The Orquestra Filharmònica de la Universitat de València (OFUV) was created BY Cristóbal Soler in 1995 to unite the different instrumental student groups of the UV. It is formed by 80 young people, mostly university students, whose average age is 20 years old. Its main purpose is to provide high quality training in orchestral playing, counting on specialised professors. Since it was founded in 2010, it was directed by Cristóbal Soler until 2011. Then, Hilari García directed it from 2011 to 2018. Finally, Beatriz Fernández Aucejo became the new director of the orchestra since September 2018. After the departure of Cristóbal Soler, its directors have been Beatriz Fernández Aucejo and Hilari García
During its more than 25 years of history, more than a thousand young musicians have played in OFUV. Most of them are now playing in Spanish and European orchestras or are professors in higher or professional conservatories. Additionally, it has taken part in different projects such as the release of Carles Santos’ L’adéu de Lucrècia Borja (2001), the recovery of J. Melchor Gomis’ opera Le Revenant (2003), the release in Spain of Olivier Messiaen’s Éclairs sur l’au-delà (2006) or Ígor Stravinski’s Le sacre du printemps (2013), Erik Satie parade and Francis Poulenc’s Les biches(2017), and Händel-Debussy-Soria-Scriabin 4 (2019) ballets.
Some of the prestigious directors who have played in OFUV are: José Collado, Laszlo Heltay, Carlos Riazuelo, Carles Santos, Juan Luis Martínez and José M. Rodilla. Many prestigious soloists have collaborated, such as: Montserrat Caballé, Stephan Schilli, Luis Michal, Marta Carfi, Michele Marasco, Duncan Guifford, Maria del Mar Bonet, etc.
OFUV plays regularly in the Palau de la Música de València and the Auditorium of Zaragoza. It has played many concerts in different Spanish and European concert halls such as the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia of Valencia, the Auditorium of Barcelona, the Auditorium of León, the Academia Philharmonicorum of Ljubljana, the Austria Centre Vienna or the Mozarteum of Salzburg. In addition, it has carried out several national and international tours: it played in the International Music University Festival (FIMU) in Belfort (France) in 1997 and the 27th International Contest of Young Orchestras in Viena (Austria), where it was awarded the 1st prize of symphonic orchestras in 1998. In 2002, it played in different cities in Austria and Slovenia.
The repertoire includes pieces from the Baroque to the current day, including classical and romantic symphonic pieces as well as famous works of the 20th century. In this field, OFUV pays special attention to Valencian music composers from two different points of view: the restoration of the Valencian music heritage (Martín i Soler, Gomis, Giner, Esplà...) and the release of works of contemporary authors (Orts, Santos, Roncero, Coll, Fayos...). One example of this is found in its discography. Cinc segles de música valenciana (1999), L’adéu de Lucrècia Borja (2001) Giner infreqüent (2009) València capital de la República: la música del “grup dels joves” (2017) i Concert valencià (2022).
stand out.
OFUV is part of the European Network of Universities (ENUO). Thanks to this support, SINERGIA was created in 2015 (Network of Spanish University Orchestrasand since 2020 to 2022 has particpated as partner in the Erasmus+ project Meets (Music in higher Education to dEvelop Transversal Skills).
Additionally, the taller Valencia violins collaborates in the maintenance of the instruments. The activities of OFUV are sponsored by the Department of Musical Activities of the General Foundation of the Universitat de València.