The members of the Sociedad Musical “La Artística” are affectionately known as “Los Feos” (The Ugly Ones), a moniker which recalls Francisco García, also known as Paco “El feo”, who was the founding member and main instigator of the Banda Sinfónica. “La Artística” has preserved his legacy with pride.

The Band’s origins date back to 1 May 1883. Throughout its history, its good work has been recognized at numerous festivals and contests. It first took part in the “Special Section A” of the Certamen Internacional de Valencia in the 1960s, but it wasn’t until 1990 that it won its first Honorable Mention.

Over the past 34 years, particularly notable are the three Honorable Mentions the Band received in 2000, 2009 and 2018 at the Certamen Internacional de Bandas “Villa de Altea”, the two Honorable Mentions in 1993 and 2012 at the Certamen Internacional de Valencia, and the two First Prizes it received at the World Music Contest Kerkrade (Holland) in 1993 and 2001. At the latter of these two WMC appearances, the Band also won the Golden Kettledrum, the World Champion Banner and the Banner for the highest number of points awarded to a foreign band in the entire history of the contest.

The Banda Sinfónica de “La Artística” has participated in important festivals such as those in Lucerne, Saarbrüken, Tilburg and the WASBE Conference 2019. It also has an extensive discography and in 2001 it received a Gold Disc from World Wind Music for having sold more than 20,000 CDs.

Since the 1960s, the principal conductors of the Banda Sinfónica have been Mariano Puig (1961/1970), Ramon Herrero García (1970/1984), Francisco Fort Fenollosa (1985/1989) and Henrie Adams (1989/2019). Currently the Band has more than 180 musicians led by Mario Ortuño Gelardo.

Mario Ortuño was born in Catral (Alicante). In recent years he has developed an intense career in the fields of wind band and symphonic orchestra.

A mentee of maestro Manuel Hernández Silva, he has furthered his training with maestros Álvaro Albiach, Jan Cober, Karel Mark Chichón, Georg Mark, Johan de Meij, José Rafael Pascual Vilaplana and Andrés Salado. As assistant conductor of the Orquesta de Valencia he has worked with distinguished conductors such as Josep Caballé, Karel Mark Chichón, Alexander Soddy, Pablo Heras Casado, Eiji Oue, Cristóblal Soler and Ramón Tébar.

Over the past few years he has directed the Orquesta Sinfónica de Córdoba, the Orquesta "Cuidad de Elche", the Orquesta Sinfónica de la Región de Murcia, the Orquesta Filarmónica de Málaga, the Orquesta de Extremadura, the Orquesta de Valencia and the Banda Municipal de Bilbao. In 2017 he was awarded the prize granted by the teachers of the Orquesta Filarmónica de Málaga in the 1st Curso / Concurso Magistral de Dirección de Orquesta competition, which led to him guest conducting in the “Frente al Mar” concert cycle in 2019.

He has been assistant director of various meetings of the Orquesta de Jóvenes de Andalucía (OJA) and the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España (JONDE), and assistant director of the Orquesta de Valencia in the 2019/20 season.

In January 2022 he won First Prize at the Concurso de Dirección de Orquesta Bilbao Musika.

He was guest conductor for the Sociedad Musical "La Artística" de Buñol in the concert this ensemble offered as part of the activities programmed for the WASBE Conference 2019, premiering in Europe David Maslanka’s Symphony No. 10: The River of Time.

Currently he is principal conductor of the Banda Sinfónica and Orquesta Sinfónica de la Sociedad Musical "La Artística" de Buñol, a prestigious group with which he has performed numerous world premieres.