Perfil

The Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the National Orchestra of Catalonia) was founded in 1944 under the direction of Maestro Eduard Toldrà. Rafael Ferrer took over from the latter in 1962 until 1967. To date, the music directors of the orchestra have also included Maestros Antoni Ros Marbà (1967-1978, 1981-1986), Salvador Mas (1978-1981), Franz-Paul Decker (1986-1991), García Navarro (1991-1993), Lawrence Foster (1996-2002) and Ernest Martinez Izquierdo (2002-2006). The new music conductor is Eiji Oue, who took over in September 2006. Maestro Ernest Martínez Izquierdo will continue as OBC’s principal guest conductor and Christian Zacharias as conductor of the Mozart Festival.