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Mission and Values

We are committed to musical talent

The Reina Sofía School of Music was founded in 1991 as a project to help youth and musical culture. Since then, the School has been working to advance in two objectives: to support young people with greater talent in their personal and artistic development; and to bring the best music to all audiences.

The transformative capacity of music gives a social impact to these two objectives. Music eliminates barriers and treats all people equally, regardless of language, tradition or culture. The practice of music unites through values such as commitment, perseverance, leadership and collaboration, which are essential for life and coexistence.

The greater the creativity and quality with which a music is composed and performed, the more intense its emotional effect on the listener will be; and the greater its beneficial impact on society will therefore be. For all this, the Reina Sofía School has tenaciously maintained these pedagogical principles from day one, as a way to ensure the maximum development of its students and the greatest impact on society.

Admission in open audition and based exclusively on talent

Personalized teacher-musician relationship, with complete academic freedom

Comprehensive musical training with special attention to performance in symphonic and chamber ensembles

Consideration of the stage as a necessary extension of the classroom: intense and demanding artistic life.

Academic Pillars

The Reina Sofía School of Music was founded with the aim of establishing an international center of reference for the teaching of young musicians and to facilitate the development of their individual talent.

Its educational project is based on several pillars that make it a unique initiative in the academic field.

1.

Faculty of the highest level

The School has a team of teachers, masters in each of their instruments and figures of great international prestige.

In addition, throughout the course, great artists and pedagogues regularly come to the School to give master classes to the students as a complement to their core training.

2.

Merit as the only criterion.

The School selects its students through auditions directed by professors of each chair, where the only evaluation criterion is talent. With an admission rate of 6%, it is one of the most demanding in Europe.

Thanks to its free tuition system and various aid and scholarships, any student with sufficient merit can access a first-class musical education.

3.

Artistic experience

The stage experience is an essential part of the School’s academic ideology. Each year, more than 300 concerts are held, both in the Sony Auditorium and in other performance spaces. In them, young musicians have the opportunity to demonstrate to the public and in the most diverse formats the result of their work in the classrooms: recitals, performances as soloists, chamber groups or in orchestral formations organized by the School.

Letter from the President
Letter from the President

Welcome to the Reina Sofía School of Music.

We opened this School in 1991 so that young musicians from all over the world could develop their talent to the fullest and bring their music closer to people. Everything in the School is aimed at that end: the selection of teachers and students solely on their merit, the teacher’s freedom to design a personalized academic plan for each student, the intensity of coexistence, the consideration of the stage as an extension of the classroom, the importance of ensemble music and the search for formulas to bring the great transformative power of music closer to society.

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Bienvenidos a la Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía.

Abrimos esta Escuela en 1991 para que los jóvenes músicos de todo el mundo pudieran desarrollar al máximo su talento y acercar su música a la gente. Todo en la Escuela está dirigido a ese fin: la selección de profesores y alumnos únicamente por su mérito, la libertad del profesor para diseñar un plan académico personalizado para cada alumno, la intensidad de la convivencia, la consideración del escenario como prolongación del aula, la importancia de la música de conjunto y la búsqueda de fórmulas para acercar a la sociedad el gran poder transformador de la música.

Estos principios llevaron en pocos años a la Escuela Reina Sofía a la primera fila internacional y siguen inspirando nuestro trabajo. Al mismo tiempo, nos esforzamos a diario para asimilar, e incluso anticipar, los vertiginosos cambios que la vida musical está experimentando.

En el momento de fundar la Escuela, tuve la suerte de contar con la ayuda de los grandes músicos de entonces —Rostropóvich, Menuhin, Mehta, Maazel, Larrocha— y con el apoyo de Su Majestad la Reina Doña Sofía, que aceptó dar su nombre a la Escuela y ser su Presidenta de Honor. Desde entonces, ha presidido todos los patronatos y las clausuras de curso, entregando personalmente los diplomas a los alumnos.

Durante todo este tiempo, y hoy mismo, este proyecto de educación y cultura ha contado con el impulso de un formidable equipo de personas —profesores, alumnos, mecenas, personal—, empeñados en que la Escuela Reina Sofía esté cada día más cerca de sus objetivos.

Invito a todos a venir a la Escuela y comprobarlo.

Palabras de Paloma O’Shea, Presidenta Fundadora de la Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía

Welcome to the Reina Sofía School of Music.

We opened this School in 1991 so that young musicians from all over the world could develop their talent to the fullest and bring their music closer to people. Everything in the School is aimed at that end: the selection of teachers and students solely on their merit, the teacher’s freedom to design a personalized academic plan for each student, the intensity of coexistence, the consideration of the stage as an extension of the classroom, the importance of ensemble music and the search for formulas to bring the great transformative power of music closer to society.

These principles led the Reina Sofía School to the international forefront in just a few years and continue to inspire our work. At the same time, we strive daily to assimilate, and even anticipate, the dizzying changes that musical life is undergoing.

At the time of founding the School, I was fortunate to have the help of the great musicians of the time—Rostropovich, Menuhin, Mehta, Maazel, Larrocha—and with the support of Her Majesty Queen Sofía, who agreed to give her name to the School and be its Honorary President. Since then, she has chaired all the boards of trustees and graduation ceremonies, personally presenting diplomas to the students.

Throughout this time, and still today, this education and culture project has been driven by a formidable team of people—professors, students, patrons, staff—committed to ensuring that the Reina Sofía School is closer to its goals every day.

I invite everyone to come to the School and see for themselves.

Words from Paloma O’Shea, Founding President of the Reina Sofía School of Music

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