According to the saying “all roads lead to Rome”, we could add: and to Santiago de Compostela! This year, 2021, the Real Filharmonía de Galicia, its home based in this beautiful city – the destination of the many Ways of St. James – celebrates its silver jubilee and is rightly proud of its own pathway: more than 1000 concerts throughout Galicia, dozens in Spain and several international tours.
The Real Filharmonía de Galicia is a large and sophisticated cultural hub made up of 50 musicians and an administrative team of six, bringing together more than 17 different nationalities. It is a project of some 25 years of history, led since 2013 by Paul Daniel, its Chief Conductor and Artistic Director. Maximino Zumalave is the Associate Conductor with Joana Carneiro joining as Principal Guest Conductor since 2020.
We believe that a public orchestra should be committed to the broadcast and promotion of culture in the community. Because of this, our programmes never omit commissions and premieres from contemporary Galician composers who live in harmony with artists from other periods and places and who, together with our audiences, help us grow artistically with every concert.
We have no doubt that the album we present, hand-in-hand with Odradek Records, is one of the best ways of celebrating our jubilee: offering the world symphonic music from the best current Galician creators. It is fascinating music, which takes us to the wild waters of the Atlantic coast, the Finis Terrae of Antiquity, the ends of the Earth and of the Pilgrims’Way, too. With Atlantic Waters we present to you a portion of the musical identity of Galicia, our most cherished legacy as an orchestra, which will become our musical heritage for the future. We hope you enjoy it!