This morning, the Barcelona Symphony Band presented its artistic programme for the 2019-‎‎20 season in the lobby of Sala 1 Pau Casals at L’Auditori, with the participation of Robert ‎Brufau, director of L’Auditori, and the Symphony Band’s principal conductor, José Rafael ‎Pascual-Vilaplana and its technical director, Joan Xicola.‎
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The 2019-20 season seeks to disseminate a pluralistic, divergent and eclectic artistic message ‎with the desire to move and touch audiences. During the upcoming season, the Band will ‎offer 18 programmes at L’Auditori, 12 concerts in the city of Barcelona and two family ‎concerts. ‎


‎Great names‎
The season will open on 20 October with the Venezuelan trumpet player Pacho Flores, one ‎of the most celebrated of the moment, and will continue with acclaimed soloists including ‎the harpist José Antonio Domené, the soprano Marta Mathéu and the tuba player Sérgio ‎Carolino.‎
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These musicians join a long lineup of conductors which, headed by the Band’s music director, ‎José Rafael Pascual-Vilaplana who will begin his second season as principal conductor, and ‎guest principal conductor, Salvador Brotons, will include Beatriz Fernández, Miguel ‎Etchegoncelay, Isabelle Ruf-Weber and Juan Miguel Romero.‎
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The Barcelona Symphony Band will also enjoy a visit by one of the world’s most renowned ‎film score composers, the maestro Roque Baños, who will direct a programme with film and ‎audiovisual music for band, arranged by Baños himself. ‎


‎Artist’s Portrait: Philip Sparke‎
The highlight of the season is the start of the Artist’s Portrait, where both the musicians and ‎the audience will be able to enjoy the monographic work of a composer who will also be ‎premiering a commissioned work. This season promises us a deeper understanding of the ‎creative universe of one of the most international and prominent figures in band music: the ‎English maestro Philip Sparke, who will also conduct the Band in one of the concerts.‎
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On 10 May 2020, Sparke will lead the ensemble in conducting his own music and premiering a ‎work. Sparke is one of the world’s most renowned band music composers. He was born in ‎London and habitually works in England. However, his music has crossed borders and since ‎the eighties he has graced the music stands of leading bands across the globe, from the ‎United States to Japan, taking in several European countries. In addition to treating us to a ‎world premiere he will also perform recent works, including Symphony No. 2, dedicated to ‎the North American city of Savannah, and the Three Washington Statues, inspired by ‎Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and Duke Ellington. ‎

‎Beethoven250 Festival and Festival Emergents Barcelona‎
L’Auditori begins a new phase with the objective of creating a unified and cross-cutting ‎artistic project aimed at establishing a discourse that will permeate every area of its ‎programme. Thus, for the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van ‎Beethoven, the Beethoven250 Festival will offer an extensive and cross-cutting reading of ‎the composer’s music and influences.‎
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For the Beethoven250 Festival, the Band offers a bold and attractive proposal: to perform ‎the complete works composed by the genius from Bonn for Goethe’s stage drama, ‎‎Egmont.‎
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As a fundamental part of L’Auditori’s programme, and now in its fourth edition, the Festival ‎Emergents Barcelona has consolidated itself as the most important event of the year, giving ‎us the opportunity to discover new national and international musical talents. Over nine days, ‎the Festival Emergents will offer more than 20 concerts with 200 young musicians and of all ‎genres: from early music to new music, from recitals to chamber music, concerts for soloists ‎and the great vocal and instrumental ensembles, as well as jazz and the best of local ‎flamenco.‎
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The Band will participate in the Festival with Rhapsody in blue by Gershwin, ‎offering an incredible version for the solo trumpet of Austrian Selina Ott. L’Auditori will ‎premiere a concert for marimba —inspired by Renaissance works of art, Romanticism and ‎Naïve art— performed by marimbist Conrado Moya from Alicante. ‎

‎Music in the city‎
In addition to the 18 concerts that the Barcelona Symphony Band will perform during its ‎season in Sala 1 and Sala 2 at L’Auditori, the ensemble continues its commitment to Barcelona ‎by performing 12 concerts around the city.‎
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Over its more than 130 years of history, one of the main pillars of the Band’s activity has been ‎to disseminate music to all audiences and in all corners of the city. To this end, the ensemble ‎will perform a concert in every neighbourhood in Barcelona, which will be free and open to all, ‎between 17 May and 28 November 2019. ‎


‎Family concerts‎
The desire of the Band and the Servei Educatiu (Educational Service) to bring music closer to ‎families is reflected in the two family concerts that we will be able to enjoy next season. The ‎first of these is Banda Ampla (Broadband), which premiered during the 2018-19 season. The ‎concert was commissioned to composer Joan Albert Amargós and dramatist Jordi Oriol and ‎was inspired by Benjamin Britten’s famous Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.‎
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The second concert is Maaambo!!!, a L’Auditori classic, which takes the audience ‎on a journey through the rhythms of Latin America, with stage direction by La Cubana. ‎

‎La Banda ens Apropa‎
The Barcelona Symphony Band continues it collaboration with Apropa Cultura through the La ‎Banda ens Apropa (The Band Brings Us Closer) programme, a series of weekday morning ‎concerts designed for elderly people in Barcelona who are in a situation of dependency or at ‎risk of social exclusion.‎

In addition to the concerts, which we will provide more details about later, running in parallel ‎with each concert will be a workshop and a meeting between the musicians of the Band and ‎social centre users. The objective is to bring music closer to social groups and also to raise ‎awareness among the musicians about a social reality.‎


‎Subscriptions‎
There are two subscription types for the Barcelona Symphony Band season. The Series A ‎subscription includes 12 concerts in Sala 1 Pau Casals at L’Auditori. The Series B subscription ‎includes 6 concerts in Sala 2 Oriol Martorell. Subscription prices start at 45 euros.‎
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Tickets for all Barcelona Symphony Band and L’Auditori concerts will go on sale tomorrow, 9 ‎May.‎

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‎Perejaume creates the image for the season and Canada produces the promotional ‎video‎
Artist Perejaume was commissioned to create the image for the season, which is entitled ‎Botànica del so (Botany of Sound) and plays with the concept of wind blowing through trees ‎and making music.‎
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The collaboration with Perejaume highlights the merit of encouraging dialogue between the ‎arts and it consolidates L’Auditori’s goal to build a unified and cross-cutting artistic project ‎that accommodates all disciplines. ‎

Perejaume has created an image for the season and also one for each of the areas included ‎in L’Auditori’s programme, from the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and the Barcelona ‎Symphony Band to the Chamber Music and Early Music seasons, OBCPops, Jazz Sessions, ‎Escenes and Sampler Sèries.‎

To further advance this interdisciplinary dialogue and to provide an innovative perspective, ‎L’Auditori commissioned the prestigious and multi-award-winning Barcelona production ‎company Canada to make an audiovisual. The company is renowned for its groundbreaking ‎aesthetics and pursuit of new artistic languages. ‎

Directed by Héctor Herce, the video takes Perejaume’s concepts of nature and wind as a ‎starting point and develops a three-minute story that departs from the customary narrative ‎of classical music. ‎

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‎Flat Rate 25‎
One of the great novelties of the season, and which applies to all L’Auditori seasons, is the ‎Flat Rate 25 project aimed at attracting a younger audience.‎

The viability of the traditional subscription model is called into question with the arrival of ‎platforms that offer unlimited access to a vast amount of content, especially in the digital ‎realm. This new dynamic of consumption and of understanding the value of the subscription ‎has firmly taken root, especially amongst younger generations.‎

L’Auditori, aware of this new reality, is offering a special season ticket for young people ‎under 25. The ticket will give them unlimited access to the hundreds of concerts offered by ‎L’Auditori at a flat rate of 50 euros per season. From 48 hours before each concert, holders of ‎this season ticket can obtain their tickets free of charge (subject to availability), allowing ‎them access to over 300 concerts that include everything from early music to electronic music.‎

You can use this video if ‎you need images of the Band.‎