Rita Castro Blanco
Conductor | Maestrina

2019/20

CANCELLED - Lucerne Festival Academy - Conducting Fellowship
Aug
14
to Aug 30

CANCELLED - Lucerne Festival Academy - Conducting Fellowship

THIS EVENT WAS CANCELLED DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.

Lucerne Academy Orchestra

David Robertson, Sylvain Cambreling Tutors

Rita Castro Blanco, Jack Sheen, Noah Max, Swann Van Rechem Conducting Fellows

Pierre Boulez - Éclat/Multiples
Pierre Boulez - Livre pour cordes
Anton Webern - Variationen op. 30
Igor Stravinsky - Variations (Aldous Huxley in memoriam)
Anton Webern - Symphony op. 21

This internationally unique campus for contemporary music was founded in 2003 by the French composer and conductor Pierre Boulez and Festival Executive and Artistic Director Michael Haefliger. Starting in the summer of 2016 the German composer Wolfgang Rihm took over as Artistic Director. The teaching faculty consists of leading performers of contemporary music who are members of such distinguished formations as the Ensemble intercontemporain, the Ensemble Modern, the Klangforum Wien, and the Ensemble Musikfabrik. In addition, other acclaimed conductors, composers, and soloists have been invited each summer in recent years, including such figures as Sir George Benjamin, Peter Eötvös, Isabelle Faust, Alan Gilbert, Heinz Holliger, Anne-Sophie Mutter, and Sir Simon Rattle. The works on their “curriculum” are eventually presented to the public in concerts by the Orchestra of the LUCERNE FESTIVAL ACADEMY, for which all of the students join together, as well as on various ensemble programs.

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CANCELLED - Elgar , the man for the occasion
May
9
7:30 PM19:30

CANCELLED - Elgar , the man for the occasion

THIS EVENT WAS CANCELLED DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.

Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra

Rita Castro Blanco Conductor

E. Elgar - In the South (Alassio)
E. Elgar - Serenade for Strings
E. Elgar - Sea Pictures
E. Elgar - Enigma Variations

This concert devoted to the music of Elgar features music including his very first published work, the Serenade for Strings which appeared in 1892, and the new composition featured in the first all-Elgar festival held at Covent Garden in 1904, his overture – In the South, written after a visit to Alassio in Italy. It was in July 1904 that Elgar was knighted by King Edward VII.

1899 was the year that sealed Elgar’s position as the leading English composer of his day and we feature two of the three works responsible. Sea Pictures, a song cycle for contralto and orchestra, first performed by Clara Butt and made particularly memorable in the recording by Dame Janet Baker with Sir John Barbirolli, features a poem written by Elgar’s wife, Alice, In Haven (Capri). The others are Sea Slumber Song by Roden Noel, Sabbath Morning at Sea by Elizabeth Barratt Browning,  Where Corals Lie by Richard Garnett, and The Swimmer by Adam Lindsay Gordon. The Variations on an Original Theme (Enigma), or Enigma Variations, dedicated to his friends “pictured within”, was the work that finally brought Elgar his recognition both nationally and internationally, and it remains a favourite for audiences and players alike.  

Fittingly for a season which includes this work, our title for this series of concerts is taken from Sigmund Spaeth’s The Art of Enjoying Music: “Music is made of tones in time.” He became known as The Tune Detective for his work tracing popular songs to their folk and classical roots.


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CANCELLED - Kritisches Orchester
Mar
11
to Mar 15

CANCELLED - Kritisches Orchester

  • Hanns Eisler Hocshule fur Musik (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

The Critical Orchestra / Kritisches Orchester® unites members of well-known orchestras, who gather on a voluntary basis to offer young junior conductors a globally unique teaching situation. It is the musicians themselves who give the feedback and suggestions to the conductors during the rehearsal phase. The young talents thus benefit from the experience of the musicians from orchestras such as the Staatskapelle Berlin, Staatskapelle Dresden, Deutsche Oper, Komische Oper, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, NDR-Elbphilharmonie-Orchester, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Niedersächsisches Staatsopernorchester, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn and others.

The workshop is to be held in three rounds. Only the participants who prove themselves in the rehearsals will reach the next round. This way, the three finalists will gradually gain precious rehearsal time with this unique orchestra.

Simone Young, the project’s director-mentor for the year 2018, highlights the importance of the workshop for the training of a conductor: “The direct contact with great musicians is something most young conductors can only dream of. It is a privilege and a great opportunity for them to make great progress in their development within just a few days. And this is precisely what distinguishes the workshop of the Critical Orchestra / Kritisches Orchester®.”

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Pirate Gold
Feb
9
2:30 PM14:30

Pirate Gold

Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra

Rita Castro Blanco, Conductor

Our February afternoon concert has become a family favourite, an ideal first concert for children or grandchildren, with the Town Hall providing a great venue where they can experience live orchestral music in an informal setting.

Music will include Pirates of the Caribbean, The Pirates of Penzance, Jaws (unless we find a crocodile in time), sea shanties and much more. Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen -everything’s shipshape for a musical adventure with our Pirate King.

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Strauss – The Viennese Family
Dec
8
2:30 PM14:30

Strauss – The Viennese Family

Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra

Rita Castro Blanco, Conductor
Rowena Burton, Soloist

Programme includes the Overture and Champagne Song from Die Fledermaus, The Blue Danube, Radetzky March and The Pizzicato Polka, plus other favourites from the Strauss family and their home city of Vienna.

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Berlioz – c’est fantastique!
Nov
9
7:30 PM19:30

Berlioz – c’est fantastique!

Huddersfield Philharmonic Orchestra

Rita Castro Blanco, Conductor

G. Verdi  - Overture La Forza del destino
G. Holst - St Paul’s Suite
R. Wagner - Overture Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg
H. Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique

Which of the two powers, Love or Music, can elevate man to the sublimest heights? It is a great problem, and yet it seems to me that this is the answer: “Love can give no idea of music; music can give an idea of love.” Why separate them? They are the two wings of the soul.

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BBC Philharmonic Masterclass
Sep
23
to Sep 25

BBC Philharmonic Masterclass

BBC Philharmonic

Clark Rundell, Mark Heron Teachers

S. Rachmaninoff - Symphonic Dances
J. Brahms - Variations on a Theme by Haydn

Held in conjunction with the RNCM Conducting Department, this concert is the culmination of a 3-day conducting masterclass. Conductors from a wide variety of backgrounds were invited to work with the orchestra under the guidance of Clark Rundell and Mark Heron. As well as the chance to compare and contrast such a wide array of talent, we will also explore what it is that a conductor does and why it makes such a difference to an orchestra!

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