Sounds of the Soul
, University of Navarra Symphony Orchestra

  Friday, February 19
  19:30 h
MUN Theatre

The Navarre Symphony Orchestra/Nafarroako Orkestra Sinfonikoa and the MUN, through *Sounds of the Soul*, invite the audience to contemplate.

This program offers an essentially introspective journey, featuring works by 20th- and 21st-century composers who—though their musical languages differ greatly—share a quest for pause, contemplation, and the emotional dimension of listening. Their works establish a particularly evocative dialogue with the space of the Museo Universidad de Navarra and with the experience of the visual arts.

One of the highlights of the concert will be *Finding Rothko* by American composer Adam Schoenberg, a work born of his fascination with Mark Rothko’s paintings. Rather than describing his paintings, Schoenberg translates into orchestral language the experience evoked by Rothko’s vast fields of color: an invitation to pause, observe, and let oneself be enveloped by the space, the contrasts, and the emotion. Music thus becomes another form of contemplation, and a connection is established between the auditory experience and the visual one.

Centered around this work, the program explores different approaches to stillness, memory, and inner expression. Erik Satie’s *Préludes posthumes* and *Gnossienne*, orchestrated by Francis Poulenc, give way to the restrained intensity of Samuel Barber’s famous *Adagio* and the evocative atmosphere of Jean Sibelius’s *Valse triste*. Arnold Schoenberg’s *Notturno* for strings and harp and Arvo Pärt’s *Fratres* round out the evocative program for this edition.

PROGRAM

Erik Satie (1866–1925) [9']
Two Posthumous Preludes and a Gnossienne (orch. Poulenc)
I. A Feast Given by the Norman Knights in Honor of a Lady
II. First Prelude of the Nazarene
III. Gnossienne

Samuel Barber (1910–1981) [8']
Adagio for Strings

Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) [6’]
Valse triste

Adam Schoenberg (1980) [16']
In Search of Rothko
1. Orange
2. Yellow
3. Red
4. Maroon

Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951) [5']
Nocturne for Strings and Harp

Arvo Pärt (1935) [12']
Fratres (version for winds and percussion)

MIGUEL SEPÚLVEDA

The 2025–26 season marks Sepúlveda’s debut conducting the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Dresdner Philharmonie, and the Gävle Symphony, as well as his return to the Gulbenkian Orchestra. The following season includes new invitations to conduct in Dresden and Rotterdam, in addition to his debuts with the Tampere Philharmonic, the BBC Philharmonic, the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, the Symphoniker Hamburg, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the Spanish National Orchestra, and the Staatsorchester Stuttgart.

In June 2025, Miguel was named a joint winner of the Grand Prix at the Rotterdam International Conducting Competition. The jury also awarded him the Opera and Contemporary Music prizes, while the musicians of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Orchestra of the 18th Century selected him as their preferred candidate in the Symphony and Classical rounds, respectively. Previously, in 2024, he was a semifinalist in the Malko Conducting Competition.

Born in Lisbon in 1998, Sepúlveda studied with Jean Marc Burfin and earned his master’s degree at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM). Since then, he has conducted the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Manchester Camerata, the Münchener Kammerorchester, and the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra. In September 2024, he was named the first Runnicles Fellow of the Dresdner Philharmonie, and in March 2025, he was selected as a Dudamel Fellow of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.