Madrid, June 10, 2026.— This afternoon, under the presidency of Her Majesty Queen Sofía, the closing ceremony of the 2025-2026 academic year of the Reina Sofía School of Music and the annual presentation of the institution’s distinctions took place at Auditorium 400 of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. The event began with remarks by Paloma O’Shea, Founding President of the School, who reflected on the excellent moment the institution is experiencing as it celebrates its 35th anniversary.
“The academic year we are closing has been very productive. We began it in the fall at Carnegie Hall in New York and we conclude it today with the excitement of starting, in a few weeks, the renovation work on the building adjacent to ours. Thanks to the generosity of INAEM, our patrons, and the Madrid City Council, the School will have more space to improve teaching conditions, expand its activities, and extend its impact on society“.
Paloma O’Shea emphasized “Thirty-five years have passed since, in 1991, we wanted young Spanish musicians to have a place where they could develop their talent to the fullest. When the School was barely a dream, Her Majesty the Queen agreed to lend it her name and preside over its board of trustees. Teachers of the highest caliber arrived and, consequently, young people from around the world who wanted to learn from the best; but what differentiated—and continues to differentiate—our School are its pedagogical principles: admission based solely on merit, the personalized master-student relationship, the importance of chamber music and orchestra, and the immediate projection of all this onto the stage, which also allows us to bring music to society, including the most disadvantaged sectors“.
Next, Her Majesty Queen Sofía presented the Diplomas to the most outstanding students in the violin, viola, cello, double bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, piano, singing, composition, orchestra conducting and chamber music (string quartets, wind quartets and groups with piano) professorships.
Subsequently, Her Majesty Queen Sofía presented a School Plaque to Professor Lucas Macías, holder of the Fundación Damm Oboe Chair and guest conductor at the present Closing Ceremony.
Likewise, the Medal of Honor, the highest distinction awarded by the School and created by sculptor Julio López Hernández, was presented posthumously to Maestro Günter Pichler, for his extensive work and collaboration as Head of the String Quartet Department of the International Institute of Chamber Music of Madrid (from 2007 to the present year); and for its outstanding collaboration and the legacy of its founder, Maestro Piero Farulli, another Medal was awarded to the Fiesole School of Music.
The ceremony concluded with a concert by the Freixenet Orchestra of the School under the baton of Maestro Lucas Macías, which performed Wolfgang A. Mozart’s Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra in A major K.622 version for viola and orchestra together with Hiroki Kasai, a former student of the School under Maestra Nobuko Imai who in 2025 received from Her Majesty Queen Sofía the Diploma for most outstanding student of her viola chair.
