One of the main goals of the Reina Sofía School of Music is to provide high-quality music training to allow young talented musicians to find quality employment in the music industry. In the case of young conductors, access to professional orchestras where they can practise their craft (a crucial step in their professional career) is very limited given the lack of connections between orchestras and educational establishments.

The orchestra partnership programme is an unprecedented initiative that represents, in the case of orchestras, an investment in their future as it brings them in contact with a future generation of conductors working in their field and allows them to identify future collaborators. It also offers a chance to build closer artistic links between different orchestral ensembles.

Four students of the “Zubin Mehta” Chair in Orchestra Conducting, accompanied by the team of professors of that course, will make a total of 8 visits to several ensembles during the 2024/25 academic year. The content of the practical training changes with each visit, covering different repertoires and adapting to the needs of each orchestra. In some cases, they culminate with concerts open to the public (fully produced by the orchestras) to mark the end of the practical training, or else they can include students from outside of the School who benefit from the academic residency.