About
Bulwark of the avant-garde and model of attention to the Spanish repertoire since its creation in 1987, the Orchestra of the Community of Madrid (ORCAM) has distinguished itself by presenting innovative programming, which has combined the highlights of contemporary creation with the traditional repertoire . Critic and public have unanimously underlined the interest and attractiveness of the ORCAM subscription seasons. His concert cycle at the National Music Auditorium has become an essential reference in the Spanish musical life and meeting point of a varied and dynamic audience, interested in knowing all the musical currents and the constant absolute premieres that include their different cycles of concerts.
The solid endorsement represented by its subscribers and the support of the most demanding specialized media express the importance of the activity of the ORCAM, which has extended the scope of its activities beyond the successful season of Madrid subscription, having actively incorporated the seasons of other stages of the Community, such as the Theaters del Canal and the Auditorium Theater San Lorenzo de El Escorial.
His presence has been required in the most prestigious halls and cycles throughout the State, as well as in international seasons and festivals, having visited the Teatro Bellas Artes de México D.F. and various rooms in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. In Europe he has performed in such emblematic places as the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, La Fenice Theater in Venice, the Lingotto in Turin, the Arsenal in Metz and the Konzerthaus in Berlin. Italy is a country that frequently hosts ORCAM performances, notably the Biennale di Venezia and the MITO Festival (Milan and Turin). Likewise, it is necessary to point out the performance held in the New York Carnegie Hall with Placido Domingo, at the orders of Master Miguel Roa.
The close relationship of the ORCAM with the lyric is backed by the fact that the orchestra has been, since 1998, the Orchestra Head of the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, which has placed it as the greatest exponent of the genre, taking place in its different seasons reruns, repositions, recoveries, recordings and commissions of various kinds.
In the record field, it is worth highlighting the more than forty records made for national and international labels such as Emi, Deutsche Grammophon, Verso, Stradivarius, Decca, Naxos, etc. along with artists such as Plácido Domingo, Ainhoa Arteta, Carlos Alvarez, or Rolando Villazón, among others.
On the ORCAM podium there have been guest professors as prestigious as Fabio Biondi, Harry Christophers, Michel Corboz, Leopold Hager, Jean Jacques Kantorow, Isaac Karabtchevsky, Lorin Maazel, Paul McCreesh, Shlomo Mintz, Krysztof Penderecki, Alberto Zedda, Libor Pesek and José Serebrier. The list of Spanish directors includes, among others, Edmon Colomer, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Enrique García Asensio, Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez, Pablo González, Cristóbal Halffter, Jesús López Cobos, Ernest Martínez Izquierdo, Juanjo Mena, Víctor Pablo Pérez, Josep Pons and Antoni Ros Marbá.
No less extensive is the list of soloists, which include figures such as Aldo Ciccolini, Shlomo Mintz, Jennifer Larmore, Hansjörg Schellenberger, Michael Volle, Nikolai Lugansky, Benjamin Schmidt, Barry Douglas, Asier Polo, Joaquin Achúcarro, Dietrich Henschel, Dame Felicity Lott, Akiko Suwanai, Artur Pizarro, Anatol Ugorsky, Pablo Sáinz Villegas and Gerard Caussé.
Miguel Groba (1985 - 2000) and José Ramón Encinar (2000 - 2013) have been the artistic leaders of the ORCAM until the incorporation, in September 2013, of Víctor Pablo Pérez as Titular and Artistic Director.