THE AIMS FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA, 06.08 -09.08.2024

• An AIMS highlight: The Festival Orchestra – 4 days of intense work with a concert on the last day.
• Rehearsals: from August 6th at 10am until the 10th of August.
• Concert: 9th of August, 20h, in Solsona.
• Jordi Francés will rehearse and conduct the Symphony nº7 in A major, op. 92 by Ludwig van Beethoven, and the Simfonia Concertante for violin, viola and orchestra in E flat major, K. 364/320d by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Selection of string musicians:

• A selection will be made among the students of the Academy of Strings. This will be done by the faculty and the director of the Academy of Strings and Piano. It will be communicated before the 15th of May.
• Participation in the Orchestra is mandatory for selected students.
• Price: included in the Academy of Strings and Piano.

Selection of wind musicians:

• A selection will be made among the students of the Wind Academy. This will be done by the faculty and the director of the Wind Academy. It will be communicated before May 15th.
• Participation in the Orchestra is mandatory for selected students, except if there is a justified reason.
• The arrival will be before the start of the Wind Academy. Selected students have to arrive in Solsona on Thursday, the 5th of August before 6pm.
• Price: there are no additional costs, and it will include accommodation and breakfast from the 5th to the 10th of August (5 nights) and lunch from the 6th to the 10th of August (both days included).

Jordi Francés develops an interesting activity characterized by a wide perspective on the artistic issue. As a director he coexists between opera, symphonic repertoire and current creation. His closely upcoming commitments include invitations from: the National Orchestra of Spain, Teatro Real, Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra, Orquesta de Valencia, Bilbao Symphony, Principality of Asturias Orchestra, etc., as well as numerous projects with the Ensemble Sonido Extremo, of which he is artistic director. He has also directed the BBC Phil., Orquesta de Rtve, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, and many other ensembles in Europe and America.

Very interested in contemporary creation, he has conducted the world premieres of more than one hundred works and worked with: Birtwistle, Eötvös, Haas, Manoury, Gervasoni, Sotelo, López-López, Sánchez-Verdú, Camarero, Torres, Ibarrondo, Río-Pareja, Magrané, García-Tomás, among many others. His approach to the world of opera developed to a large extent under the guidance of Josep Pons, whom he attended since 2015 at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. He made his debut at the Teatro Real in 2016 and currently maintains a fruitful relationship with the theater in whose seasons he has directed: the world premiere of the opera Tránsito by J.Torres, the premiere in Spain of Orphèe by P.Glass, Arabella by R .Strauss. He also made his debut at the Palau de les Arts with Trouble in Tahiti by L.Bernstein and already has confirmed titles in both theaters for the next seasons.

During the last decade, Jordi Francés has also developed an interesting pedagogical approach to work with young musicians. Under this prism, Jordi has worked with some of the most important educational music institutions in the country such as: JONDE, JORCAM, ESMUC, JONC, JOGV, etc. As of the 24/25 season, he will be a professor at the Reina Sofía School’s Orchestra Conducting Chair.

Jordi Francés graduated from the Hogeschool Zuyd in Maastricht (Holland). He later postgraduated from the “Conservatorio della Svizzera Italiana” in Switzerland in contemporary repertoire conducting and finalley took his Master’s Degree in Musicology from the University of La Rioja. His extensive training as a conductor also includes stays at the Manhattan School of Music, the “International Järvi Academy” in Estonia, the “Eötvös Foundation” in Budapest, the IRCAM in Paris with professors such as Kurt Masur, Jorma Panula, Paavo Järvi and Peter Eötvös.