Since its creation as a Consortium in 1992 by the Regional Government of Andalusia together with  the Cordoba City Council, the Cordoba Orchestra has performed more than 1000 concerts in very different scenarios such as the Mosque-Cathedral and the Alcazar of the Catholic Kings in Cordoba, the National Auditorium in Madrid, the Cuenca Auditorium, the Almeria Auditorium, the Manuel de Falla Auditorium in Granada, the Santiago de Compostela Auditorium, the Jovellanos Theatre in Gijon, the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo, the Maestranza in Seville, the Arriaga in Bilbao, the Romea in Murcia, the Villamarta in Jerez, the Lope de Vega in Seville, the Monastery of San Lorenzo del Escorial, the Palau in Altea, the Festival Palace in Cantabria, the Santa Cruz Museum in Toledo, the Megaron Concert Hall in Athens, the Praga National House or the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Viena, to name but a few.

During the course of these performances the Cordoba Orchestra has given Spanish, European and world premieres of the works of Joan Albert Amargós, José Garcia Román, Tanos Mikroutsikos, Francisco Guerrero, Leo Brouwer, Jesus Villa Rojo, Alfonso Romero, Luis Bedmar, Juan de Dios García Aguilera, Antonio Gualda, José Susi López, Juan Medina, Arthur Dangel, Zulema de la Cruz, Raquel Jurado, Tomás Marco, Igmar Alderete, Manuel Angulo, Alfredo Aracil, Miguel A. Remiro Vega, Andrés Valero-Castells, Manuel Moreno Buendía, María Teresa Prieto, Santiago Báez, Ángel Andrés Muñoz and Roque Baños (whom he recorded the BSO's by Carlos Saura film made for the Expo 2008 in Zaragoza), among others.

The Orchestra has an extensive repertoire of symphonic music, ranging from the baroque period to contemporary compositions, and has also ventured successfully into other musical fields in collaborations with artists such as Egberto Gismonti, Maria del Mar Bonet, Carmen Linares, Vicente Amigo, Benito Lertxundi, Amancio Prada, Lole Montoya, Jose Antonio Rodriguez, Benito Cabrera, Larry Coryell, Randy Brecker, Rafael Riqueni, Manolo Sanlúcar, Tomatito, Joan Manuel Serrat, Juan Manuel Cañizares, Luis Pastor, Susana Raya, Javier Ruibal, Estrella Morente, Miguel Poveda or the groups Ronda dos Quatro Caminhos, Medina Azahara and Ensamble Gurrufío, whom the Cordoba Orchestra has accompanied, live and/or in the studio, in different stages of its trajectory, with Leo Brouwer (1992/01), Gloria Isabel Ramos Triano (2002/04) and, since the 2005/06 season, maestro Manuel Hernández Silva as principal conductors and artistic directors.

The Cordoba Orchestra has recorded 37 CD’s (plus others still to be released) for record labels such as EMI, NAXOS (Marco-Polo), SONY, GHA or VERSO. It has participated in the International Meetings of Cinema and Scenic Music in Seville, the Andalusia Music Circuit, the Contemporary Music Festival of Malaga, the Biennial Festival of Flamenco Art in Seville, the ‘Pedro Lavirgen’ Singing Competition in Priego de Cordoba, the International Jaen Piano Contest and the Musical Autumn of Soria. It has also taken part in various international music festivals such as those of Granada, Alicante, Lucena, Ubeda, Sanlucar, Ayamonte, Segovia, Cadiz, Guadix, Portugal or Marseilles – and we must not forget its customary appearance in the Cordoba Guitar Festival.

The Orchestra does important work in education and attention to young people through different programmes such as the cycle of Didactic Concerts, collaborations with the Conservatory of Music and the University of Cordoba and the putting into practice of initiatives such as the International Competition for Young Conductors.

The Cordoba Orchestra is a member of the Spanish Association of Symphony Orchestras (AEOS,) and in 1999, together with Victoria de los Angeles and the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, was nominated ‘Best Classical Artist’ for the Music Prize awarded by the General Society of Authors (SGAE) and the Association of Interpreters and Performers (AIE). In 2003 the Academy of Music again nominated the Cordoba Orchestra –together with Placido Domingo and Jesús Lopez Cobos – for ‘Best Classical Music Record’ for the CD ‘Two Triple Concerts by Leo Brouwer and Tomás Marco’.

Manuel Hernández Silva

Chief and Artistic Director of the Orquesta de Cordoba

Manuel Hernández Silva is Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta de Cordoba since the season 05/06. Mr. Hernández Silva begun his studies with Professor Emil Freidmann and studied Orchestra Conducting with Reinhard Schwarz and Georg Mark in Viena, finnishing in 1989 with honours. The same year won the Conductors Competition of the Forum Jüngerkünstlern of the Wiener Kamerorchester, conducting this orchestra in the Konzerthaus in Vienna and in the Brucknerhaus of the city of Linz.

Mr. Hernández Silva was invited to the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Radio Symphony Orchestra of Prague, Kölner Rundfunk Orchester, in Germany; Nord-Tchekische Filarmonie, Tchekische Philarmoniker Kamerorchester, Karlsbad Symphoniker and Olomouc Philarmoniker in the Czech Republic, KBS Orchestra of Seúl (Korea), Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela, Orquesta Orquesta Sinfónica de Puerto Rico, Sinfónica de Colombia, Orquesta Filarmónica de Bogotá, Orquesta Sinfónica de México, Orquesta Municipal de Caracas, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, de Venezuela, Orquesta Sinfónica de Murcia, between others.

He was invited to conduct the New Year Concerts in Canada, where he worked with Calgary Philarmonic Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Ottawa Symphony, and the USA, where he did with West Palm Beach Opera, Hartford Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Portland Symphony, between others. He got a big success in the Boston Symphonie Hall with the Hartford Symphony, on January 2004, as well as with the Toronto Symphony in the Allice Tully Hall, on January 2005.

Recently he was invited again to the Wiener Symphoniker in the Musikverein Hall, and again to the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Prague, as well as some of the best Spanish Orchestras, Real Filharmonía de Galicia, Sinfónica de Bilbao, Orquestra del Vallés, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Ciudad de Granada, Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, de Radio Televisión Española, Oviedo Filarmonía, as well as The Magic Flute in the Murcia Opera Season. Upcoming engagements includes Orquesta del Principado de Asturias, Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra, Orquesta Ciudad de Barcelona, as well as Real Filharmonía  and Granada again.

Recently he got an important success in Köln with the WDR Rundfunkorchester, recording and performing Haydn’s La Vera Costanza, that meant a new engagement with this orchestra, and this season he is going to Sinfoniorchester Wuppertal to conduct Brahms’ Requiem.

His activity as a teacher includes International Courses, Conferences and Conducting Master Classes in the Conservatory of Vienna.

Web Site Manuel Hernández-Silva>