Roberto Ugarte, new General Manager of Euskadiko Orkestra

His incorporation into Euskadiko Orkestra represents the return of a talent who has been trained and experienced in the management of highly prestigious musical institutions

Roberto Ugarte Alvarado will return home, to Euskadi, to head Euskadiko Orkestra after more than 20 years directing or forming part of the most important musical institutions in Spain. The Board of Directors of Euskadiko Orkestra will submit the agreement to appoint Ugarte as General Director to the Governing Council, the competent body to make the appointment.

Ugarte, born in Vitoria-Gasteiz in 1962, is looking forward to this new stage in which he intends to position Euskadiko Orkestra as a cultural reference in Europe. Roberto Ugarte takes over from Oriol Roch, who has led the Basque orchestra since 2014. The Board of Directors has thanked him for his work in recent years at the service of Euskadiko Orkestra.

The incorporation of Roberto Ugarte to Euskadiko Orkestra represents the return of a talent who has been trained and experienced in the field of management of musical entities and who returns to the Basque Country with a consolidated career that only years and hard work can bring. Roberto Ugarte is excited and, at the same time, expectant to contribute his grain of sand to an orchestra in which he wants to continue developing his artistic facet and maintaining its prestige. It should be noted that Euskadiko Orkestra continues to be the cultural institution in the Basque Country with the highest number of subscribers to its concerts.

Once the appointment has been approved by the Governing Council, the new conductor will officially join the orchestra in May.

Roberto Ugarte
Roberto Ugarte is a musician specialising in guitar. Throughout his life he has worked as a pianist, guitarist, accompanist, singer in different Renaissance and Baroque music groups, teacher and choir conductor. The last twenty years have been marked by a profile of management and artistic direction of large musical entities.

He began his career at the Jesús Guridi Conservatory in Vitoria-Gasteiz, where he studied piano and guitar. In 1995 he was appointed director of the recently created ‘Luis Arámburu’ Municipal School of Music in Vitoria-Gasteiz, where the number of students, teachers and specialities taught increased exponentially, becoming a point of reference in the Basque Autonomous Community. He was a member of the board of directors of the Association of Music Schools of the Basque Country from 1998 to 2001. He has been Artistic Coordinator of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria (2001); manager of the Fundación Orquesta y Coro De Madrid (2009); member of the Board of Directors of the Asociación Española de Orquestas Sinfónicas (AEOS), holding the positions of secretary, member and vice-president (2015- 2018).

In February 2020 and until 2023, he was Artistic Director and Manager of the Fundación Scherzo, being responsible for the organisation of the prestigious Ciclo De Grandes Intérpretes de la Fundación Scherzo, which brings together the most important pianists on the international scene at the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid. Since 2020 he has held the position of Manager of the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada.

The Board of Directors has agreed to submit to the Governing Council his candidacy for the general management of the Euskadiko Orkestra.

New stage
This renewal is part of the end of a cycle and the opening of a new one, which should bring new perspectives to the Euskadiko Orkestra project, so that the orchestra can continue to grow and expand its professional career.