Beethoven, Mozart and Williams to celebrate the 40 years of the Vallès Symphony Orchestra

BarcelonaThe Vallès Symphony Orchestra (OSV) celebrates 40 years of music with a new season of the 'Simfònics al Palau' series at the Palau de la Música, which combines great classics, soundtracks, and contemporary creation. The 2026-2027 season will open on Saturday, September 19, with Beethoven's Emperor under the baton of Andrés Salado, the orchestra's principal conductor, and with pianist Alba Ventura as soloist. In total, the program will offer 30 concerts, including three absolute premieres.

Last season, the 'Simfònics al Palau' series gathered more than 39,000 spectators, with an average occupancy of 83% and seven sold-out concerts. "We are in a moment of renewal for this orchestra, which was founded by a group of idealists from the Sabadell Opera Friends Association, with the incorporation of 25 new musicians in the last five years," explains Òscar Lanuza, manager of the OSV. The new season will combine, as usual, different musical genres ranging from opera and zarzuela to pop-rock. "Orchestras must be a reflection of society, which is very complex and diverse," remarks the general director of the Palau de la Música, Joan Oller.

Among the featured titles are Brahms' Hungarian Dances and Mozart's Coronation Mass and Requiem. A selection of Handel's Anthems will also be offered, performed by the Palau Chamber Choir, directed by musician Dani Espasa.

One of the successes of previous seasons, the tribute to John Williams and Hans Zimmer, will return to the Palau de la Música on October 11 with scores from Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean, and with narration in Catalan by voice actor Luis Posada. Soundtracks will play a leading role with Psycho in Concert, a screening of Alfred Hitchcock's classic with Bernard Herrmann's soundtrack. Likewise, on November 7, John Williams and great cinema choirs will arrive, featuring the voice of dubbing actress Isabel Valls and melodies by celebrated composers such as Williams himself, Ennio Morricone, and James Horner. "The emotion is heightened with live music and we want it to be an experience they have never lived before," explains Oller.

Three premieres

The cycle maintains its commitment to contemporary creation with three premieres starting on November 21st with the Concerto for saxophone, orchestra and girls' choir 'Albes i nits', by Miquel de Jorge, which dialogues with popular pieces such as Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnol and Khachaturian's Sabre Dance. The soloist will be saxophonist Iñaki Bermúdez. On January 16, 2027, the Concerto for ancestral instruments, by Abraham Cupeiro, will premiere in a program with Stravinsky's The Firebird. And in April, Marco Mezquida will premiere the Concerto for piano and orchestra, which he will perform in an OSV program dedicated to Beethoven.

Simfònics al Palau continues to program operas and zarzuelas in collaboration with the Fundació Òpera a Catalunya. This year, works such as Donizetti's L’elisir d’amore, Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana, Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Martínez Valls' Cançó d’amor i de guerra and Verdi's Aida will be presented. The season will close on May 29th with George Gershwin's An American in Paris and two clarinet concertos, one by Mozart and another by Artie Shaw, with Carlos Ferreira as soloist.