Roberto Forés Veses Named Artistic Director of the Orquesta de Extremadura

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the regional government of Extremadura has announced Roberto Forés Veses as the new Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta de Extremadura (OEX). He will succeed Andrés Salado, who completes his tenure after four seasons in August of this year. The new Artistic Director's arrival coincides with the orchestra's 25th anniversary celebrations.

The announcement states that the selection came after a months-long process of consultations and analysis of artistic proposals, and in which the opinion of the musicians was given great prominence.

Forés Veses, for his part, comments, "The Orquesta de Extremadura has been close to my heart since I first conducted them, and discovered a 'hidden gem' of an orchestra, with a high standard and a community of musicians who cherish the joy of making music, and its important place in the region of Extremadura. I am proud and honoured to become Artistic Director and to begin this collaboration with my new musical family!"

He first conducted the OEX in 2014, and has returned on many occasions since, most recently in 2023, always with great success. Previously, Roberto Forés Veses was long-time Music Director of the Orchestre national d'Auvergne, which under his tenure was widely-acknowledged as one of France's finest orchestras, and currently he is, and remains, the Principal Guest Conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra. Born in Valencia, this is his first Artistic Directorship in Spain, though he has continually conducted there including many of the leading Spanish ensembles.

He officially takes up the new post in August 2025. More detailed plans will be announced nearer to the time.

His next appearances with the English Chamber Orchestra, meanwhile, will be on May 10th (Newbury Festival) and 11th (Cadogan Hall, London) in a Romantic programme combining Chopin's Piano Concerto no.1 and Schumann's Symphony no.3. Some other orchestras he is conducting around this period include the Hessisches Staatorchester Wiesbaden; Filarmonica George Enescu, Bucharest; Orchestre national des Pays de la Loire (ONPL); Orquesta SInfonica de Castilla y Leon; Orquesta de Valencia; Israel Chamber Orchestra, ADDA Simfonica Alicante, Japan Century Symphony Orchestra and Nagoya Philharmonic.