Journey to America
Sunday Concerts
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Date
- 11:00 / Cancelled 11:00 / Sold out Sunday, 11:00
- 15:00 / Cancelled 15:00 / Sold out Sunday, 15:00
Location
Grand Auditorium Calouste Gulbenkian FoundationPricing
10% – Cartão Gulbenkian
- Conductor
- English horn
- Trumpet
- Presenter
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Gulbenkian Orchestra
In 1962, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation decided to establish a permanent orchestral ensemble. Originally with only twelve musicians (strings and continuo) it was named “Orquestra de Câmara Gulbenkian”. This collective was successively enlarged and today the “Orquestra Gulbenkian” (the name it has adopted since 1971) has a permanent body of sixty instrumentalists, a number that can be expanded depending on the repertoire.
This structure allows the Gulbenkian Orchestra to interpret works from the Baroque and Classical periods, a significant part of 19th century orchestral literature and much of the music of the 20th century, including works belonging to the current repertoire of the traditional symphonic orchestras. In each season, the orchestra performs on a regular series of concerts at the Gulbenkian Grand Auditorium in Lisbon, where it has had the opportunity of working together with some of leading names of the world of music (conductors and soloists). It has also performed on numerous locations all over Portugal, in an effort to decentralize music and culture.
The orchestra has been constantly expanding its activities in the international level, performing in Europe, Asia Africa, and the Americas. In the recording field, Orquestra Gulbenkian is associated to labels as Philips, Deutsche Grammophon, Hyperion, Teldec, Erato, Adès, Nimbus, Lyrinx, Naïve and Pentatone, among others, and this activity was recognized with several international prizes.
Hannu Lintu is the Music Director of the Gulbenkian Orchestra since 2023.
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Mariano Chiacchiarini
Conductor
Recognized by critics worldwide with the ECHO Music Prize, the German Record Critics' Award, and the KONEX Prize in Music, Mariano began his international career by winning the 1st prize at the Teatro Colón Conducting Competition. This led to collaborations with the most prominent conductors, such as Sir S. Rattle, P. Boulez, P. Eötvös, R. Chailly, R. Muti, and B. Haitink; and to work with the most renowned orchestras and ensembles, including the Hong Kong Phil, Filarmonica della Scala, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Russian State Orchestra, Philharmonique de Radio France, WDR Sinfonieorchester, German Radio Phil, Gulbenkian Orquestra and the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker. He has been invited to major festivals and concert venues, including the Lucerne Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Young Euro Classic, Donaueschinger Musiktage, Elbphilharmonie, Konzerthaus Vienna and Berlin, Tchaikovsky Hall Moscow, Teatro Colón, Deutsche Oper am Rhein and l’Opéra Bastille. Mariano has served as Music Director of Trier University, as Conductor of Ensemble Garage and since 2014 began his cooperation with the National Symphony in Argentina. Most recently he was selected by Barbara Hannigan’s Momentum Project, named as a member of the German Music Council, as “Outstanding Personality of the Culture” of his hometown and awarded with the Premio Nacional Clásica. In 2025, he received the Music Critics Association Award as “Conductor of the Year” at the Parliament of Buenos Aires.
Since 2022 Mariano Chiacchiarini was chosen Universitätsmusikdirektor of the city of Bremen.
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Alice Caplow-Sparks
Oboe / Cor anglais
Alice Caplow-Sparks began playing oboe at the age of twelve in her hometown of Seattle. She continued her studies in Mexico City for a year, then returning to Seattle where she was a student of the oboist Alex Klein. At the age of eighteen, she left Seattle to pursue her studies at the Oberlin Conservatory in Ohio with James Caldwell. During her time there, she was actively involved with the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, as well as other chamber music ensembles and orchestras. Her keen interest in chamber music first developed during a tour of Paris with the Oberlin Woodwind Quintet. After completing her degree, she entered the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where she attended classes and completed her Masters with Richard Killmer. While at Eastman, she commissioned an original work for oboe and string trio from the composer Gregory Mertl, which she premièred in her graduation recital. She then travelled to Paris, where she studied with David Walter at the Conservatoire. In 2004, she joined the Orquestra Metropolitana de Lisboa and she is currently a member of the Gulbenkian Orchestra, where she has played oboe and English horn since 2006.
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José Pedro Pereira
Trumpet
José Pedro Pereira was born in 1998. He is trumpet B soloist at the Gulbenkian Orchestra. He initiated his piano and trumpet studies at the Conservatório de Música de Felgueiras, later continuing his training at the Academia José Atalaya in Fafe. In 2010, he enrolled at the Escola Profissional Artística do Vale do Ave where he studied under Paulo Silva and graduated with top marks. In 2016, he was admitted into the Zürcher Hochschule der Künste – Zurich, where he studied under Frits Damrow and Laurent Tinguely and also, for Baroque trumpet, under Simon Lilly.
During his training, he took countless advanced courses with Pierre Dutot, Frits Damrow, Mark David, Pasi Pirinen, Philippe Litzler, Pacho Flores, Konradin Groth, Reinhold Friedrich, Jeroen Berwaerts, Philip Smith and Sergei Nakariakov, among others.
He has won awards in Portuguese and international competitions, including the Eric Aubier International Trumpet Competition (France), Internationaler Bodensee Musikwettbewerb (Germany), “Terras de La Salette” Wind Instruments International Competition, Póvoa de Varzim Trumpet Competition, Rubén Simeó International Trumpet Competition and the Albertino Lucas Luso-Galician Competition. In 2018, he won 1st Prize (advanced level) at the 32nd Young Musicians Awards.
He was a student musician at the Opernaus Zürich / Philharmonia Zürich (2019–2022), where he worked with innumerable internationally renowned conductors and singers. In the role of soloist, he has played for the Gulbenkian Orchestra, Orchestre de l‘Opéra de Rouen Normandie, Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim and the Banda Sinfónica Portuguesa.
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Zachary Spontak
Violin
Violinist Zachary Spontak is an artist and cultural advocate, building connections between music and people around the world. Zachary is Principal 2nd Violinist of the Orquestra Gulbenkian in Lisbon, Portugal, and travels frequently to perform as violin soloist and chamber musician. Called a “natural leader”, Zachary collaborates with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Midori, Sir Simon Rattle, and Maxim Vengerov. Zachary won First Prize at the Carnegie Hall GMP International Competition, Pro Artists International Competition, and Fischoff Chamber Music Competition, and was named Young Alaskan Artist of the Year in 2015. He has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, Houston Symphony, Orquestra do Algarve, and Fairbanks Symphony, among others.
Zachary is an avid performer of new music, promoting the creation of art to search for beauty in our global society. He works with renowned composers such as Wolfgang Rihm, John Corigliano, Péter Eötvös, and Matthias Pintscher.
Zachary engages in music outreach, recognizing that many people worldwide do not have access to musical training. From 2016-2018, he worked in Buenos Aires, Argentina, performing and teaching in disadvantaged areas of the city. Zachary has been a teaching artist with Musaid, an organization that connects musicians across the globe through educational exchanges designed to inspire individual and community transformation. Zachary is Director of Education at the Anchorage Chamber Music Festival, which brings artists and students together for intensive learning and performing each summer in Anchorage, Alaska.
Zachary has a Master of Performance from the Royal College of Music in London, under the mentorship of renowned violinist Detlef Hahn. Other mentors include Paul Kantor, Roland and Almita Vamos, Dr. Gail Johansen, and Jean Krause.
Zachary lives in Lisbon with his wife Luísa, a classical singer, and son James.
Joan Tower
Arturo Márquez
Aaron Copland
Gabriela Ortiz
Aaron Copland
Leonard Bernstein
The Sunday Concerts cycle begins with an evocative programme entitled ‘Journey to America’. Dedicated to the work of North American composers and conducted by Mariano Chiacchiarini, the concert leads us through works by Joan Tower, Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein (including West Side Story), while also visiting the Mexico of Arturo Márquez and Gabriela Ortiz. Marking the bridge between the two countries is Copland’s El Salón México.
Photo © DR
Mecenas Gulbenkian Música
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