L’Auditori and the Barcelona Symphony Band are organising, with the collaboration of the Catalan Federation of Musical Societies (FCSM), L’Auditori’s First Conducting Course for Symphony Bands. Led by José Rafael Pascual-Vilaplana, principal conductor of the Barcelona Symphony Band, the course will take place between 13 and 17 July.
L’Auditori and the Band are offering this training course in order to contribute towards enhancing skills within the field of orchestral conducting through theoretical and practical learning. Students will work on the repertoire with the Barcelona Symphony Band and cover elements such as learning conducting gestures, score study and analysis technique, rehearsal planning, the challenge faced by conductors to achieve instrumental tuning, and also other vital aspects such as taking into account practical considerations including programming for an amateur band, motivation and ensemble development.
His experience with similar courses has led the Band’s principal conductor, José Rafael Pascual-Vilaplana, to devise a course that will enable concert band conductors to explore the technical aspects of their role in greater depth and gain a contextual insight of concert bands, both from the point of view of the original repertoire for this ensemble and from the perspective of their singularity as an orchestral group.
The final day of the course, Friday 17 July, will be devoted to preparing the closing concert, in which course participants will conduct the Barcelona Symphony Band presenting the pieces they have worked on during the week. The concert will take place in L’Auditori’s Sala 2 Oriol Martorell and entry will be free with invitation.
Two registration options
In order to make L’Auditori’s First Conducting Course for Symphony Bands as accessible as possible, a maximum of 10 participating students will be accepted and also several observing studentswill be able to attend, sitting in on the theory and practical classes as spectators. The course will take place in the mornings and afternoons.
José Rafael Pascual-Vilaplana, a well-established conductor
José R. Pascual-Vilaplana, principal conductor of the Barcelona Symphony Band and director of the Conducting Course, boasts a career path that attests to his excellence in conducting and also composition. He was born in Muro (Alicante) and studied Conducting for Symphony Bands in Holland with maestros such as Jan Cober and Eugene Corporon, and also Orchestral Conducting in Vienna with figures including Karl Österreicher, Yuji Yuhasa and Hans Graf.
He has directed the Buenos Aires Symphony Band, the National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands, the National Band of Cuba, the symphony bands of Alicante, Castellón, Madrid, Pontevedra, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and others. Since 2018, he has been principal conductor of the Barcelona Symphony Band. He is also conductor of the Orquestra de Vents Filharmonia and principal guest conductor of the Portuguese Symphonic Band (Porto).
He teaches conducting for concert band at the E.C.M Vall d’Albaida and the ISEB in Trento (Italy). Most notable amongst the various awards he has received is the First Prize “Baton of Honour” of the 1st European Young Conductors’ Competition for Composition organised by the EBBA in Birmingham (UK) and the Federation of Music Societies of the Autonomous Region of Valencia’s Euterpe Award in two categories: Festival Music Composition and Orchestral Conducting.
The Barcelona Symphony Band, an institution with more than 130 years’ history
The Barcelona Symphony Band is one of the oldest music ensembles in Barcelona. Founded in 1886 by Barcelona City Council, L’Auditori has been its home since 2007 and is the venue for its regular concert season. It develops projects in collaboration with Spanish and international artists and groups. As of September 2018, it began a new phase with José R. Pascual-Vilaplana as its principal conductor.
In 2016, the Band celebrated 130 years of existence, during which time it has remained faithful to the objectives for which it was originally created; namely, bringing the music of great composers to the public by offering high-quality performances. It has also succeeded in adapting to new challenges by expanding the reach of the current concert band repertoire, commissioning new works by Catalan composers and collaborating with a diverse range of artists.
Today, the Barcelona Symphony Band is an institution that is committed to the society around it, giving its time and being an active player in championing the Barcelona instrumental scene.
For more information about L’Auditori’s First Conducting Course for Symphony Bands, from 13 to 17 July 2020, write to cursdirecciobandes2020@gmail.com.
L’Auditori i la Banda Municipal de Barcelona impulsen el Primer Curs de Direcció per a Banda
03-Mar-2020 – Aleix Palau