About
About us
Tempest: “winds of extraordinary force, storm, turmoil of the spirits…” Could anything be more baroque? Shakespeare, Giorgione and Vivaldi portrayed in their art the impetus of a powerful nature, full of contrast and energy.
CONCERTS
Founded in 2000 and under the artistic direction of Silvia Márquez Chulilla, La Tempestad is regarded by critics as one of the leading ensembles in historically informed performance in Spain. “The precision, finesse and rapport of its performers captivate the listener from the very first note”.
Active both nationally and internationally, their programmes reflect a predilection for chamber music, including composers such as J. S. Bach (for example, the complete concertos for 2, 3 and 4 harpsichords, which they frequently revive), G. F. Haendel, D. Scarlatti, F. Couperin, J. Ph. Rameau, C. P. E. Bach and J. Haydn, without forgetting Spanish authors such as A. de Cabezón, D. Ortiz, L. de Narváez, A. Soler, J. Oliver y Astorga and M. Cavasza, and devoting particular attention to the dissemination of heritage.
Depending on the repertoire, the ensemble varies between small and medium formats, always around a core of renowned musicians trained at the finest Spanish and European conservatoires, with experience in the most prestigious groups devoted to this repertoire. The “expressiveness and fascination” that critics attribute to La Tempestad have taken them to the main early music venues and festivals: Auditorio Nacional, Teatro Real de Madrid, Fundación Juan March, Festival Musika-Música Bilbao, Festival Internacional de Santander, Festival de Música Española de Cádiz, Festival de Música Antigua de Aranjuez, Festival Internacional de Daroca, FeMÀS Sevilla, Quincena Musical de San Sebastián, Mayo Musical de Bolea (Huesca), Lugo, Santillana del Mar, II Ciclo de Música Sacra de Almería, Festival Pau Casals de El Vendrell, Ciclo de Música Antigua en la Real Capilla de Santa Isabel (Zaragoza), Ciclo de Cantatas del Ayuntamiento de Madrid, and others.
They are regular guests at international festivals (Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Germany, Croatia, Bolivia, Panama, Andorra), notably the VII and VIII Festival Internacional de Música Renacentista y Barroca “Misiones de Chiquitos” in Bolivia, the Encuentro Euro-boliviano de La Paz, the III Festival de Música Antigua de Panamá and the Festival Haydn de Eisenstadt.
[BOTÓN Repertoire] Calendar
«Firmeza, solidez de ejecución, frescura, fluidez en el discurso. Y flexibilidad, energía, vitalidad, brillantez (...)»
Heritage recovery
Alongside the works of our Iberian heritage that regularly feature in its concert programmes, La Tempestad has devoted much of its time to the recovery of pieces that were waiting – and deserved – to be researched and presented to a wide audience.
In 2015 the ensemble gave a programme at the Auditorio Nacional de Madrid and the Auditorio de León devoted to the music of the competitive examinations for the Capilla Real de Madrid. It included the modern-era premiere of the first Spanish concerto for harpsichord and orchestra, by Manuel Narro, and the Concierto para dos claves by G. B. Pergolesi (recorded and broadcast by RTVE).
In November 2018 La Tempestad was invited to open the Bicentenary celebrations of the Museo del Prado with a concert devised in collaboration with the Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales. The programme, with music from the circle surrounding the museum's foundation, recovered music from the archives of María Luisa de Borbón in Parma and of the Palacio Real de Madrid. It included the modern-era premiere of the first Spanish cello concerto, by Francisco Brunetti, and of the first symphony composed by a woman: María Luisa de Borbón herself.
The show Rascamoños, premiered in 2025 with the stage director Curro Carreres, presents the collaboration on several burlesque zarzuelas and sainetes between the composer Antonio Rodríguez de Hita and the playwright Ramón de la Cruz. It is a collaborative work with the Instituto Complutense de Ciencias Musicales, part of the MadMusic project (an R&D project funded by the Comunidad de Madrid and the Fondo Social Europeo) and it made possible the modern-era premiere of several arias from Las payas celosas and El loco vano y valiente.
Currently, along the same lines of collaboration with the ICCMU, the ensemble is immersed in the project to recover the work of José Lidón – in preparation for the 200th anniversary of his death. The project will allow the modern-era premiere of the oratorio Il trionfo and of several numbers from the second act of the zarzuela El barón (a zarzuela thought to be lost).
[BOTÓN Iberian repertoire]
Sinfonías de 1821 que oyes por primera vez. Un homenaje a la reina de Etruria en El Escorial
About
Grabaciones
Following the excellent reviews won by Caro Dardo: Sopranos y castrati en el Londres de Farinelli (MMA 2007) and Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Música a tres (Arsis 2009), their first albums reflect the ensemble's intensive work on arrangements: the world premiere recording of J. Haydn's 12 Sinfonías de Londres in the arrangement by J. P. Salomon (MAA 2012) –a project sponsored by the Consejería de Cultura de la Región de Murcia and Címbalo Producciones– and Mozart Infrecuente (Arsis 2013), which includes the “Júpiter” Symphony KV. 551 in their own arrangement.
They have been IBS Classical artists since 2017, the year they released Iberian Harpsichord Concertos, an album (CD) featuring the first concertos written for harpsichord in the Iberian Peninsula (Manuel Narro, José Palomino), together with the concerto for two harpsichords by Giovanni B. Pergolesi. In 2018 they released Scarlatti: Venezia 1742 (IBS 2018), presenting D. Scarlatti's sonatas for treble and basso continuo in an instrumental version by S. Márquez. Their latest recording, Brunetti & Lidón (IBS 2019), uncovers heritage recoveries from the last third of the 18th century around the Madrid court.
La Tempestad also produces the recordings made by its director, Silvia Márquez, and has taken part in a number of audiovisual co-productions in collaboration with artists from other disciplines.
«Interpretaciones impecablemente tocadas y apasionadamente expresivas (…)»
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Other arts | Tradition and modernity
Interaction with other artistic disciplines is a constant in the career of La Tempestad, notably through collaborations in various programmes and repertoires with actors such as Antonio M. M., Ana Hernández Sanchiz, Compañía Ferroviaria, Compañía Nacional de Teatro Clásico and Núria Espert.
In 2025 they premiere the production Rascamoños in collaboration with the playwright and stage director Curro Carreres and the sadly departed actress Rocío Bernal.
The programme Scarlatti en danza, premiered at the Festival Música Antigua Aranjuez with the dancer Sara Calero –with one foot in classicism and the other in the avant-garde–, allows La Tempestad to explore the fandango from its traditional roots to its galant form, as well as other relationships between Iberian music and dance. In addition, their recording of the trios by C. Ph. E. Bach forms part of the music for Elektrik, the production by the renowned choreographer Blanca Li.
With the photographer and filmmaker Joaquín Clares they have worked on interdisciplinary audiovisual projects such as Noches de Candanga (focused on traditional architecture, crafts and the rural landscape, together with the studio Arquitectura de Barrio and the experimental music duo Crudo Pimento, and with the participation of renowned visual artists) and Los cuentos del Mathnawi (theatre, music and audiovisual work on Sufi mystical poetry –poems by Jalal-uddin Rumi– with Compañía Ferroviaria, the actress Eloísa Azorín and the director Paco Maciá).
For the painter Carlos Pardo they recorded the music accompanying his project Música y pintura (2019), a profound experiment with colours and sounds (as well as taking part in the opening concert of his exhibition Variaciones sobre el paisaje).
The search for a meeting point between period instruments and contemporary music has resulted in new works by José María Sánchez-Verdú, Jesús Torres, Gabriel Erkoreka and Roberto Sierra (his Montuno en forma de chacona is the central piece of the video clip Unboxing XVII, by the filmmaker Joaquín Clares).
LOS CUENTOS DEL MATHNAWI · Compañía Ferroviaria, Joaquín Clares
NOCHES DE CANDANGA · Arquitectura de Barrio, Crudo Pimento, Joaquín Clares
UNBOXING XVII · Roberto Sierra, Silvia Márquez Chulilla, Joaquín Clares
Outreach and social IMPACT
Alongside its concert activity, the ensemble has been invited to give courses (Conservatorio Nacional de La Paz, Academia de Música Antigua de Gijón, Academia Barroca de la Universidad de Panamá, Orquesta de Jóvenes de la Región de Murcia, etc.), to take part in programmes with social impact (Orquesta Hombres Nuevos de Santa Cruz, in Bolivia, or Festival Activo de Gijón, for people with Alzheimer's) and to collaborate with young ensembles such as the Cammerata de Murcia, the Orquesta de Jóvenes de la Región de Murcia and the Academia Barroca de Rioja Filarmonía.
In the field of outreach, Iberian Organ Drops is a series of short audiovisual pills – micro-concerts on historic organs – that documents the unique features of Iberian organs, such as their short-octave keyboards, split stops and emblematic horizontal trumpet stops. Tañedores involves the training and participation of young people and of inhabitants of rural areas in fostering the appreciation of our sonic heritage in dialogue with other arts, while at the same time easing young musicians' access to the labour market. For its part, Clavicembulante brings the broad harpsichord repertoire to audiences outside the usual concert venues, in a participatory, approachable and educational format.
From a gender perspective, there are numerous La Tempestad projects that highlight the presence of women in different roles: from the aforementioned premiere of the Sinfonías by Mª Luisa de Borbón, through Lilith (a programme of music by Gracia Baptista, Mariana Martínez, Ana Amalia de Prusia, Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and Domenico Scarlatti – teacher of María Bárbara de Braganza – which thus reflects women's musical activity in well-placed settings: the church and royalty); Rascamoños (a project centred on women of the countryside, of the huerta, of the lower classes: eighteenth-century female characters contextualised through sainetes and burlesque zarzuelas with music by Antonio Rodríguez de Hita and verses by Ramón de la Cruz); to Wanda Landowska: Miradas (showing the different roles the harpsichordist took on in recovering her instrument and returning it to the stage: performer, arranger, composer, collaborator of contemporary composers and promoter of new works).
[BOTÓN Repertoire written by women]
From the same perspective, La Tempestad has organised the series “MULIER: donde la palabra suena” – music, women and literature – for the Ayuntamiento de Madrid. Likewise, in the field of cultural management it has promoted and coordinated the series “Murcia Músicas Históricas” (Región de Murcia, Ayuntamiento de Murcia), the I and II Feria y Encuentros Internacionales de Música Antigua-FEIMA (GEMA), and more.
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«With the individual worth of its members and a superb result as an ensemble; with apt tempi, air and style; and with phrasing and expressive effects achieved with admirable unity, rapport and finesse, attentive to every detail. Musical interpretations that are lucid, wholesome and moving.»
Awards and recognition
La Tempestad, a founding member of GEMA (Asociación de Grupos Españoles de Música Antigua) – and a member from 2010 to 2025 – receives support from the Ministerio de Cultura and the ICA Región de Murcia, and has been Resident Ensemble at the Auditorio y Centro de Congresos “Víctor Villegas” de la Región de Murcia.
The ensemble's work has been recognised on numerous occasions, receiving distinctions from critics, audiences and various organisations.
It holds the Premio Promúsico 2011 from the Asociación Promúsica. In 2015 it won two awards at the I Premios GEMA a la Creatividad e Innovación en la Música Antigua, as Best Classicism Ensemble and Best Direction (Silvia Márquez), both of which were won again at the IV edition (2018), in addition to the Best Manager award (Marivic Martín) at the II edition. It was also a winner of the Circuito Festclásica Música Antigua 2016.
Its project ElConservatorio.es, which brings together early music and gastronomy in an approachable, educational format, received a grant from Factoría Cultural and won the Estrella de Levante and GEMA 2019 awards for Innovation in Early Music. In 2020 the project "Los cuentos del Mathnawi" was selected for the Línea Escénica and the Línea Murcia Medieval y Tres Culturas of the “Reactivos Culturales" programme of the Ayuntamiento de Murcia. The award for Best Work in the Promotion of Classical Music at the IV Edición de los Premios de la Música Región de Murcia went to La Tempestad for its recording "Brunetti & Lidón. At the Spanish Royal Chamber".