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Isabel Costes

ISABEL COSTES, musical and artistic director of the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, since its creation in 2006, is one of the most recognized Spanish teachers on the musical scene. An interesting international career together with her vitality, versatility and personal imprint make teacher Costes one of the references among the directors of her generation.

Her participation in various orchestras as a guest conductor has included groups such as the Montevideo Philharmonic Orchestra (Uruguay), the Porto Alegre Symphony Orchestra (Brazil), the UAEMex Chamber Orchestra (Mexico), the Sodre National Youth Orchestra ( Uruguay), Orchestra of the Claudio Santoro National Theater of Brasilia (Brazil), Valencia Orchestra, Youth Orchestra of the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu of Barcelona, Vallès Symphony Orchestra (Barcelona), Russe Orchestra (Bulgaria), Zacatecas Symphony Orchestra (Mexico), among others. In this 24/25 season, she is planning a tour of Mexico, conducting important orchestras in the country.

In the face of newly created music, the teacher assumes the commitment to premiere and/or record works by contemporary composers such as: Claudia Montero, Ernesto Mateo, Laura Vega, Nino Díaz, Álvaro Méndez Bonomi, Víctor Landeira, Albert Guinovart, Miquel Roger, Albert Sardà, Yónatan Sánchez…

Balance of the work carried out by the teacher Isabel Costes with the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, and on the occasion of the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the aforementioned Orchestra, the Artífex ProArt Disc label has published several works record companies, among which it is worth highlighting: El Corregidor y la Molinera by M. de Falla, Música para una Noche de Ánimas, which collects different moments from the Cycle carried out by the same name, the Dances of the Ballet Estancia by Alberto Ginastera, Le Tombeau de Couperin by Maurice Ravel, or the 5th Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris by composer George Gershwin among others. She is currently working on the mastering of two albums: Edith Piaf, a life in concert with the voice of the famous Mexican soprano María Katzarava and the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra and El Amor Brujo 1915 (first version) by Manuel de Falla.

The symphonic repertoire addressed by teacher Isabel Costes ranges from Bach's great oratorios to the most representative music of the 21st century, including classical-romantic symphonism. His involvement with opera occurs through titles such as La Bohème, Tosca, Gianni Schicchi, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, in addition to his foray into operetta and musical comedy in works such as: Die Fledermaus, West Side Story, Candide, Die Lustige Witwe, Die Dreigroschenoper (Kurt Weill)…

The teacher Isabel Costes, thanks to her clearly open-minded and transversal profile and career, encourages the encounter of music with the rest of the performing, plastic and visual arts, thus achieving that the different genres are intertwine and flow between them. Proof of this is, among others, the production of productions such asAmor Brujo 1915 A view from the 21st century (2014-15); the cycle Music for a night of souls (2015-2023), El Corregidor y la Molinera (2017), From Paris to Broadway (2018 ), Don Juan Tenorio and the Music for a Night of Souls (2018/20), Cycle Lyrical Secrets at the Santa Catalina (2022/24) …

Aware of the need to project the rich Spanish heritage, teacher Isabel Costes is a great promoter of Spanish music and zarzuela, both in her international performances and through various initiatives promoted by the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra in favor of this repertoire. Thus, she is director of the La Palma Spanish Music and Zarzuela Festival, director of the Valleseco International Zarzuela Competition and creator, in 2020, of Zarzuela Estudio Internacional , a high-performance training program that promotes lyrical and musical talents through the aforementioned genre.

In 2020, Costes launches the MICROZARZUELAS format. Microzarzuelas consists of the creation and implementation of zarzuelas lasting between 15 and 20 minutes, with current themes and with all the structure that a traditional zarzuela may have: text, singing and instrumental music divided between prelude, duets, romanzas, choirs and final concertante. This format, in addition to being represented in different programs in the Canary Islands, has been exported by agreement to the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City through its EOBA Opera Studio and to Argentina through the Astor Piazzolla Conservatory of Music in Buenos Aires .

The collaborations that the teacher Isabel Costes makes in the publication of various books and articles specialized in music and didactics are common, fostered by her solid humanistic training that also led her to obtain a degree in History Of art. These aspects, together with a high pedagogical commitment, have led her to participate in conferences or presentations for universities such as Barcelona, Las Palmas, Zacatecas (Mexico), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Autonomous University of the State of Mexico as well as other artistic and professional entities. such as Women Conductors International, Music Congress of Catalonia, Encuentro de Zarzuela por el Mundo in Guadalajara, (Mexico), always addressing topics related to Music and the Stage.

She also regularly teaches courses and master classes in orchestra conducting for various institutions such as Conservatories, composers' associations, higher music schools... and is invited as a jury in various international competitions.

Mr. Costes is a member of the Grammy Recording Academy and the Latin Recording Academy Grammy.

In the importance of socially involving music through debate in professional groups, Isabel Costes, is a member of the International Movement Women Directors/ Mulheres Regentes/ Women Conductors, she has been part of AESDO (Spanish Association of Orchestra Directors). She also contributed to the creation of the Consell Català de la Música in Catalonia and the Canarian Association of Classical Music Professionals.

Solvency, synthesis and emotion are characteristics projected by teacher Isabel Costes, who began her career in orchestra conducting with teacher Manuel Galduf at the Higher Conservatory of Music of Valencia, where she also studied composition and orchestration with Don Luís Blanes and Don Amando Blanquer and choir direction with Don Eduardo Cifre. After her graduation, she attends courses at the Accademia Chigiana of Siena (Italy) with the directors Franco Ferrara and Carlo Mª Giulini.