San Francisco Symphony

Marta Gardolińska is rapidly developing into one of the most exciting young conductors and is currently Music Director of Opera national de Lorraine. She was also recently announced as Principal Guest Conductor of Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona from the 22–23 season following her hugely successful debut last season.

Gardolińska came to international attention in 2018 as Young Conductor in Association at the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra where she led the orchestra in two highly successful subscription concerts. This led to her being offered a Dudamel Fellowship with the Los Angeles Philharmonic during the 2019–20 season which included an invitation to be to be second conductor to Gustavo Dudamel for their Grammy award winning live Deutsche Grammophon recording of Ives Symphony No. 4. Marta returned to the Los Angeles last summer to make her debut with the Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl which led to an immediate re-invitation to return in August 2022.

The 21–22 season saw Gardolińska make important debuts with the London Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse and Royal Northern Sinfonia. Other recent highlights have included her Paris debut with the Orchestre Chambre de Paris, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.

Along with her work as a symphonic conductor, she is also active in the field of opera. During the 2021 season she made her hugely successful French debut with Opéra national de Lorraine conducting a new production of Zemlinsky’s Der Traumgörge and the 21–22 season saw acclaimed productions of Messager’s Fortunio in Nancy and her debut at Opera du Rhin in Strasbourg conducting Carmen with Stéphanie d’Oustrac. During the 22–23 season she will conduct a much-anticipated new production of Manru by Paderewski and a revival of La Traviata at Opera national de Lorraine. Between 2013–2015 she served as the second conductor with the company Johann–Strauss–Operette Wien, learning the purest style of the Viennese musical tradition.

Symphonic highlights of the current season include further important debuts with Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra and the Halle Orchestra, as well as a return visits to Birmingham to lead the CBSO Youth Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and three visits to Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona.

Inspired by the experience of singing in her school choir and fascinated by the colours of symphonic music, it led her to study conducting at the Frederic Chopin Music University of Warsaw, the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna and in many masterclasses and workshops with artists such as Bernard Haitink, Peter Eötvös, Bertrand de Billy, György Kurtág and Marin Alsop.

In 2015, she was named Conductor in Residence of the Akademischer Orchesterverein Wien and during the 17–18 season she held the position of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of TUOrchester Wien. Among her many accolades she has received an Honourable Mention and the Special Orchestra Prize of the Witold Lutosławski Conducting Competition in Białystok, Poland (2016), the 3rd Prize and the Special Orchestra Prize from the Felix Mendelssohn International Conducting Competition in Thessaloniki, Greece (2016) and she has been one of eight semi-finalists in the 1st International Hong Kong Conducting Competition in 2018. In 2016, Marta was awarded the title “Outstanding Pole in Austria” for her efforts in popularizing Polish culture and music outside of the country. She was also named Associate Fellow for the seasons 2017–2019 by the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship established by Marin Alsop. Before deciding to become a musician, she spent several years professionally training acrobatics, swimming, and middle distance running while at the same time studying flute and piano.

Prizewinner at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition and SONY Classical exclusive artist, Pablo Ferrández is hailed as a “new cello genius” (Le Figaro). A captivating performer, “Ferrández has the lot: technique, mettle, spirit, authority as a soloist, expressivity and charm” (El Pais).

In March 2021 he released his debut album under SONY Classical, Reflections, which was highly acclaimed by the critics and praised with the Opus Klassik Award 2021. In Fall 2022 Ferrández will be releasing his second album, which comprises Brahms Double Concerto, performed with Anne–Sophie Mutter, the Czech Philharmonic under Manfred Honeck, as well as Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio, performed with Anne–Sophie Mutter and Lambert Orkis.

Recent highlights included appearances with LA Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Bayersichen Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Israel Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Barcelona Symphony and the Artist–in–residence positions at the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini, Tenerife Symphony and Orquesta de Valencia.

The 22/23 season will bring the return to the Hollywood Bowl with the LA Philharmonic, his debut at the Salzburg Festival with the Vienna Radio Symphony, the tour with Anne–Sophie Mutter and the London Philharmonic through Europe, a Spanish tour with the Antwerp Symphony under Elim Chan, the returns with Santa Cecilia Orchestra under D. Gatti, Konzerthaus Orchester under A. Poga, Baltimore Symphony under K. Ryan, as well as debuts with Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala under R.Chailly, Oslo Philharmonic under V.Petrenko, Tonkuenstler Orchestra under R. Trevino, Indianapolis Symphony under L. Gonzalez-Granados and NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester under E. Yashima.

Ferrández will appear in recital at Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Koln Philharmonie, Berlin Philharmonie, Palau de la Música Catalana, Sociedad Filarmónica de Bilbao, at the Schloss-Elmau and Sion Festivals, and will also be Artist-in-residence of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.

As a recitalist and chamber musician, Pablo frequently collaborates with such artists as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Janine Jansen, Vadim Repin, Martha Argerich, Denis Kozhukhin, Gidon Kremer, Yuja Wang, Nikolay Lugansky, Beatrice Rana, Maxim Rysanov, Alice Sara Ott, Elena Bashkirova, Luis del Valle and Sara Ferrández.

Born in Madrid in 1991, in a family of musicians, Pablo Ferrández joined the prestigious Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía when he was 13 to study with Natalia Shakhovskaya. After that he completed his studies at the Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson and became scholar of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.

Mr. Ferrández plays the Stradivarius “Lord Aylesford” (1696) thanks to the Nippon Music Foundation and the Stradivarius “Archinto” 1689, on a generous life-long loan from a member of the Stretton Society.