We have chosen a symphony that is the opposite of beginners: Mahler’s Ninth is a testament, it speaks of the end of life, it is a long goodbye. And it is curious to work on this spiritual part with the National Youth Orchestra of Catalonia. Because technically it is very difficult, but it also requires you to have experienced nostalgia and many other things that take place throughout life”.
The speaker is teacher Josep Pons. The current musical director of the Liceu is the one who founded JONC thirty years ago and was its first artistic director. And precisely to celebrate these three decades of history, today and Tuesday he is at the head of this hundred young people to offer this Mahler first at the Atlàntida de Vic and on the 11th at the Palau de la Música Catalana.
The 98 musicians of the formation, instrumentalists from all over Catalonia who are between 18 and 25 years old, have been gathering since the 3rd at the Atlàntida facilities to prepare this concert. This is the first of a series of actions to celebrate the anniversary. In fact, it was born in September 1993 as the Young Symphony Orchestra of Catalonia (JOSC) and changed its name in 1999.
“The first JONC was a revolution. The new plain of the history of music in Spain is being written through the creation of young orchestras rather than through the construction of auditoriums. In those days our musicians all had to go abroad to study and JONC was a shock. Now it’s the musicians from other countries who come to study at our higher schools”.
The spectacular change in the level of young musicians in Catalonia is well reflected when comparing the ages at which they auditioned to enter the JONC and the ages now. “There is no color: the turning point then was at 23 or 24 years old. Now they are 17 and 18-year-olds, and the quality is ten times better. We have very young people who are among the best in the state. And if we look at the Liceu, before the turning point was at 30 and now it is at 23 or similar, just like in the big international orchestras. And it is usual for there to be equality and for the people here to take the places”, says Pons. “And this is the merit of the young orchestras, national and supra-national. Like the Young Mahler, or the Young European…”
Pons directed the project until 2001, when Manel Valdivieso took over. From the outset, the objectives have been to provide comprehensive orchestral training to the country’s young musicians, completing the work of conservatories and higher schools. A way to collaborate in your job placement. Ernest Martínez-Izquierdo, Jordi Mora, Robert King, Paul Goodwin, Andrew Parrott, Salvador Mas, Antoni Ros-Marbà, Edmond Colomer, Juanjo Mena, Karl Anton Rickenbacher or Pablo González have conducted the orchestra, among other masters.
the JONC holds work meetings, symphonic and chamber concerts that are aimed at the general public but also at groups with special needs. There is also the preparation of teaching material, classes, conferences and other productions. The Fundació Jove Orquestra Nacional de Catalunya includes two different orchestras, which are accessed by public audition. JONC is made up of musicians up to 25 years old, and JONC Alevins has musicians up to 19 years old. This younger category also gathered this summer in Vic: 66 musicians led by Valdivieso prepared a demanding repertoire during the last week of June, which included Franz Schubert’s 2nd Symphony and four works by Igor Stravinsky. They performed it in L’Atlàntida and also in the Oriol Martorell room of L’Auditori de Barcelona.
The 30th anniversary will be celebrated both this year in 2023 and in 2024. The Mahler of these days is a central event, but the Foundation will announce another one.
