Date
23/4/2026

António Sousa, Beatriz Neves, Cristiana Diogo, Filipe Correia, Inês Alves, Inês Cordeiro, Joana Ranito and Pedro Boto, students in the violin class taught by Augusto and Alexandra Trindade, Tiago Santos and Nuno Vasconcelos at the School of Applied Arts (ESART) of the Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco (IPCB), will join the pool of instrumentalists for the Extremadura Youth Orchestra (OJEX) for the 2026–2028 period.

The eight students – three of whom are studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Music (Instrumental Specialisation) and five for a Master’s degree in Music Education – are included in the ranking list of the twenty members selected for the violin section.

The entrance auditions for this and the other specialisms (viola, cello, double bass, flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, percussion and harp) took place between 19 March and 30 April at the Manuel Rojas Conference Centre in Badajoz.

Three hundred candidates were assessed, born between 2001 and 2008, who were either final-year students or students in upper secondary or higher education in the arts in Spain or Portugal, or of Spanish or Portuguese origin studying at centres or schools outside these two countries.

Of these, around seventy musicians have joined the OJEX reserve list. Over the next two years, they will be invited to take part in various sessions – on average up to three per season – depending on the requirements of the programmed repertoire.

Currently under the baton of Roberto Forés Veses as principal and artistic director, OJEX brings together young Spaniards and Portuguese aged between 18 and 25. The educational project, created by the Regional Government of Extremadura, the provincial councils of Badajoz and Cáceres, and the University of Extremadura through the Extremadura Orchestra Foundation, aims to broaden the orchestral training and knowledge of music students through the study and practice of symphonic repertoire, preparing them for their professional future.

The ensemble made its debut in 2004 at the basilica of the Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe, under the baton of conductor Miguel Romea, who has since been invited on several occasions to conduct the ESART-IPCB Symphony Orchestra.