"La JONDE es un proyecto esencialmente educativo" / "JONDE is an essentially educational project"

By Presentación Guillén

Interview published in n. 155 of the magazine Scherzo (June 2001)

Due to his dual role as a composer and educator, the recent appointment of José Luis Turina (Madrid, 1952) as the artistic director of the JONDE (Spanish National Youth Orchestra) ensures that this important ensemble will be led by a renowned professional who is deeply familiar with the needs of orchestral work.

A professor of harmony at the Arturo Soria Professional Conservatory of Music in Madrid, former director of the Professional Conservatory of Music in Cuenca, where he also taught various theoretical and practical subjects, he completed his musical studies (composition, orchestral conducting, violin, piano, and harpsichord) at the superior conservatories of Barcelona and Madrid. He was a scholarship holder at the Spanish Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, where he attended advanced composition classes taught by Franco Donatoni at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He has won numerous prizes and mentions in composition competitions (Arpa de Oro, Ateneo de Sevilla, International Competition for the Centenary of the Valencia Conservatory Orchestra, International Reina Sofia 1986, etc.). In 1996, he was awarded the National Music Prize. He is a corresponding member of the Fine Arts Academies of Seville and Granada. He has received commissions from various official entities in Spain, France, and America, as well as from numerous soloists, groups, and orchestras in Spain and abroad. In 1996, he wrote La raya en el agua for the reopening of the Fernando de Rojas Hall at the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, with a libretto based on his own texts and those of various authors. Last October, his opera D. Q. (Don Quixote in Barcelona) premiered at the Gran Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona, with a libretto by Justo Navarro, stage design by Enric Miralles, and direction by La Fura dels Baus.
Between 1993 and 2001, he collaborated as a Technical Advisor to the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sport in the reform of music, dance, and dramatic arts education under the LOGSE framework.
Since February 1st of this year, he has been the artistic director of the Spanish National Youth Orchestra.

- You are one of the most respected, awarded, and well-regarded composers of your generation, even by critics, with a truly enviable career. You have repeatedly stated that your second great vocation is teaching. What led you to take on the risk of assuming the artistic direction of the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, which will force you to abandon teaching indefinitely and likely to some extent neglect your compositional work? What will the JONDE offer you that you can't achieve through your other activities? Or is it an act of duty, believing that you are the right person for the position and that it is necessary to revitalize it, even at some personal sacrifice?
- When Andrés Amorós offered me the position, I hardly hesitated. Now, almost three months after my appointment, I increasingly see the wisdom of my decision, not so much because I consider myself the right person for the job (that can only be determined by the results of my work), but because I believe I have the necessary qualifications to become that person. These qualifications stem from my background in teaching -remember that JONDE is essentially an educational project- and my sufficient knowledge of the orchestral world, both theoretically, as a composer, and practically, as an active professional who frequently engages with it. Therefore, it is not entirely accurate to say that I am abandoning teaching indefinitely, as you suggest. Rather, I am moving on to manage a magnificent educational project that makes JONDE a true gem. Moreover, I am not willing to let this new phase cause me to neglect composition.
I have very interesting projects lined up that I do not intend to abandon, and in fact, since my appointment, I have been able to complete, working at my usual pace, a string quartet commissioned by the Tokyo Quartet and the Liceo de Cámara of the Caja Madrid Foundation, which will premiere next November. So, in that sense, my life has not only not changed, but has been enriched with an additional incentive.

- How does JONDE operate? Who are its members, and what are their ages? What are the requirements to join the orchestra, how are its members selected, and who makes those decisions? Where do the musicians reside, or do they meet periodically, traveling from their respective places of residence?
- JONDE is composed of young instrumentalists between the ages of 18 and 23 (although there are some members slightly younger or older) who must have reached a technical level that allows them to tackle the symphonic repertoire (that is, it is desirable that they are students in the higher grades of their instruments). They are carefully selected through admission tests judged by qualified instrumentalists in the various specialties. Since most of these young people are still studying, they reside at their family homes and come together for what are known as Encuentros (working periods), which last between two and three weeks and culminate in a short concert tour showcasing the work done during these sessions. The Encuentros are held in different Spanish locations, and each year there is usually an international tour. Next August, we will participate in the Musik Sommer Festival in Berlin and the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival.

- How often do they meet, and what do the Encuentros involve? How and who selects the conductors, professors, repertoire, and meeting locations?
- There are usually 5 or 6 Encuentros per year, during which a repertoire is pre-determined by the artistic and musical direction. JONDE does not have a permanent conductor, so for each Encuentro, the most suitable conductor is chosen (the last Encuentro, held this past April, was dedicated exclusively to the string section and was conducted by Gonçal Comellas). The conductor's work is supported by an assistant conductor and a more or less large group of professors from the various instrumental specialties, selected according to the peculiarities of the chosen repertoire. As for the locations of the Encuentros, they are chosen considering various factors.

- What has become of the project to establish the JONDE headquarters in Cuenca, where a building was prepared for them?
- With the renovation of the Palafox building, the INAEM (National Institute of Performing Arts and Music) made a significant budgetary effort. However, in my opinion, the project wasn't executed with the appropriate criteria for its intended purpose. For example, the building has a good tutti rehearsal room, but it can't be used as an auditorium. The issue of sectional rehearsal rooms isn't well resolved either; their low ceilings create severe acoustic problems that are very difficult to solve. One of the most serious problems is that, despite being a huge building with seven floors, no area was set up as a residence. This forces us to rely on hotels or university residences, which is not always easy. Until these problems are resolved, using the Palafox building as a permanent headquarters for JONDE will never be completely satisfactory.

- How long do the members typically stay in the orchestra, what is usually their next step, and what benefit do they gain from having been part of JONDE?
- Passing the admission test grants the right to one year of membership, which can be extended twice more, up to a maximum of three years, provided that the admission test is passed again for each extension. JONDE, whose quality level is higher than that of many European youth orchestras and, unlike many of them, enjoys great institutional, and budgetary support, provides its members with a truly luxurious experience -something they could never have achieved at their respective conservatories. Here, they can work on the great repertoire under the baton of the best conductors and with the support of an outstanding teaching staff, all of which enriches their experience for future entry into a professional symphony orchestra.

- You insist that JONDE is, above all, an educational project. What is its pedagogical plan?
- It is based on four basic principles: First, to develop the technical and artistic capabilities of its members to the fullest through rigorous work on a carefully chosen and balanced repertoire between traditional and contemporary, preferably Spanish composers who are still alive and can be invited to share in the preparation of their work with the orchestra. Second, to ensure that during the two or three years that members are, on average, connected to JONDE, they encounter as many "music stand" situations as possible that they may face in their professional lives: the conventional full symphony orchestra, "seasonal," as well as all its variants (classical orchestra, string orchestra, etc.); the pit orchestra (opera, zarzuela, ballet...); brass ensembles; the symphonic band; various instrumental groups... and also studio recording (repertoire works, soundtracks...), etc. Third, the intense practice of chamber music, which is particularly important for orchestral musicians because only through chamber music can they fully achieve ensemble listening. And lastly, the development of all those factors that contribute to what might be called a professional ethical attitude: proper behavior within the symphonic collective, respect for its hierarchy, the habit of silence during rehearsals as a means to achieve maximum concentration... If there is one thing that distinguishes JONDE members from other professional ensembles, it is their enthusiasm, which drives them to work tirelessly for many hours daily during the encounters. What orchestras like JONDE must achieve is that this enthusiasm, initially a product of their youth, acts as a vaccine, immunizing them against the countless, incomprehensible, and exasperating vices of the profession, transforming it into a habit that provides them with artistic maturity in which the joy of making music remains as fresh as at the beginning.