Tickets for the final rehearsal for the 34th Princess of Asturias Awards Concert

The Princess of Asturias Foundation will make 1200 seats available to the public for the final rehearsal of the 34th Princess of Asturias Awards Concert, organized in collaboration with the Cajastur Foundation. The final rehearsal, which will be open to the public, will take place at 8:00pm on Wednesday 21st October at the Prince Felipe Auditorium in Oviedo.

Tickets to attend the rehearsal will be available from the Prince Felipe Auditorium box offices on Saturday 17th October, from 9:30am to 2:00pm and from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, or until there are no tickets left. A maximum of two tickets will be made available per person.

The Foundation Choir and the Principality of Asturias Symphony Orchestra (OSPA) will perform a selection of movements from the work Symphony No. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 52, “Lobgesang” (“Hymn of Praise”) by Felix Mendelssohn. Conducted by Nuno Coelho, the concert will also feature the participation of sopranos Sylvia Schwartz and Pilar Alva-Martín and tenor Santiago Ballerini.

 

Nuno Coelho*

Principal conductor of the Principality of Asturias Symphony Orchestra (OSPA) since October 2022, Coelho is the founder and artistic director of the Mondego International Music Academy in Coimbra, where renowned artists mentor the new generation of composers, conductors and instrumentalists. He has also conducted the Spanish National Youth Orchestra (JONDE) on tour –with performances at the Konzerthaus in Berlin and the Rheingau Musik Festival, among others– and, in the summer of 2026, conducted the Netherlands National Youth Orchestra at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. His opera credits include a semi-staging of Così fan tutte and José Saramago’s reimagining of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, both at the Gulbenkian Foundation. He has also conducted productions of La traviata, Cavalleria rusticana, Rusalka and Manon, as well as the staging of Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, directed by Lemi Ponifasio, at the Barbican Centre with the Britten Sinfonia. 

Highlights of his past three seasons include: concerts with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and the Frankfurt Radio Philharmonic Orchestra; the Minnesota Orchestra; the Trondheim, Antwerp, São Paulo State, Adelaide, BBC and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras; the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra; the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège; and the Spanish National Orchestra. He will return to the Oviedo Opera House in December 2026 to conduct Manon Lescaut. In addition to his concerts in Oviedo, the 2026/27 season will see him once again leading the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra (Norway), the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra (Finland), the Symphoniker Hamburg (Germany) and the Gulbenkian Orchestra (Portugal). He will also debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (Canada), the Royal Northern Sinfonia (England) and the Tonkünstler Orchestra at the Musikverein in Vienna.

 

Sylvia Schwartz (soprano)*

Sylvia Schwartz is recognized as one of the leading sopranos of her generation. She has performed on stages such as La Scala in Milan, the Berlin State Opera, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, the Hamburg State Opera, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Bolshoi Theatre and the Teatro del Maggio Fiorentino. She has also been a frequent guest at numerous international festivals, including Edinburgh, Baden-Baden, Salzburg and Verbier. Her recent engagements include Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, conducted by András Schiff, at the Felsenreitschule in Salzburg, as well as Eurydice in Philip Glass’ Orphée for the Teatro Real, and Rosalinde in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus at The Grange Festival. 

In the concert world, she has worked with pianists such as Malcolm Martineau, Wolfram Rieger, Simon Lepper and Helmut Deutsch, as well as with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Daniel Barenboim (2002 Prince of Asturias Laureate for Concord), Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Philippe Jordan, René Jacobs, Fabio Luisi, Iván Fischer, Sir Colin Davis, Gustavo Dudamel, Marc Minkowski, Ivor Bolton, Zubin Mehta, Helmut Rilling and Alain Altinoglu, for both opera and concert performances. Of particular note is her career in recitals covering the entire European repertoire, from popular Renaissance melodies to contemporary composers, with works written specifically for her. She is a regular on stages such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Philharmonie Berlin, Musikverein Wien, Sydney Opera House and countless other concert halls and festivals. 

In recent seasons, Sylvia Schwartz has performed roles such as Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Micaela in Carmen, Cleopatra in Giulio Cesare, the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro and Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte. On the symphonic stage, her extensive repertoire includes works by Bach and Mozart, Mendelssohn and Brahms, Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony, as well as symphonies by Mahler, and Dvorák’s Stabat Mater. This autumn, she will release an album of French songs, in addition to a recording of Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. 

 

Pilar Alva-Martín (soprano)*

Pilar Alva-Martín began her musical training as a violinist and continued her specialization in opera singing in Switzerland, studying at the Haute École de Musique in Lausanne, where she obtained the Master de Soliste diploma in 2023. Her great artistic versatility allows her to command a wide and varied repertoire that encompasses works from all eras and styles.

She has performed alongside orchestras such as the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, the Valencia Symphony Orchestra, the Granada City and Baroque Orchestras, the Principality of Asturias Symphony Orchestra (OSPA), as well as with the Cantatio, Capella Concertata, Fratres and Íliber ensembles. She has been invited to give recitals at various festivals, including the Granada International Festival of Music and Dance, Valletta Baroque Festival (Malta), Grachten-festival in Amsterdam, Lavaux Classic and Le Mont Musical (Lausanne), Lied et Mélodie (Switzerland), and the Santa Cecilia International Festival (Mexico). She has sung in theatres and concert halls such as the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, the Palau de la Música in Valencia, the Manuel de Falla Auditorium in Granada, the Prince Felipe Auditorium in Oviedo, the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Degollado Theater in Guadalajara (Mexico), the Teatru Manoel (Malta), and the Rosey Concert Hall (Switzerland).

Throughout her career, she has worked with conductors such as Philippe Herreweghe, Carlos Mena, Aarón Zapico, François-Xavier Roth, Leonardo García Alarcón, Michel Corzboz, Stephan MacLeod, Joshua Weilerstein, Daniel Reus, John Duxbury, Benjamin Levy, Jean-Marc Aymes, Joseph Swensen and Martín Baeza Rubio. Worth highlighting among her engagements for the upcoming 2026-2027 season are: her debut at the National Music Auditorium in Madrid with the Ensemble Il Fervore, as part of the programming of Spain’s National Centre for Musical Diffusion (CNDM); she will form part of the cast of the production Andromeda and Perseus, to be performed at the Teatro de la Comedia and the Juan March Foundation; she will sing Mozart’s Requiem with the Granada City Orchestra at Granada Cathedral; she will debut in the role of Mitrane in Demetrio by Hasse with Forma Antiqva at the Prince Felipe Auditorium in Oviedo; and she will give a recital with pianist Rubén Fernández Aguirre in the Lied Arriagan season at the Arriaga Theatre in Bilbao.

 

Santiago Ballerini (tenor)*

Recognized as one of today’s foremost interpreters of the bel canto repertoire, the Argentinian-Italian tenor boasts more than seventeen years of professional experience as a singer, after nine years of training and performances as a pianist. Beyond the stage, Ballerini holds a university degree in Music Therapy from the University of Buenos Aires, as well as a Master’s degree specializing in addiction treatment.

His career has taken him to some of the most prestigious opera houses and concert halls in America and Europe, including the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, the Opéra National de Bordeaux, the Arena di Verona, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Ópera de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, the Opéra de Marseille, the Pacific Symphony in the USA, as well as The Atlanta Opera and Cincinnati Opera, among many others. His European career began at the Opéra National de Bordeaux, where he played Gualtiero in Bellini’s The Pirate, followed by performances at the Teatro Regio di Torino, the Opéra de Toulon, the Opéra Comique de Paris and other major European venues. In North America, he has performed with the Canadian Opera Company, The Atlanta Opera, Cincinnati Opera and Pacific Symphony, as well as at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Gianandrea Noseda.

His international career path will continue in the 2026/2027 season with important engagements. He will begin with his 44th operatic debut, performing the title role of Mozart’s Idomeneo in Toplice, Croatia, followed by Tebaldo in Bellini’s Capuleti e Montecchi alongside the Bratislava Philharmonic Orchestra. He will also present The Barber of Seville on a tour that will begin in Bilbao, with performances in November, and will continue later at the Petruzzelli Theatre in Bari, Italy, with performances in December. In January and February 2027, he will perform at the Teatro de la Zarzuela, in Los Gavilanes. He will also record an album with the Madrid Community Orchestra dedicated to the zarzuela titled El orgullo de quererte (The Pride of Loving You).

 

Princess of Asturias Foundation Choir

In keeping with the traditional love of Asturians for choral music, the Princess of Asturias Foundation established a polyphonic ensemble in 1983 with the aim of elevating its performance to the highest of levels. Conducted by José Esteban García Miranda since 1989, the Princess of Asturias Foundation Choir is considered an outstanding amateur ensemble that has achieved considerable renown on the international scene. Throughout its history, it has also been conducted by Luis Gutiérrez Arias, Sabas Calvillo, Víctor Pablo Pérez and Luis Vila.  Jesús López Cobos and Krzysztof Penderecki, Prince of Asturias Laureates for the Arts in 1981 and 2001 respectively, were honorary conductors of the Choir until their death.

The Choir has toured Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. In Europe, it has performed in France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Poland, Russia, the UK, Greece and Portugal. It has also performed in Jerusalem, Tampa (Florida), Washington, New York –in St Patrick’s Cathedral and at the Lincoln Center– on the occasion of Columbus Day, in São Paulo, Mexico City and Bogotá. In 2004, it was invited to participate at the marriage of Their Majesties King Felipe and Queen Letizia and performed during the traditional offering of the bride’s bouquet to the Virgin in the Royal Basilica of Our Lady of Atocha. It has also sung Cherubini’s Requiem in C minor alongside the Luigi Cherubini Youth Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Riccardo Muti, 2011 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts; excerpts from Richard Wagner’s opera Parsifal alongside the orchestra and soloists of the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, conducted by the institution’s artistic and general director Valery Gergiev; The Dream of Gerontis, Op. 38 by Edward Elgar, under the baton of Rossen Milanov; as well as Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 and Sergei Prokofiev’s Ivan the Terrible, conducted, respectively, by Pedro Amaral and Mykola Dyadyura.

Over the years, the Princess of Asturias Foundation Choir has been led by outstanding conductors such as Marcus Creed, Friedrich Haider, Ros Marbá, Peter Maag, John Neschling, Yuri Bashmet, Alberto Zedda, Paul Mann, Jesús López Cobos, Krzysztof Penderecki, Gustavo Dudamel, Sir Neville Marriner, Marzio Conti, Rossen Milanov, Juanjo Mena, Jonathan Webb and Alondra de la Parra. It has also collaborated with the Symphony Orchestra of the State of São Paulo; the Vienna Sinfonietta Classical Orchestra; the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, belonging to the National Network of Youth and Children’s Orchestras of Venezuela (2008 Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts); and the Philharmonic Orchestra (OFUNAM) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (2009 Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities); among others.

 

Principality of Asturias Symphony Orchestra*

Founded in 1991 by the Government of the Principality of Asturias, the Principality of Asturias Symphony Orchestra (Spanish acronym, OSPA), whose Honorary President is His Majesty King Felipe VI, is based at the Prince Felipe Auditorium in Oviedo and has established itself as one of Spain’s leading symphony orchestras, recognized for its artistic quality, versatility and performative capacity. Nuno Coelho has been its principal conductor since the 2022/2023 season. The OSPA runs a concert season in Oviedo and Gijón as well as performing extensively throughout Asturias and the rest of Spain. Throughout its history it has been led by outstanding maestros, including Jesse Levine, Maximiano Valdés and Rossen Milanov, and has collaborated with guest conductors such as Pablo González, Jaime Martín, Elim Chan, Vasily Petrenko, Dalia Stasevska and Hans Graf. It has also shared the stage with renowned international soloists such as Javier Perianes, Pablo Ferrández, Akiko Suwanai, Daniel Müller-Schott and Kirill Gerstein. 

Alongside its artistic activity, the orchestra carries out important educational and social work in Asturias, bringing symphonic music to new audiences and participating in educational and outreach initiatives. Outside of the Principality, the OSPA has performed at some of Spain’s leading auditoriums and festivals, including the Santander International Festival and Musika-Música in Bilbao. Its international activity includes tours and performances in countries such as France, Mexico, Chile, China, Bulgaria and the United States. In 2011, it gave a massively-attended concert before His Holiness Benedict XVI in the Nervi Hall in the Vatican. The orchestra has made recordings for the Artek, Naxos, Classic Concert Records and Channel Classics labels and has contributed to the recovery and diffusion of Spain’s musical heritage through the performance and recording of rare works from our country’s repertoire. The OSPA is an independent body under the Principality of Asturias’ Regional Vice-Ministry of Culture, Language Policy and Sports.