Kent Nagano will direct the National Orchestra and Choir of Spain from 2026

In the project for the OCNE of Nagano, the search for an identity and personality that identifies it on the international scene stands out. Great connoisseur of Spain and its history, the director wants to explore in his work with the Orchestra and Choir the expression of our culture through music, especially in America. Nagano considers it essential to construct a narrative around the symphonic project that goes beyond the mere interpretative fact.

His knowledge of the history of thought has characterized a career of great richness and intellectual depth that he now also poses for the new challenge he takes on. In the words of the American teacher, «the deep cultural wealth of Spain, reflected in its language, history, art, literature, music and traditions, has inspired the international community over time. It is an honor to have been invited by the OCNE to collaborate with them as they forge the next chapter in their important musical tradition, connecting the current generation with the vibrant cultural relevance of Spain. “The OCNE, as a cultural ambassador, looks to the future with the purpose of bringing this great tradition to the 21st century.”

Among his responsibilities, Nagano will conduct eight programs of the symphonic season, in addition to touring and recording. The director knows both the Spanish National Orchestra and the Spanish National Choir well, with whom he has already collaborated on three occasions: in June 2018, with ‘Die Bassariden’, by Hans Werner Henze; in June 2021, with works by Gabriel Fauré and Olivier Messiaen; and in April 2024, when he directed ‘The Creation’, by Haydn.

Kent Nagano is one of the most recognized names in the symphonic world today. Since 2015 he has been General Director of Music at the Hamburg State Opera and Chief Conductor of its Philharmonic Orchestra. He is also artistic director of ‘The Wagner Cycles’ Project, at the Dresden Festival; honorary conductor of the Deutsches-Symphonie Orchester of Berlin, of Concerto Köln and of the Montreal Symphony. Nagano was musical director of this orchestra between 2006 and 2020, a period recognized as the most brilliant and transformative of that ensemble in modern times, as was his long stay, between 2006 and 2023, as general director of Music of the State Opera from Bavaria. Another orchestra with which he has had great successes is the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester of Berlin, with which he conducted leading interpretations of works by Schönberg and Zemlinsky and with which he recorded symphonies by Bruckner and Mahler, among other authors.

Nagano has conducted the great orchestras of Europe and America. Among other responsibilities, he has been musical director of the Lyon National Opera and the Hallé Orchestra and in 2003 he was the first musical director of the Los Angeles Opera. As a guest conductor, he regularly works with leading international orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchester Philharmonique de Radio France, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zurich, the Orchester de la Suisse Romande , the Orchester de l’Opéra National de Paris, the Chicago and Detroit Symphony Orchestras and the Wiener Symphoniker.

Likewise, his commitment to current creation has led him to premiere works by Leonard Bernstein, Unsuk Chin, Wolfgang Rihm, Kaija Saariaho, Pascal Dusapin, Peter Eötvös and John Adams, among others. His connection with the work of Olivier Messiaen makes him a reference director for who was one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. Nagano’s first performance in Spain consisted of directing the concert version of ‘Saint François d’Assise’, by Messiaen, in 1986 at the Teatro Real, then a concert hall. On the other hand, Nagano’s special dedication to opera has led him to collaborate with the greatest stage directors of recent decades, such as Claus Guth, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Krzysztof Warlikowski or the Spanish Calixto Bieito.