Orfeón Donostiarra

Orfeón Donostiarra

It is one of the most important choirs in Europe. Their repertoire includes around a hundred symphonic-choral works, over 50 operas and zarzuelas, and a large number of folk and polyphony pieces. It preserves an amateur choir spirit but with a professional commitment that allows them to perform an average of 35-40 concerts per year. Since 1987, their director is José Antonio Sáinz Alfaro. The choir regularly participates in the most important music festivals in Spain such as Granada, Quincena Musical, Peralada and Santander, among others, and has performed at the European festivals of Lucerne, The Proms, Salzburg, Berlioz Festival in La Côte Saint-André, Chorègies d'Orange, the Rhine Festival, the Triennales du Rhur, Saint-Denis in Paris, and Radio France and Montpellier. It has been directed by numerous conductors, such as Abbado, Argenta, Barenboim, Chailly, Dudamel, Frühbeck, Gergiev, López Cobos, Maag, Makerras, Maazel, Mandeal, Markewich, Masur, Mehta, Muti, Nezet-Séguin, Ozawa, Pletnev, Temirkanov, Ticciati, Rattle, Salonen, Sokhiev, Stokovsky, Víctor Pablo Pérez and Zedda, among others. They have collaborated with the National Capitol Orchestra of Toulouse, Berlin Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester of Berlin and the Sinfónica de Galicia, and made over 200 recordings.

Jon Urdapilleta

Jon Urdapilleta is a Basque pianist born in 1996. He has won numerous First Prizes and awards, including the Silver Medal at the 1st Vienna International Music Competition (2019). He has also performed recitals at Donostia Musika and the Quincena Musical de Donostia, at TIHMS in The Netherlands, and at the International Festival Piano Classique in Biarritz, among others. Jon has performed as a soloist in venues such as the Kursaal Auditorium in San Sebastian, the Euskalduna Palace in Bilbao, the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona and St. John's Smith Square in London. Jon's future appearances include recitals at the Victoria Eugenia Theatre in San Sebastian and the Steinway Hall in London, as well as several concerts with the Orfeón Donostiarra.
He has been mentored by musicians such as Galina Eguiazarova, Jacques Rouvier, Christopher Elton, Yevgeny Sudbin, Pascal Devoyon, Kristian Bezuidenhout and Maxim Vengerov. Jon studied piano at the Escuela Municipal de Música de Donostia with his teacher and mother, Ma Isabel Martín. He went on to obtain a Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts at the prestigious Royal Academy of Music in London with Pascal Nemirovski and Rustem Hayroudinoff, graduating with the highest marks. Simultaneously, he studied orchestra conducting with Dominic Grier and Sian Edwards. His interest in historical instruments led him to deepen his knowledge in this field with fortepianist Kristian Bezuidenhout. Jon is deeply grateful for the support of the Fundación Kutxa, the Diputación de Gipuzkoa and the Royal Academy of Music.

Besides piano, Jon studied violin with Catalin and Anton Bucataru, receiving a Professional Music Diploma in that instrument with Pedro Aguinaga. He also studied organ with Loreto Fernández Imaz.

Jon is a piano teacher by public examination at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música "Juan Crisóstomo de Arriaga" in Bilbao.

José Antonio Sainz Alfaro

With a degree in Physical Sciences, José Antonio Sainz Alfaro (San Sebastián, 1956) has been vocationally and professionally linked to music from a very young age. His enthusiasm and early musical instinct were guided by the founder of the Coral San Ignacio, Padre Garayoa, who he would replace years later as the head of the group. He studied music at his hometown conservatoire with teachers such as Francisco Escudero and Tomás Aragüés, and furthered his training by attending various choral conducting courses abroad.

Between 1980 and 1988, he conducted the Coral San Ignacio, while at the same time developing an important pedagogical work in the Gipuzkoa Choir Federation.

His first contact with the Orfeón Donostiarra took place in 1974, when he joined the group as a baritone. Throughout the eighties, he collaborated closely with the conductor of the ensemble, Antxon Ayestarán, to whom he soon became assistant. Once appointed assistant director, he contributed to the preparation and rehearsal of many new works, and helped to promote a still modest expansion strategy. After Ayestarán's sudden death in 1986, he took over the Orfeón, and from then on Sainz Alfaro's professional life has been devoted to it. The choir began a new chapter, characterized by its presence on international stages and by the constant expansion of its repertoire. This work was recognized by the Spanish National Radio, who in 1992 awarded it the Ojo Crítico Prize in the music category.

Among the numerous recordings made during Sainz Alfaro's tenure, it is worth mentioning the CD Orfeón 1987-1997: Between Sacred and Secular, which obtained a Platinum Disc; the recording of Verdi's Requiem Mass released by EMI in 2003, which was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category of "Best Choral Performance", a nomination that the conductor of the Orfeón shared with the conductor of the other two choirs that participated in this recording: the Swedish Radio Choir and the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir. Another CD from 2003 is Mahler's 2nd, recorded during the Lucerne Festival concert conducted by Abbado with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, which was awarded a Diapason d'Or by the French magazine Diapason, and the CD entitled "Canciones", of a more folk character, which was awarded a Disco de Oro.

Over two decades ago, Sainz Alfaro began a new journey as an orchestra conductor that has brought him to direct different musical groups, such as the Latvian National Philharmonic Orchestra, the Spanish Radio and Television Symphony, the Euskadi Symphony, the Russian National Orchestra, the Istanbul Symphony, the Filharmonia Pomorska, the National Opera of Sofia, the George Enesco Philharmonic Orchestra of Bucharest, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Madrid, the Orchestra of the San Carlos Theater in Lisbon, the Vallés Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestra of Malaga, with which he has performed, together with the Orfeón he conducts, a large portion of the most demanding symphonic-choral repertoire.