Madrid, November 27, 2024 – Fundación Cajasol and the Reina Sofía School of Music have signed a collaboration agreement that strengthens their shared commitment to the training and development of talented young musicians and to the dissemination of music as a tool for cultural transformation.

The agreement, signed by Paloma O´Shea, Founding President of the School, and Antonio Pulido, President of Fundación Cajasol, will allow the Foundation to sponsor the Quinteto Fundación Cajasol during the 2024/2025 academic year. This group comprises Marta Chelet (flute), Alba Lázaro (oboe), Cristian Rupa (clarinet), Candela Pérez (bassoon), and Álvaro Parrón (horn)—young talents representing the future of chamber music.

Additionally, the agreement includes the co-production of a series of three concerts in Seville, hosted at Fundación Cajasol’s headquarters and performed by students of the School. This series will feature three key dates:

• Wednesday, January 22, 2025: Cello and piano recital by the Dúo Florence May (Eva Arderíus, cello; Natalia Schamova, piano).
• Friday, March 21, 2025: Chamber music trio performance.
• Wednesday, May 21, 2025: Quinteto Fundación Cajasol performance.

As part of this collaboration, Antonio Pulido, President of Fundación Cajasol, will join the Board of Trustees of the Reina Sofía School of Music, the School’s highest governing body.

A Shared Commitment to Music and Inclusion

This agreement reinforces the shared values between both institutions, such as fostering talent, quality, and inclusion, as well as promoting the dissemination of music in society.

For the Reina Sofía School of Music, this collaboration aligns with its proactive strategy to create partnerships with prestigious and relevant organizations that support its mission. As Paloma O’Shea emphasized:

“The collaboration with Fundación Cajasol perfectly aligns with the dual mission the School has upheld since its inception: on the one hand, contributing to the development of our young musicians through the formation of a wind quintet, and on the other, bringing music closer to society through the concert series that our students will perform at Fundación Cajasol’s headquarters in Seville.”

Antonio Pulido, President of Fundación Cajasol, added:

“This collaboration with the Reina Sofía School of Music reflects Fundación Cajasol’s firm commitment to promoting cultural expressions both within and beyond Andalusia. Through the professional training of young musicians and by bringing music closer to society, we aim to make culture accessible to all.”

• Ensemble Connect is a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute, in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education, designed to prepare young classical music professionals for careers that blend musical excellence with teaching, community engagement, advocacy, entrepreneurship, and leadership. As part of this year’s programming, Ensemble Connect will hold a residency at the Reina Sofía School of Music, where they will share experiences with the School’s students.
• From November 1 to 8, Ensemble Connect and the students will participate in a concert at the Reina Sofía Museum, as part of the programming by the National Centre for Music Dissemination (Monday 4); in social and community activities (Wednesday 6); and in artistic workshops and a colloquium focused on building synergies among young musicians to enhance the skills that allow them to connect with audiences (Thursday 7).

Madrid, 30 October 2024 – The Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid, founded in 1991, is a world-renowned centre for training young classical musicians. Over its 30-year history, more than 950 musicians have passed through its classrooms, now holding prominent positions in orchestras, thriving in solo careers, and teaching at the world’s top music schools.

Additionally, as part of its activities and social commitment, the School will host the residency of Ensemble Connect during the first week of November. This program, created by Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute, in collaboration with the New York City Department of Education, prepares young classical music professionals for careers that combine musical excellence with teaching, community engagement, advocacy, entrepreneurship, and leadership.

The residency, scheduled from November 1 to 8, will include a series of joint activities between Ensemble Connect and the School’s students who are enrolled in the Artistic Development course:

• Monday, 4 November, 7:30 p.m. – Auditorium 400 of the Museo Nacional de Arte Reina Sofía in Madrid. Inaugural concert of the Series 20/21 contemporary music cycle by the National Centre for Music Dissemination (CNDM), featuring a fascinating exploration of American contemporary music with composers such as Missy Mazzoli.
• Wednesday, 6 November – As part of their social mission, Ensemble Connect will offer interactive concerts designed to invite audiences to explore and discover a musical piece or concept through listening activities aimed at deepening and enriching the concert experience. In the morning, they will perform at the Casa San Cristóbal de Fundación Montemadrid for an intergenerational audience of seniors and secondary school students from nearby schools. In the afternoon, they will perform for young audiences aged 8 to 18 at DalaNota, a free and inclusive music-education program for vulnerable children and adolescents, as well as at SEK International School Ciudalcampo.
• Thursday, 7 November – Ensemble Connect will conduct artistic workshops in the morning on the iconic work In C by Terry Riley with students from the Reina Sofía School and the Royal Conservatory of Music of Atocha. The result of this collaboration will be showcased that evening in the School’s Auditorium (6:30 p.m.), followed by a colloquium with the young musicians titled "What Skills Can We Develop to Connect with Audiences?" This event is open to the entire musical community, both artistic and educational, aiming to create synergies and collectively address the challenges facing the sector.

The Ensemble Connect residency at the Reina Sofía School of Music is made possible thanks to the support of Edmond de Rothschild Foundations.

The agreement was signed on 24 October by Mr. Patricio Gutiérrez Pérez, Director and concertmaster of the Canary Islands Chamber Orchestra, and Ms. Paloma O'Shea, Founding President of the Reina Sofía School of Music, at the School’s facilities, where they were joined by Angel Luis Quintana, principal cello and academy coordinator of the OCC, and Óscar Colomina i Bosch, Dean of the School.

The OCC thus joins other national and international music institutions collaborating in the training and development of young talents at the Reina Sofía School of Music.

The first scheduled collaboration between the two institutions will take place during the concert that the OCC has programmed at the National Auditorium of Music in Madrid on 29 May 2025, in celebration of the Canary Islands' festivities. This concert will also be dedicated to Armando Alfonso (born 1931), former director of the OCC from 1968 to 1970, who has confirmed his attendance at the concert.

Patricio Gutiérrez, director of the OCC, professor of violin, and holder of a doctoral degree, was a student at the Reina Sofía School of Music from 1993 to 1996, where he studied under the beloved and much-missed José Luis García Asensio, concertmaster of the English Chamber Orchestra for many years, with whom he had the privilege of working and deepening his knowledge of the chamber orchestra repertoire. During this period, Patricio Gutiérrez was also a founding member of what is now one of the most renowned string quartets worldwide, the Cuarteto Casals, which originated precisely from the Reina Sofía School of Music.

• Madrid, 19 September 2024 - With the aim of expanding its links with the cultural sector and creating synergies with important institutions focused on innovation, commitment to the SDGs and talent, Exolum and the Reina Sofía School of Music have signed a collaboration agreement by which the multinational leader in liquid bulk transport and storage joins as a Corporate Friend to the cultural patronage of this international benchmark centre for the education of young musicians.

Jorge Lanza, CEO of Exolum, and Paloma O'Shea, Founding President of the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía, have signed a collaboration agreement by which Exolum will support the academic and artistic activity of the young talents of the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía.

Paloma O'Shea, founding president of the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía, emphasised at the signing ceremony that ‘Our School is in a process of development and expansion, and having a new Corporate Friend like Exolum helps us to continue working on our task of supporting the young artists of the future in their artistic and personal growth’.

Jorge Lanza, CEO of Exolum, added: ‘At Exolum, we are delighted to join forces with the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía. We strongly believe in the power of music to bring people together and foster creativity. This partnership not only reflects our commitment to education and culture, but is also aligned with our Sustainability Plan. Furthermore, we fully identify with the pursuit of excellence, one of the values exemplified by the School. This value resonates with our mission and vision at Exolum, and we are excited to carry it forward in this new partnership.’

• Thanks to the agreement, students from the school will be able to carry out academic internships in the official orchestra of Navarre.
• The agreement was signed by Rubén Jauquicoa, managing director of the Baluarte Foundation and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra, and Paloma O'Shea, founding president of the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía.

Madrid, 16 September 2024. The Baluarte Foundation and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra/Navarroako Orkestra Sinfonikoa (OSN/NOS) have signed a collaboration agreement with the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía. The agreement was signed by Rubén Jauquicoa, managing director of the Foundation and the Orchestra, and Paloma O'Shea, founding president of the School. Also present was Òscar Colomina, Dean of the School.

Thanks to the agreement, students from the school will be able to carry out internships in the musical group, within the framework of the different academic programmes of the School. The Baluarte Foundation and the OSN/NOS join other national and international institutions in the field of music that will participate from the beginning in the new ‘Zubin Mehta’ Chair of Conducting at the Queen Sofia School.

The first practice session for the students of the Chair will consist of a rehearsal session with the OSN/NOS and its principal teacher, Nicolás Pasquet. The Orchestra will select the students who will subsequently participate in different concerts and activities.

Improving training and employability

Paloma O'Shea said, ‘I am very grateful to the Fundación Baluarte and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra for this collaboration, thanks to which our Orchestra Conducting students will be able to work with a highly prestigious professional orchestra. It is an exceptional opportunity for the artistic development of our young musicians and I am convinced that it will be very beneficial for their training’. 

For his part, Rubén Jauquicoa said that this agreement is in addition to the collaborations that the Baluarte Foundation and the official orchestra of the Comunidad Foral maintain with educational institutions in Navarre and other autonomous communities and that its aim is to ‘guarantee the future of the symphonic music sector through better training and employability of the new generations of professionals’, he said.

Madrid, 12 September 2024. – The agreement was signed this Monday 9th, by Mr. Juan Miguel Moreno Calderón on behalf of the Consorcio Orquesta de Córdoba and Mrs. Paloma O'Shea, Founding President of the Reina Sofía School of Music, in whose facilities they met together with Salvador Vázquez (artistic director and head of the Orquesta de Córdoba), Roberto Pálmer (manager) and Óscar Colomina i Bosch (dean of the School).

The Orquesta de Córdoba thus joins other national and international musical institutions that will participate from the beginning in the new ‘Zubin Mehta’ Chair of Conducting (with the support of Aline Foriel-Destezet) of the Reina Sofía School of Music.
Specifically, for this first course, the Orquesta de Córdoba will be the only one to offer a symphonic-choral concert. The University of Cordoba (UCO) will join this first meeting with the participation of the Averroes Choir, made up of students and staff of the University itself. The concert will take place on Friday 4 April 2025 and will be conducted by the students of the ‘Zubin Mehta’ Chair of Conducting for a preferably university audience. With the signing of this agreement, the Orquesta de Córdoba advances in its commitment to carry out actions by and for young people, to support new talents and to bring great music closer to the student community.

For the Reina Sofía School of Music, this collaboration offers a unique opportunity for the students of its new conducting chair, directed by maestro Nicolás Pasquet, to work with a professional orchestra of great prestige and brilliant trajectory.