University of Navarra Symphony Orchestra Concert

  Nov. 26
  7:30 p.m.
  €9 and €5 (University of Navarra students)
MUN Theater
 

The University of Navarra Symphony Orchestra kicks off its sixth season with its traditional fall concert. For this program, the ensemble once again held a competition among its members to select soloists. Following the success of the competition, and with the aim of providing as many opportunities as possible, two soloists were selected: David Bergman and Fernando González.

Bergman will perform the first movement of F. Mendelssohn's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 64, and González will perform the first movement of E. Grieg's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 16.

An opportunity to enjoy live symphonic music.

PROGRAM

E. Grieg: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in A minor, Op. 16

I. Allegro molto moderato

Fernando González, piano
 

F. Mendelssohn: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 64

I. Allegro molto appassionato

David Bergman, violin

I. Stravinsky: Suite from "The Firebird" (1919 version)

N. Rimsky-Korsakov: Caprice Espagnol, Op. 34

BORJA QUINTAS. Director

The prolific conductor Borja Quintas has conducted some of the world's most important orchestras, such as the London Symphony Orchestra and the New Russia Symphony Orchestra, and has accompanied soloists of the stature of Plácido Domingo, Javier Camarena, Ainhoa Arteta, and María Bayo. Strongly committed to young symphony orchestras as a driving force for artistic and social change, he is currently Artistic Director of the University of Navarra Symphony Orchestra and the JMJ Symphony Orchestra, Choir and Choir School, and teaches at the Aragón Conservatory of Music and the Katarina Gurska Higher Education Center, where he directs the Master's Degree in Conducting. Trained entirely as a conductor at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, he carries out his artistic activity mainly in Russia and Spain, although he has performed in most European capitals and in Middle Eastern countries such as Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kyrgyzstan.

SOLOISTS

DAVID BERGMAN. Violin

He began studying violin with his sister Christina Bergman at the age of six and remained under her instruction for six years. At the age of twelve, he studied with Raffaela Acella for five years. During that time, he won the Euskadi Young Musicians Competition in 2021 and 2023. He has taken several masterclasses with teachers such as Eric McCracken and Kamran Omarli. He is now a student of Aitzol Iturriagagoitia. For the past three years, he has been a member of the University of Navarra Symphony Orchestra. 

FERNANDO GONZÁLEZ. Piano

Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, he began studying piano at the age of nine at the Guillermo Salvador-Rosalinda Preciado Music Studio. Under the tutelage of Xochitl Ruvalcaba, he continued his training until he arrived in Pamplona and joined the University of Navarra Symphony Orchestra. He is currently in his second year at the Higher Technical School of Architecture. This concert marks one year since he joined the musical ensemble and is his first performance as a soloist and his third participation with this orchestra.

TEACHERS

NIKOLA TAKOV. Professor of high strings

Originally from Sofia, Bulgaria, Nikola began playing the violin at the age of five. He received his Bachelor's degree in violin performance from Louisiana State University and his Master's degree in Music and Diploma in Performance from Boston University. His principal teachers include Yuri Mazurkevich, Kevork Mardrossian, and Dora Ivanova. Mr. Takov has performed extensively in the United States and Bulgaria as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral performer. He has also performed in master classes, including those taught by Yfrah Neaman, David Cerone, Joseph Silverstein, Camilla Wicks, Sergiu Luca, Charles Cattleman, and Elmar Oliveira. Nikola is a founding member of the Kalistos Chamber Orchestra and was concertmaster of the Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra (2004-2009). He was also a member of the Portland Symphony Orchestra and the Rhode Island Philharmonic (2001-2009). He is currently a member of the Navarra Symphony Orchestra, Pamplona, Spain.

ALEJANDRO SAÚL. Professor of low strings

Cuban cellist Alejandro Saúl began his musical training at the Guillermo Tomás Conservatory in Havana and graduated in 2012 from the University of the Arts (ISA), where he studied with Gladys Lo and Juan Verdera. During his training, he excelled in chamber music, cello, and composition competitions and festivals, winning significant awards, such as second place in the National Cello Competition in 2009. He has been a soloist with all the Cuban symphony orchestras and numerous chamber orchestras, expanding his repertoire from historical performance to jazz and electronic music, and collaborating with renowned international artists.

His career also includes composition and music production. In 2015, he released his first solo album, an ambitious work that compiles compositions for cello and orchestra by Cuban composers such as Juan Piñera and Guido López-Gavilán. He has created significant arrangements, such as those for the mass for Pope Francis in 2015, and his music has been performed in Cuba and internationally. Winner of the Igartza scholarship and other prestigious awards, he has worked in the Basque Country with renowned orchestras and has continued to perfect his art under the tutelage of Asier Polo since 2017.

JOÃO PAIVA. Wind instrument teacher

He began his professional studies at the Coimbra Conservatory of Music and the Escola Profissional de Música de Espinho. In 2011, he began his higher education at the Escola Superior de Música e Artes do Espectáculo. During this period, he won several international awards: Young Artist Competition (Kansas, 2016), Vienna International Music Competition: Musikverein, Concurso Premium Paços, Verão Clássico – Classical Summer, and was accompanied as a soloist by the Orquestra Clássica de Espinho and the Orquestra do Norte.

In 2017, he was invited to perform at the opening ceremony of ClarinetFest, alongside soloists such as Eddie Daniels, Stanley Drucker, Michele Zukovsky, and Richard Stoltzman, in Orlando, Florida, USA.

In 2020, he joined Pascal Moragués' class at the Reina Sofía School of Music (ESMRS) to study for a Master's Degree in Artistic Teaching of Musical Performance, in which he also obtained the highest mark. He has collaborated with several European orchestras, including the Orchestre de Paris, the Royal Theater Symphony Orchestra, the ORCAM, and Sir András Schiff's La Cappella Andrea Barca. He is currently the principal clarinetist of the Navarra Symphony Orchestra.