SÓLO NMC: el CD.

SÓLO NMC is more than a title: it’s a statement of intent.

This debut album is a true expression of our essence. A repertoire carefully selected and adapted to our own style, featuring original arrangements by our conductor and the world premiere of one of his new works.

A recording speaks with its own voice: that of a passionate generation of musicians who perform with excellence, energy, and a deep desire to move and connect.

Joining us on this sonic journey are internationally acclaimed soloists such as violinist Simon Zhu (Paganini Prize 2023), and cellists Leonardo Chiodo (Paulo Cello Prize) and Maria Salvatori, who at just 20 years old won Third Prize at the Penderecki Competition.

And, as in every NMC project, the voice is ever-present, with sopranos Marina Cuesta and Blanca Ruiz, and mezzo-soprano Carmen Lázaro. Is singing not a vital part of the soul of music?

We want to record all of this. And we want to do it with you.

With your support, we’ll be able to bring this CD to life and share our way of living and feeling classical music. This crowdfunding campaign is an invitation to be part of something new, bold, and essential. Become an accomplice in this dream!

Will you join us?

The pieces

A repertoire that defines us

The SÓLO NMC program is as diverse as it is cohesive: a musical journey full of contrast, emotion, and character, where every piece has been chosen—and transformed—to reflect our musical identity. All the arrangements are original and exclusive, created especially for this recording.

• Tango Jalousie – Jacob Gade

A passionate tango turned concert piece. Jacobo Christensen takes the solo on violin, performing over an exclusive string orchestra arrangement that enhances its intensity, drama, and sensuality. Music of desire and the spark in a glance.

Pièce en forme de Habanera – Maurice Ravel

Ravel transforms a popular dance into pure impressionist elegance. Leonardo Chiodo, with his noble and captivating tone, is the soloist in this refined piece, arranged especially for NMC. A moment of suspended beauty.

• Rapsodia barroca – Jacobo Christensen

An original composition by Jacobo written for this recording. Starting from a baroque language, it gradually morphs into a lively and highly personal contemporary style. Performed by Simon Zhu and Cecilia Novella (violins), Leonardo Chiodo (cello), and Vicente David Martín (harpsichord). A journey from the past to the now.

• Youkali – Kurt Weill

A nostalgic habanera about an imaginary paradise. Carmen Lázaro and Marina Cuesta bring voice to this delicate and melancholic song, accompanied by a string quartet that embraces every word. The exclusive NMC arrangement highlights its cinematic atmosphere.

• Habanera - Pablo Sarasate

Virtuosity and Spanish fire with a lyrical twist. The young prodigy Simon Zhu takes the solo in a new string orchestra arrangement. Sarasate revisited with spark, elegance, and charm.

• Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt – Franz Schubert

One of the most moving songs of German Romanticism. In this version, Carmen Lázaro sings accompanied by harpsichord (Vicente David Martín) and string orchestra, with expressive interludes in a sensitive and profound arrangement by Jacobo Christensen.

• Danse macabre – Camille Saint-Saëns

Death dances among the living in this nocturnal fantasy. Simon Zhu and Carmen Lázaro alternate in a ghostly dialogue full of dark humor and technical brilliance. Jacobo Christensen’s arrangement boosts its theatricality and turns it into a truly striking piece.

• Flower Duet (Lakmé) – Léo Delibes

One of opera’s most iconic melodies. Marina Cuesta and Carmen Lázaro perform it with renewed delicacy, wrapped in a new string orchestration written especially for NMC. Pure beauty suspended in time.

• Élégie – Jules Massenet

A brief, intimate, and deeply touching work. Blanca Ruiz sings this elegy accompanied by the expressive violin of Simon Zhu and the string orchestra. Jacobo Christensen’s arrangement highlights its lyricism with a delicate balance between voice and strings.

• El cant dels ocells – Traditional (version by Pau Casals)

A hymn of peace, spirituality, and remembrance, performed expressively by Maria Salvatori, a mature and sensitive young cellist, accompanied by the string orchestra. A sincere, unadorned version that connects with the essential.

Who are we?

Nostrum Mare Camerata is a young orchestra born to shake up the world of classical music. Founded by violinist and conductor Jacobo Christensen, our work is rooted in respect, historically informed performance, and deep admiration for the works we explore. Our mission is to offer a fresh, vibrant, and authentic perspective.

Indeed: we are classical music, but not the usual classical.

A picture is worth a thousand words. So we invite you to see for yourself what we do. Click here to listen to Nur wer di Sehnsucht kennt y and here’s our take on Tango Jalousie.

Since our debut at the Olympia Theatre in Valencia in July 2021, we’ve presented our programs Alma Mater, Entre el tango y la habanera, Agitato, Furor Amoris and Zeitgeist at prestigious festivals such as the Certamen Internacional de Habaneras y Polifonía de Torrevieja, ORFIM International Music Festival in Oropesa del Mar, and the Peñíscola International Festival of Early and Baroque Music, among others.

If you’d like to know more about us, visit our website at www.nostrumarecam.com.

Where will the money go?

100% of the funds raised will go toward covering part of the recording and production costs of the CD: from the recording venue and technical team to production, post-production, and CD manufacturing. Every contribution brings us one step closer to making it happen.

What do we offer in return?

We want to thank you for your support with unique rewards, lovingly created by the Nostrum Mare Camerata team:

🎧 Music:

• Early digital download and physical CD once released

• Signed score

• Surprise piece dedicated during the concert

🎁 Exclusive items:

• Notebook and pencil with original NMC designs

🎟️ Invitations and experiences:

• Invitation to one of two special concerts: Only NMC (July 17, start of the recording) / CD Release Concert (November–December)

• Access to the final closed rehearsal

• Immersive patron experience: private event with NMC conductor and musicians + cocktail

📚 Training and recognition:

• Violin masterclass (3 sessions) with Jacobo Christensen

• Your name in the credits, on the website, and in the CD booklet

*Shipping costs within mainland Spain are included. For shipments to the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Europe, or the rest of the world, you can select the appropriate add-on.

Want to know more?

Our conductor, Jacobo Christensen

First Prize at the Concours International de Jeunes Musiciens Crescendo (Geneva) and the Pozuelo de Alarcón International Competition (Madrid), Interpretation Prize of the Sociedad de Conciertos de Alicante, Winner of the 2nd Young Soloists Competition of the Jove Orquestra de la Generalitat Valenciana, Prix du Cap Ferret Music Open (France).

He has performed in the United States, China, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Italy, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, and Portugal, playing some of the most important violin concertos: Brahms, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Beethoven, Sibelius...

His desire to understand the foundations of music has led him toward conducting, his great passion. In 2022, he met maestro Andrés Orozco-Estrada, who has since become a key figure in his development as a conductor.

Our soloists

SIMON ZHU, violin

First Prize winner of the 57th International Violin Competition Premio Paganini (Genoa, Italy), where he also received the special award for the best performance of the Paganini Concerto. Among other engagements, this granted him the opportunity to play the legendary “Il Cannone” violin by Niccolò Paganini (Guarneri del Gesù, 1743) in later concerts. He has also won First Prizes at the Jugend musiziert, Georg Philipp Telemann (Poland), Kloster Schöntal (Germany), Valsesia Musica (Italy), Zhuhai Mozart Competition (China), and the Bruno Frey Prize in Germany.

MARIA SALVATORI, cello

Winner of numerous international competitions including Antonio Janigro (Croatia), Antonio Salieri, Riviera Etrusca, and the Crescendo Prize in Florence, as well as Third Prize at the Penderecki International Cello Competition in Krakow. She has served as principal cello of the Royal Concertgebouw Youth Orchestra in Amsterdam and the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra.

She has performed solo and chamber music in venues such as La Fenice (Venice), the Roman Philharmonic, and the Dresden Music Festival. Since 2020, she has held a scholarship from the Internationale Musikakademie Liechtenstein.

LEONARDO CHIODO, cello

Awarded at the 6th International Paulo Cello Competition (2018, Finland), the 13th Finnish National Cello Competition (2018, Finland), the 10th International Music Competition in memory of Evgeny Aleksandrovich Mravinsky in St. Petersburg (2016, Russia), and the De Unges Konsert – Young Soloist Competition in Bergen (Norway).

He trained at the Sibelius Academy, the Kronberg Academy (Germany), and the Reina Sofía School of Music in Madrid. He has worked under the baton of Chloé Dufresne, Antonino Fogliani, Sakari Oramo, Ruut Kiiski, Eva Ollikainen, and Cathrine Winnes.

He plays a cello made by Carlo Giuseppe Testore in 1718, generously loaned by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

MARINA CUESTA, soprano

Winner of the Valleseco Zarzuela Competition, Audience Prize at the 5th Josep Palet Singing Competition in Martorell (Barcelona), and Extraordinary End-of-Degree Prize in Voice at the Joaquín Rodrigo Conservatory in Valencia.

She has performed the roles of the Fire and the Princess in L’enfant et les sortilèges by Ravel, Despina in Così fan tutte, and Susanna and Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro, all by Mozart, among others.

BLANCA RUIZ, soprano

Recipient of the Extraordinary End-of-Degree Prize in Voice and the Valencian Regional Voice Award. A soprano, double bassist, and Fine Arts graduate, she is currently pursuing a Master’s in Opera in Vienna.

Her operatic roles include Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia, Rossini), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte, Mozart), Madama Cortese (Il viaggio a Reims, Rossini), the Shepherdess and the Chinese Cup (L’enfant et les sortilèges, Ravel).

CARMEN LÁZARO, mezzo-soprano

Violist, clarinetist, and singer. Her operatic experience includes the roles of Nicklausse (Les contes d’Hoffmann, Offenbach), L’Enfant (L’enfant et les sortilèges, Ravel), Contessa Melibea (Il viaggio a Reims), Enrico (Elisabetta, Regina d’Inghilterra), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), and Armelinde (Cendrillon, Viardot).

She completed postgraduate studies at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg and will be part of the Young Artists Programme at the National Opera Studio in the 2025/26 season.

And there’s more...

The recording will be handled by Bertram Kornacher, one of Europe’s most respected sound engineers in the field of classical music.

With decades of experience and collaborations with top-tier soloists and ensembles, Bertram brings sonic excellence, artistic sensitivity, and technical precision. His meticulous, generous, and deeply musical approach aligns perfectly with NMC’s spirit. With him, every nuance, every color, and every emotion we bring to the performance will be faithfully captured. Because this album must not only sound good — it must sound like US.

The album cover will feature an original photograph by Francisco Hernández Marzal, a visual artist of great sensitivity whose work resonates deeply with NMC’s sound universe. His poetic, precise, and contemporary eye helps translate into image everything this album seeks to express: identity, contrast, emotion, and truth. Because this project is not only heard — it’s also seen, felt, and recognized.

Estimated timeline

The CD recording will take place during the second half of July 2025. Immediately after, we’ll begin editing, mixing, and graphic design.

In October, we’ll shoot the album’s cover image. We estimate that the physical copies will be ready between late November and December.

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