Andorra's ONCA Launches 2024-25 Season with Eight Concerts at Renovated Auditori

The Orquestra Nacional Clàssica d’Andorra (ONCA) launches its 2024-25 season on 19 September at the Auditori Nacional, now the orchestra's fixed base following its recent renovation. Artistic director Joan Anton Rechi, who assumed the role in January, presents a programme of eight concerts through April under the banner Temps per escoltar, designed to encourage deeper listening and public dialogue amid fast-paced digital consumption.

Rechi described the initiative as a fresh start, prioritising audience loyalty by filling the venue's 400 seats monthly. "If we don't have enough enthusiasts here, we'll seek them out and give them reasons to discover the ONCA," he said, acknowledging the challenge while committing to attractive programming.

The season opens with Cap a la llum (Towards the Light), featuring Gabriel Fauré's Requiem under conductor Josep Caballé Domènech. Soprano Núria Rial, baritone Josep Ramon Olivé and the Cor Madrigal de Barcelona join the ONCA to evoke serenity.

Further concerts include El dret a la bellesa (The Right to Beauty) on 24 October, led by Johanna Sierralta with Claude Debussy and Gustav Mahler; and Una altra mirada (Another Perspective) on 14 November, in partnership with the French embassy. This event spotlights female talent, with direction by Nathalie Marin, violin soloist Christina Astrana, an all-women ONCA lineup and works by Mozart alongside composers Mel Bonis, Clarice Assad and Clàudia Montero.

The line-up continues with Cartografia de l’ànima (Mapping the Soul) on 27 February, conducted by Antonio Planelles with pieces by Mikis Theodorakis, Robert Schumann and Ralph Vaughan Williams; the pre-Constitution Day event El patrimoni que compartim (The Heritage We Share) on 13 March, featuring Rafael Serrallet on guitar in El concierto de Aranjuez under Oliver Díaz; and the closing La solitud de les ciutats (Solitude in Cities) on 24 April. Here, the ONCA provides a live soundtrack to Charles Chaplin's City Lights, directed by Chanmin Chung.

Additional fixtures are the Santa Cecília concert on 21 November with youth from La Jonca and the conservatory under Albert Gumí, plus a New Year's concert led by Gumí. The ONCA will maintain its ClàssicAnd involvement via a forthcoming four-year deal.

Tickets are priced at €15 (€10 discounted for Carnet Jove, Tarja Magna or blue card holders), with season passes at €60 (€40 discounted). The budget totals €350,000, slightly up from last year. Rechi emphasised realism, focusing resources on the core season while integrating promising La Jonca musicians into the ONCA rather than separate youth events.