BARCELONA symphony orchestra
With its long history, having been founded in 1944 by composer and conductor Eduard Toldrà, today the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (OBC) is an ensemble devoted to the great symphonic repertoire, Catalan musical heritage and new music. A champion of musical modernity in southern Europe, it has a strong sense of social responsibility and deep roots in its home city.
During the 2022-23 season the orchestra embarked on a new phase, featuring Ludovic Morlot as its new Principal Conductor. In the 2024-25 season, the Franco-British conductor Stephanie Childress became its Principal Guest Conductor.
Throughout its history, the OBC has been led by such renowned conductors as Sergiu Celibidache, Valery Gergiev, Christopher Hogwood, Mariss Jansons, Jesús López Cobos, Witold Lutosławski, Yehudi Menuhin, Mstislav Rostropovich and Heitor Villa-Lobos.
The orchestra frequently collaborates with reknowned international artists such as Lang Lang, Janine Jansen, Mischa Maisky, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Arcadi Volodos, Pinchas Zukerman, Martha Argerich, Steven Isserlis, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Renaud Capuçon, Yuja Wang, Khatia Buniatishvili and Hilary Hahn.
The OBC’s commitment to new music has resulted in works being commissioned from some of the most prominent national and international creators, including Hèctor Parra, Bernat Vivancos, Thomas Adès, Joan Magrané, Ramon Humet, Benet Casablancas, Raquel García-Tomás, Luca Francesconi, David Lang, Lisa Streich, Olga Neuwirth and Cassandra Miller.
For some years now, the OBC has been engaged in an ambitious project to raise its international profile by strengthening its presence in digital environments at the same time organising concert tours to such iconic venues as the Musikverein and the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, London’s Royal Albert Hall, New York’s Carnegie Hall and the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. During the 2023-24 season the OBC performed at the iconic Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg and the historic Konserthuset in Stockholm, while in 2025 it appeared at the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence, the Auditorium in Lyon and the Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, to then return to Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie.
As part of L’Auditori’s recording programme, the OBC has a catalogue of symphonic albums published in digital form that is freely accessible on L’Auditori Play and other platforms. Particularly worthy of note is the ongoing project to record the complete symphonic works of Maurice Ravel, featuring Ludovic Morlot as principal conductor. The first volume has already been released, enjoying a warm reception from specialist critics. For example:
“Rarely has Ravel sounded so magically enchanted and so subtly orchestral” Rondo Magazin
“Every age has its own benchmarks, and this [recording of Ravel’s work]will without any doubt form part of the landscape of recorded music of our times” Crescendo Magazine
The OBC has previously released albums by Catalan composers such as Robert Gerhard, Núria Giménez Comas, Hèctor Parra, Bernat Vivancos and Miquel Oliu. It has also created a publishing line for composers with whom the orchestra has a close artistic relationship, including the Canadian Cassandra Miller, the American Gabriella Smith and the Catalan Raquel García-Tomás.
