Segovia Boosts its new Symphony Orchestra

Despite the fact that Segovia is known by its cultural activity, it is one of the few provinces of Castile and León that lacked a classical orchestra. For this reason, musicians Álvaro Mendía and Geni Uñón founded the brand new Segovia Symphony Orchestra, that carried out its first concert on December 22 in the local theatre with a numerous attendance.

“Geni [Uñón] and I have a lot of friends, fellows and old students who left the city in order to develop their careers as musicians,” Mendía, artistic director, said. “We thought it was the right moment to bring up the possibility of counting on them to create a big orchestra.”

The project was presented last month with the support of Sara Dueñas and Marifé Santiago, Council and Town Hall’s culture representatives. According to the founders, after contacting specialists and public institutions, everyone seemed really enthusiast and supportive. The project, then, will basically consist in creating a stable orchestra and offering a high-quality repertoire that people can understand.

“It is true that is complicated to find cultural support from institutions and private organizations, but as teachers, we think it is essential to make classical music as close, enjoyable and understandable as possible,” Mendía claimed. “Then, the public could demand those spectacles more and they will be consumed in a regular basis.”

Therefore, the orchestra began its first season in Juan Bravo Theatre in Segovia. The two-parts program put the spotlight on the Romantic late-nineteenth century with a touch of French Impressionism of the early 1900s. The first part included an instrumental version of Bizet’s opera Carmen, as well as Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The orchestra followed with the interpretation of Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake Suite.

“[The concert] was a big challenge. First of all, the concert date was a bit rushed; and second, the repertoire we decided was risky in the technical sense and by the fact that all of them are pretty known by the public and the only option was to execute them ideally.” Mendía expressed. “However, I think the numerous attendance as well as the musicians’ quality and commitment, specially our piano soloist Alejandro Algarra, made us overcome these challenges to get a wonderful result.”

Segovia Symphony Orchestra was founded in 2017 by Mendía and Uñón, who are musicians and teachers at the Professional Conservatory of Segovia. Currently, it is formed by 57 people including stringed, wind and percussion instrumentalists. They are willing to set a stable schedule during the year, as well as to collaborate with institutions that help disadvantaged people.