Youth Orchestra of Southern Spain

The Youth Orchestra of Southern Spain, (J.O.S.E.) was born in 2013, after reflecting and analyzing the deficiency of a symphony orchestra being able to offer musical events to residents and tourists in the Granada coast. Serving as a platform for the professionalization of hundreds of young musicians from all over Andalucia.

The orchestra legally belongs to the Cultural Association "Jeunesses Musicales from Motril", whose president, Antonio Peralta Gámez is at the same time Manager of the J.O.S.E. and also enjoys the sponsorship of the municipalities of the Granada Coast, Almuñécar, Molvizar and Motril. The J.O.S.E. consists of 50 young musicians from all over Andalusia with ages between 18 and 30 years.

Since its première at the Teatro Calderón de la Barca of Motril in January 1st 2014, the orchestra has made performances and concerts in various towns of the Tropical Coast, Almeria, Granada, Jaén and Ceuta, always winning the approval of the public, which has been possible thanks to the enthusiasm of their young musicians and the goodness of its main asset, the Bristihs maestro, Michael Thomas.

The Orchestra repertoire includes works of:

Schubert: Unfinished Symphony No.8
Dvorak: Symphony No. 8 and 9.
Tchaikowsky: The Nutcracker Symphony No. 5, Concerto No.1 for piano
Bizet: Carmen Suite No. 1 and 2
Sainte- Saëns: Cello Concerto No.1
Vivaldi: several concertos
Shostakovich: Concerto No. 2 for piano, symphony No. 5
Brahms: Violin Concerto No. 1
And a variety of works including Mozart, Mendelshon, Smetana, V. Wiliams, Mocayo, Chapí, Soutullo, Vert, Jiménez, etc.

During the current year, The JOSE is offering a concert season in the touristic city of Almuñécar with a full house in all concerts at the Martin Recuerda Auditorium, with which it has managed to become the Orchestra of the Costa Tropical. Maestro Michael Thomas is emerging as one of the directors of highest didactic prestige as it was demonstrated in leading the Youth Orchestra of Andalusia from 2000 to 2011.

At the age of 14 Michael Thomas created and led his own orchestra, The Cleveland Concertante, with which he premiered his first concert for cello. He received classes in Salbuzburgo with Sandor Végh. At the age of 17 he received classes in orchestral direction at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in Manchester, with Timothy Rhenish, graduating with honors and obtaining the Prize Bass Charrington.

He created the Manchester String Orchestra, then Kreisler Orchestra, with which he won the award of Jeunesses Musicales of Belgrade, and directed the Chamber Orchestra of the RNCM. It is incorporated in the European Community Youth Orchestra, which was offered the position of concertino. He worked with conductors such as Claudio Abbado and Lorim Maazel. During these years, he worked with the Young Orchestra of Iceland, under the direction of Paul Zukovsky.

In 1971 he founded the Brodsky Quartet, which he conducted for 27 years, and he remained linked to the orchestral direction from then on. With this quartet, he gave numerous concerts all over the world, with appearances on radio and television, and made several recordings as well.

He was director of the Kreisler Orchestra of London, with which won the Audience Award, the Press Award and the Award for the Best Performance of modern music in the contest of Jeunesses Musicales of Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He toured France, Italy, the Netherlands and several countries in Eastern Europe. He also had the opportunity to lead a televised concert from the Royal Albert Hall.