Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Nacional Claudio Santoro

The Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Nacional Cláudio Santoro in Brasília was formally inaugurated in early 1980, following a concert of Villa-Lobos's music conducted by Santoro at the Villa-Lobos Hall on 6 May 1979. After the composer's death in 1989, the theatre and its orchestra adopted his name. The ensemble's conductors have included Silvio Barbato, Julio Medaglia, Elena Herrera, Ira Levin and Cláudio Cohen. Its work also encompasses new music through the Brasília Orchestral Summit, which brings composers to hear their orchestral works rehearsed and performed by the ensemble, with recordings made available after the programme. Cláudio Santoro — composer, violinist, conductor, and one of the founding figures of Brazilian musical modernism — gave his name to the national theatre in Brasília, and through it to this orchestra. The building is part of Oscar Niemeyer's plan for the capital, a truncated pyramid set among the ministries; the orchestra attached to it is the city's principal symphonic ensemble. Contemporary Brazilian music has a natural place in its programming, as the dedication to Santoro implies.