Santa Cecilia Orchestra

In 1879, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra was founded through the Santa Cecilia Musical Association of Friendly Societies, a symphony orchestra based in Pamplona and the oldest orchestral group in Spain, thanks to Sarasate’s wish that the city should have its own orchestra.

He was named the Honorary President of this musical formation. From that year on, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra accompanied him whenever he performed at the Gayarre Theatre, during the San Fermín Festival every year.

In February 1993, the Santa Cecilia Concert Society agreed to change the name of its orchestra to the Pablo Sarasate Orchestra, as a tribute to its founder, which is now called the Navarre Symphony Orchestra’.

In 1994, the Regional Government of Navarre sponsored a project to: record the complete works of Pablo Sarasate, performed by the Pablo Sarasate Orchestra; release a critical edition of all his compositions, carried out by the Madrid Institute of Musical Sciences; and publish a biography of the great violinist, written by Luis G. Iberni.

My dear fellow countrymen know that I’ll never change; I’ll always love my country and my people, the people from Navarra…

Complete biography of Pablo Sarasate