Gewandhaus Orchestra in Leipzig, the Deutsches Symphony in Berlin, the Basel Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Hamburg Philharmonic and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestras, and in South America, mainly with the Bogota Philharmonic Orchestra.
In addition to his position at the head of the Basque National Orchestra, Orozco-Estrada will also be the Chief Conductor of the Tonkˆºnstler Orchestra of Vienna from the 2009/2010 season onwards.

The Orchestra. Andrˆ©s Orozco-Estrada's appointment corresponds to the Orchestra's desire to further its artistic progression and obtain expanded results in the areas of quality, flexibility and dynamism. The Basque Orchestra is a benchmark ensemble at state level. It forms a perfect part of the Basque cultural and social life, with a following now standing at 7,000 subscribers, making it the second most important orchestra in Spain, after Barcelona, as far as its number of subscribers are concerned. The over 150,000 spectators registered in recent years make this the most popular classical music institution in the Basque Country. Qualified as "the most travelling of all Spanish orchestras", in 27 years it has made 13 international tours, to countries including Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, the UK and Italy; it is a frequent guest at festivals, complementing its concerts with educational programs for children and has made a large number of recordings, mainly endeavouring to highlight the important works of Basque composers.

The Orchestra was created in 1982, promoted and developed by the Basque Government Department of Culture. Since then, it performed with major conductors as Yehudi Menuhin, Tugan Sokiev, Carlo Rizzi, Christopher Hogwood, Paul McCreesh, Yakov Kreizberg, Oleg Caetani, Jerzy Semkov, Lawrence Foster, Jesˆ†s Lˆ„pez Cobos, and great soloists including Maria Joao Pires, Radu Lupu, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Mischa Maisky, Antonio Meneses, Christian Zacharias, Leonidas Kavakos, Joaquˆ‚n Achˆ†carro, Heinrich Schiff, Plˆ°cido Domingo, Marˆ‚a Bayo, Ainhoa Arteta, Carlos Alvarez, Katia and Marielle Labˆ®que, Carlos Mena, etc. The 2009/2010 season will feature other important names including Hˆ©lˆ®ne Grimaud and Janine Jansen.