Madrid, 9 October 2025.– The Reina Sofía School of Music celebrates a historic milestone in its trajectory as an international reference centre for the education of young musicians, offering the public its debut at the iconic Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage of the Carnegie Hall in New York.

On Thursday, 13 November at 7:00 p.m., the Reina Sofía School Symphony Orchestra, conducted by its Principal Conductor Andrés Orozco-Estrada, together with musicians from the Colombian Youth Philharmonic, will experience an unforgettable moment on the Carnegie Hall stage. Also joining the orchestra as guest artists will be the Emirati cellist Elham Al Marzooqi, a regular performer at the Abu Dhabi Festival, and Rolanda Ginkute, alumna of the School and Principal Second Violin of the Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra.

Under the presidency of H.M. Queen Sofía, the concert, entitled "Journey to the New World", will open by evoking the lively, joyful, and light character—like a musical genre painting—of ‘El Puerto’ from the work Iberia by Isaac Albéniz (1860–1909). It will continue with one of

During their stay in New York, the students will take part in a series of social and educational activities aimed at building bridges with major American institutions and offering young musicians an experience that goes beyond the concert itself. The School’s students will have the opportunity to participate in activities with the New York Philharmonic, the Juilliard School, Ensemble Connect at Carnegie Hall, the Queen Sofía Institute, and the Harmony Program.

The concert will have the support of an Honorary Committee.

President

H.E. Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation

Members

• Paloma O’Shea, Founding President of the Reina Sofía School of Music
• Ana Botín, Member of the Board of Trustees of the Reina Sofía School of Music
• Aline Foriel-Destezet, Member of the International Circle of the Reina Sofía School of Music
• Beatrice Santo Domingo, Member of the Board of Trustees of Carnegie Hall
• Bobby Kotick and Dr Pouneh Beizai
• H.E. Huda I. Alkhamis-Kanoo, Founder of the Abu Dhabi Festival

The School also counts on the support of: Banco Santander; Bloomberg Philanthropies; Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Abu Dhabi Festival; Cutrale North America; Fundación Damm; Henkell Freixenet; Jenny Johnson; JPMorgan Chase; Marie-Josée & Henry R. Kravis; Stoneshield; Yongsoo Huh; Bank of America; Centerview Partners; Claudio Aguirre; ExxonMobil Corporation; Goldman Sachs; Management Solutions; Marie-Christine Dutheillet de Lamothe; PricewaterhouseCoopers; and Teresa A.L. Bulgheroni.

The School’s Orchestra receives the collaboration of Freixenet.

Madrid, 25 September 2025 – The Reina Sofía School, which this year welcomes 142 young musicians from 37 nationalities, will carry out an intense artistic programme this season both in the School’s Sony Auditorium and in various venues across Spain and abroad.

With a renewed vision of its series, the Reina Sofía School will present more than one hundred concerts this season at the Sony Auditorium, showcasing the very best young talent.

Classical Music for All

• Academic Concerts, “a series to accompany”: This series is the educational heart of the Reina Sofía School. In these free concerts, all students share their artistic progress each term, always guided by their professors and a demanding, personalized study plan.
• 21st Century Soloists, “a series to discover”: Closeness and dialogue define the Suite de Mediodía sessions. Each gathering includes guided tours of the School, an introductory talk on the programme, the 21st Century Soloists concert as the centerpiece, and a closing dialogue with the musicians. With two series per year, and live broadcasts on Radio Clásica, this series celebrates the excellence of the new generation of soloists in a fresh, accessible, and inspiring format.
• Masters, “a series to move”: At the Sony Auditorium, distinguished international professors and alumni of the Reina Sofía School take centre stage in a series that combines interpretative excellence with a reconnection with the audience. This edition pays tribute to the 25th anniversary of the Horn Chair with a special concert highlighting the legacy of its teaching, alongside performances by renowned alumni such as the Dúo del Valle, Enrique Lapaz, and Javier Comesaña.
• The Rising Generation, “a series to shine”: On the privileged stage of the National Auditorium, this series features the School’s most outstanding students, who present recitals, chamber music, and orchestral performances that reveal both their interpretative maturity and their promising future in the musical world.
• Da Camera, “a series to savour”: On one Friday each month, the Sony Auditorium hosts the finest young international chamber music ensembles, guided by maestro Günter Pichler at the International Institute of Chamber Music of Madrid. This series blends virtuosity and freshness, inviting the public to experience the vibrant pulse of today’s chamber music. This season will feature nine ensembles from Europe, America, and Asia, all prizewinners in prestigious competitions with busy artistic schedules: Cuarteto Arete, Cuarteto Ast, Cuarteto Erinys, Cuarteto Goldberg, Cuarteto Hana, Cuarteto Ineo, Cuarteto Kandinsky, Trío Davidoff, and Trío Paddington.
• Organ, “a series to admire”: Majestic, versatile, and full of nuance, the Grenzing organ at the Sony Auditorium takes centre stage in this series offering a unique sonic experience. This season, the virtuosity of Ireneusz Wyrwa, in collaboration with the Polish Institute of Culture in Madrid, and the luminous expressiveness of Juan de la Rubia invite audiences to discover the boundless richness of the organ art, one of the most imposing instruments in Western tradition.

Worlds of Fantasy, with ‘Fun Classics’

An invitation to discover classical music as a family, through performances full of humor, imagination, and emotion. This series to dream transforms great works of the repertoire into unique stage experiences, combining live music with theatre, clowning, dance, or puppetry. Each event—at Christmas, in March, and in June—offers a different theme, turning every concert into a new sound and visual adventure.

‘Semblanzas’, a series to transform

The Semblanzas series invites you to experience music from a renewed perspective: that of the women who have composed, performed, and promoted it. Words and music come together in this series to contextualize, delve into, and explore works written by female composers across different eras. With a rigorous and critical approach, it encourages both reflection and discovery, beginning with a pre-concert talk that sets the stage for the performance.

Unprecedented Encounters

The Reina Sofía School will also present a series of concerts in collaboration with artists from other musical genres, made possible with the support of Banco Santander Foundation, and held throughout the season without a fixed schedule.

The School in other national and international venues

The extensive programme designed for the 2025/26 season represents an important milestone for this international reference centre in the training of young musicians, culminating on 13 November with its debut at Carnegie Hall in New York, in the iconic Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage.

The School’s Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of maestro Andrés Orozco-Estrada, will feature violinist Renaud Capuçon as guest soloist, together with musicians from the Colombian Youth Philharmonic and Emirati cellist Elham Al Marzooqi, in a programme including works by Albéniz, Barber, and Dvořák.

In addition, the artistic activity of the Reina Sofía School will be reinforced through other concert series across Spain, bringing the music of its young talents to new stages thanks to collaborations with institutions such as Teatro Real, Fundación Juan March, CNDM, Real Casino de Madrid, Patr

The 18th Annual OLA Conference, held in June 2025 at the Palau de Les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, was the venue for the signing of a collaboration agreement between Ópera Latinoamérica (OLA) and the Reina Sofía School of Music of the Fundación Albéniz (Spain).

The agreement was signed in Valencia by Carmen Gloria Larenas, President of OLA and General Director of Teatro Municipal de Santiago (Chile); Andrés Rodríguez, OLA Board Member and Opera Director of Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires; and Julia Sánchez Abeal, CEO of the Reina Sofía School of Music.

In line with OLA’s mission to foster international networks for training, education, and collaboration in the field of opera in Ibero-America, and to build partnerships with global organisations, this new agreement seeks to combine the efforts, actions, and expertise of both institutions. The goal is to launch initiatives that positively impact the classical performing arts and theatre management sectors in Ibero-America. This agreement also places a particular emphasis on developing the artistic talent of young people in the region in areas such as opera singing and musical performance.

“OLA is an organisation that has always been committed to establishing new alliances and collaborations that contribute not only to the development of networks for institutions and artists but also to creating new opportunities for professional growth, particularly for opera singers. We are proud to sign this agreement, which builds a new bridge to connect young talents with global centres for training and opera,” stated Carmen Gloria Larenas, President of Ópera Latinoamérica (OLA) and General Director of the Teatro Municipal de Santiago (Chile).

“The OLA annual conferences are key moments to strengthen relationships and to present initiatives that have been in development and take shape through agreements like this one. OLA and the Reina Sofía School of Music are organisations capable of generating synergies that benefit young people through professionalisation actions such as digital forums, mentorships, and artistic residencies. Agreements like this reaffirm our belief that the artistic potential of the Ibero-American region is greatly enriched through such forms of collaboration,” said Paulina Ricciardi, Executive Director of OLA.

“Since its foundation over 30 years ago, the School has maintained a deep and lasting connection with young Latin American talents. Among our alumni are leading Spanish-speaking opera figures such as Celso Albelo, Aquiles Machado, Ismael Jordi, and Ana Lucrecia García. Currently, 30% of our student body comes from Latin America, and all benefit from free tuition, which is one of our defining traits. With this alliance with OLA, we seek to continue strengthening this natural relationship with the Ibero-American artistic scene and contribute to the training of young talents from new generations of artists, while reinforcing the School’s role as a destination for excellence in musical education,” affirmed Julia Sánchez Abeal, CEO of the Reina Sofía School of Music.

Joint Action Plan

The collaboration agreement between OLA and the Reina Sofía School of Music of the Fundación Albéniz includes the design of a joint action plan that addresses the main interests, contexts, and development pathways of artists in the Ibero-American region.

The actions defined in the agreement include an initial diagnostic phase to then define concrete lines of work. Among them is the possibility of creating and exploring collaborative networks – through artistic residencies that strengthen ties between both institutions – as well as offering opportunities for collaboration and professional dialogue.