Salvador Brotons was born in Barcelona into a family of musicians. He studied flute with his father and continued his studies at the Barcelona Conservatory of Music, obtaining higher degrees in flute, composition and conducting. In 1985 he was awarded a Fullbright Fellowship and moved to the United States, where he earned his Ph.D. in Music from Florida State University.

As a composer, he has written more than 150 works, mostly orchestral and chamber music, and has won several awards, including the Premio Orquesta Nacional de España (1977), the Premio Jove d’Or (1980), the Premi Ciutat de Barcelona. 1983 and 1986), the Southeastern Composers League Award (1986), The Madison University Flute Choir Composition Award (1987) and the Queen Sofia Composition Award (1991). Most of his works have been published and a good number of works has also been recorded on various CDs, both in Europe as in the United States.

In our country he has been the principal conductor of the Balearic Symphony Orchestra “Ciutat de Palma” (1997-2001 and 2009-2013), the Vallès Symphony Orchestra (1997-2002) and the Barcelona Municipal Band (2007-2018 ). Since 1991 he has conducted the Vancouver Symphony (United States) and is currently also the principal guest conductor of the Barcelona Municipal Band. From autumn 2022 he will also be the principal director of the Orquestra Simfònica de Sant Cugat. As a guest he has conducted several orchestras in Israel, Germany, China, Belgium, Korea, France, Italy, Mexico, the United States and in our country. In addition, he combines an intense agenda as conductor with the composition of a number of commissions for works of all genres. He is professor of orchestral conducting and composition at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMuC).

In 2020 he was awarded the Clark County Arts Commission Lifetime Achievement Award for his years in the service of the SW Washington arts community.

(*1952, Llíria)

José Alamá-Gil was born in Llíria and began his musical formation with José Ma Malato Ruíz among other teachers. He continued his studies at the Conservatorio Superior de Música Joaquín Rodrigo in Valencia, with Professor Lucas Conejero, with whom he graduated as Professor of Clarinet, obtaining by opposition the Diploma of First Class of Final Degree and the Mercedes Massi Award to the best academic expedient of the promotion. He expanded his clarinet studies with José Taléns, harmony with José Ma Cervera, piano with Mario Monreal and counterpoint and fugue with Francisco Tamarit.

During his stay in Madrid, he was a student of Professor Rodrigo de Santiago, with whom he developed extensive studies in composition, orchestration and transcription of orchestral originals for symphonic bands. He is the author of the tune-indicative of Radio Autonomía Valenciana Radio 9 and the album Dolçaina, vent de llevant, 1st Edition of the record label Radio 9 Música, as well as several popular pieces and chamber music, transcriptions and arrangements for symphonic band, choirs and instrumental ensembles.

He has been nominated twice for Best Classical Music Author at the 5th Edition of the SGAE Music Awards. He is an active member of SGAE (General Society of Authors and Publishers) and SDAE (Digital Society of Authors and Publishers).

His compositions are known internationally through the music publishers Piles, Albadoc, Molenaar and B&M. He holds the Gold Medal for Merit in the Collective Fine Arts. He currently combines his work as a composer with the work as  Professor (clarinetist) in the Banda Municipal of Valencia.

Jaume Alaquer i Reyes was a Menorcan composer and organist. He received the sacred orders in Madrid. Later he went to Cuba to expand his personal knowledge, where he died shortly after his arrival, September 12, 1823.

Antoni Josep Alburquerque i Subirats was born in Sant Carles de la Ràpita in 1969. At the age of thirteen he began his musical studies at the music school of the Banda de la Agrupació Musical Rapitenca in the specialty of musical language and horn, studies that he would later expand at the conservatories of Tortosa, Valencia and Barcelona, ​​where he studied horn, harmony, counterpoint, fugue, composition-instrumentation and orchestral conducting with the obtaining of different awards and honorable mentions in the respective specialties, as well as studies of direction and specialized composition for symphonic band.

Since 1997, he has been the director of the Banda de Agrupació Musical Rapitenca, a position he combines with the secondary school teachers at the Xaloc School in Barcelona, ​​as well as a teacher of horn, instrumental ensemble and history of the music  at the Vila-seca conservatory and the Sant Carles de la Ràpita School of Music. He has been a collaborating professor at the Conservatori Municipal de música de Barcelona, as well as a teacher of metal and instrumental ensemble in the Aula de música 7 of Barcelona, ​​in the music school of La Lira Ampostina and Escola municipal de música d’Ulldecona.

He has composed chamber music, music for cobla, orchestra and band, focusing his production on the pedagogical repertoire for horn and wind instruments and ensembles respectively, the latter being performed in international courses and conferences. Some of his works are also part of the planning of the studies and compulsory works in many conservatories of the state. He has received commissions from international ensembles and soloists, including the “Israel Philarmonic Brass Quartet” and the horn quartet Luses. His works have been published by Omnes Bands, Periferia música, Tutto Musik and Brotons & Mercadal.

His interests in music and its applications in education have led him to do a master’s degree in music therapy.

Òscar Álvarez Valero

Born in Barcelona in 1979, he began his musical studies at the “Joan Valls” School of Music in Caldes de Montbui and continued at the Conservatory of Manresa, where he completed his studies in bassoon, piano and composition-instrumentation with professors Ramon Aragall, Carles Julià and Lluís M. Bosch respectively. Between 2002 and 2006, he studied for the higher degree in music in the bassoon speciality at the Higher Music Center of the Basque Country “Musikene” with Professor David Tomàs and later continued his advanced studies with Professor Gabor Meszaros.

As a pianist, he won first prize in the IV “7 Plomes” piano competition in Mollet del Vallès in 1996 and performed as a soloist with the Jove Orquestra del Vallès Oriental, conducted by Alfons Reverté in 2001.

Between 2006 and 2007, he was co-principal bassoonist in the Real Filharmonía de Galicia orchestra, in which he later continued as a collaborator. He also collaborates with the Sinfónica de Galicia, Sinfónica de Navarra “Pablo Sarasate”, Filharmónica de Málaga, Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, Simfònica del Vallès, Grup Barcelona 216, Orquestra de Cambra de Granollers, Orquestra Terrassa 48, etc.

As a composer his works have been performed in Barcelona, ​​Lleida, Cervera, Prades, Donosti, A Coruña, Valencia, Benicarló, Freiburg im Breisgau and Bad Säckingen (Germany), Zurich (Switzerland), Utah and Arizona (USA) counting with performers such as Anna Alàs, David Villa, Alicia González Permuy, Rosalía Gómez Lasheras, Francisco B. Ortega, Esteve Casanova, Ricardo Ríos, Zoar Ensemble, Sul Tasto Sextet, Trio Ausiàs March, Soloists of the O.B.C, Soloists of the Staatskapelle Weimar (Germany) or Sundance Trio (USA).

His work “Bufonesques” has been recorded and is part of the first CD of the Zoar Ensemble.

Since the 2016-2017 academic year, he has been a teacher at the Escola de música i conservatori municipal in Terrassa.

(*1952, San Vicente del Raspeig – Alicante)

Francisco Amat García, born in San Vicente del Raspeig, Alicante. Awarded with the highest academic qualifications and titles in clarinet, solfège and composition by the Conservatory of Alicante (Spain), he has been the principal clarinet player of the Banda Municipal de Alicante. He was the founder of the Quinteto Beethoven, as of the Clarinet Quartet Shay Music. He has performed lots of concerts as a soloist and as a chamber musician.

His dedication to the music understands also the areas of composition and direction, and he has composed for piano as for all kind of chamber music groups. He has been invited to guest- conduct some of the most prestigious Bandas all over Spain. He has also been professor of solfège, clarinet and harmony in the Conservatorio Superior de Música Oscar Esplá in Alicante. Actually he is the subdirector of the Banda Municipal de Música del Excmo. Ayuntamiento de Alicante.

Katharina Apostolidis was born 1961 in Lübeck, Germany, where she also studied violin at the Musikhochschule under Prof. P. Munteanu (Rumania) and was awarded a diploma in music education. As a factulty member of the Hamburg Conservatory from 1980 – 2003, she not only taught the violin and viola at elementary and intermediate levels, but students at the college level were also under her tutelage.

Mrs. Apostolidis is now a free-lance musician and teacher, whose broad musical spectrum extends from orchestra work with the Kiel Philharmonic (1984-1987) to jazz, rock, pop, international folkore, african-brazilian percussiona and the establishment of her own samba ensemble. She has been creative in integrating new media, improvisation, Ismacology, music kinesiology and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic-Program) in her musical instruction.

She is the author of various publications in the magazine of ESTA (European String Teacher Association), essays and musical-medicinal dissertations (with the theme: deviation of the pelvis in violin classes, diagnosis, therapy and prophylaxis), reviews of musical materials in the magazine “Neue Musikzeitung”, and poems.

(*1962, Perugia – Itàlia)

Guido Arbonelli (born in Perugia, Italy) completed his studies with the highest honors at the Conservatory in Perugia. He has played clarinet with various Italian and foreign orchestras, both as a member of the orchestra and as soloist, including the Guido D’Arezzo, Orchestra RAI of Turin and Naples (Italy), Orchestra Sinfonica di Perugia e dell’Umbria, Nis Simphony Orchestra (Serbia), Stettino Orchestra (Poland), Arturo Toscanini Orchestra and Queen’s College Orchestra (USA), Symphonic Orchestra of Constanta (Romania). He has also collaborated with the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale in Spoleto and the CRDM. Arbonelli is currently a member of the faculty at the Conservatory in Adria. Arbonelli has had some 350 contemporary clarinet works dedicated to him.

Arbonelli has collaborated with many Italian festivals and taken part in concerts in Finland (Brinkhall Summer Concert), Libia (Leptis-Magna), Russia (Moscow Conservatory, Saint Petesburg Sound Way Festival), Greece (Argostoli), Slovakia (Art Academy), Hungary (Filharmonia and Academy Liszt), Cyprus (Nicosia College), Slovenia (Academy of Ljubliana), Germany (Freiburg, Heilbronn, Stuttgart, Ingolstadt), England, Netherlands (Middelburg festival), (University VIII in Paris, Musiques en Euroregion, Nuova musica Strasburgo, nuova musica in Marseille) France, Switzerland, Spain (Escena contemporánea and C.D.M.C. Madrid, Salamanca, Ávila, Conservatorio Superior de Málaga), (University of Aveiro) Portugal, Sweden (Stockholm New Music Festival, Fylkingen and Boras), Serbia (Review of Composers and NIS Symphony orchestra), Malta (Fest-Malta), Belgium (Orpheus and Antwerpen), Brazil (Bienal international-Musica Nova), Albania (ISCM), Austria (Spectrum-Villach, Aspekte-Salzburg, Shoenberg center – Vienna), Romania Filarmonica Mihail Jora in Bacau, Symphonic Orchestra in Constanta, USA (New music-Miami), Chicago (Art Institute), Hartford University, Baltimore (Goucher College), New York (Wagner College), Boston (Cyber-art), Washington (Allegamy College), Chile (University of Valparaiso), Colorado (Colorado College), China (Contemporary festival Pechino), Canada (New work Calgary), Japan (Tokyo and Kagoshima) and the Italian Institute in Turkey, Albania, Belgrade, Stockholm, Budapest, Pechino, and Madrid.

He has recorded for Hyperprism, RaiTrade, Sinfonica, Music Fund (Bratislava), Alia Music, AFM, Ipsar, Phoenix, Domani Musica, Aliamusica, Auralit/Mnemes, Rara, Cemat, Crescendo, Extraplatte (Austria), Rustyrecords, Pentaphon, MPA, Agenda, Pizzicato, Eridania, Egea, MPS and UK M2 (England), Capstone and New World Records USA and for radios in Turkey, Australia, France, Italia, Hungary, Holland, Brazil, Sweden, Malta, Austria, Slovenia, Israel, California, Belgium, Romania, Chile, America and Canada.

His music has been published by Brotons & Mercadal (Spain), Sinfonica, Eridania, Map, Santabarbara, Pagani, Pizzicato, Agenda, Lantro (Belgium), Tactus, Mnemes and Comar.

Awards: From 1984 to 1994, Arbonelli won first prize in 12 national and international competitions. In 1995, he won the International Gaudeamus Prize (Rotterdam). Arbonelli has also won Italian composition prizes for his works Images from Auschwitz and Tarata-ta.

I am Guido Arbonelli. Above all I am a performer of contemporary music. Before I begin a concert, I always think “NAMASTE”. The Indian greeting Namaste means “I hold in you the place where paradise lies.” If you are in me and I am in you, we will be united. It is a message of unity, love, and joy. It is the excitement of giving a special sensation through music. It is the wish that the listener is with me and in me and that the unity, the love, and the joy are not only intended in the music but for all the moments of our lives.

Ali Authman was born in 1973 in Sulaymanyah, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. He got his first music lessons at the age of 14 by Adil M. Said. From 1991 – 1994 he studied Viola and Music at the College of Fine Arts and the Music department of the University of Baghdad. From 1994 -1996 he was a music teacher at the music department of Sulaymanya Institute of Fine Arts. Since 1997 he has been living in the Netherlands. In 2002 the UAF (University Asylum Funds) started to support him in studying composition with composer Alex Manassen. After his bachelor’s degree in 2006 Ali Authman got a master’s degree at the Messiaen Academy – ArtEZ Conservatory in Zwolle in 2009.

His compositions are performed internationally. His composition White darkness for Chorus and Orchestra was performed in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam in 2008. He composes for a variety of instrumentations; solo, chamber, symphonic, vocal and choral music.

On October 1st, 2011 the world premiere of his work Invocation took place in Bonn. This work was commissioned by Deutsche Welle and was performed by the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq conducted by Paul MacAlindin at the International Beethovenfest Bonn 2011.

The inspiration for his compositions is often the interaction between East and West.

Benet Andreu Pons was a priest, composer, chapel master and organist from Santa Maria de Maó (Menorca). He studied music under the direction of the master organist Jaime Alaquer.

Damià Andreu Sitges was a Menorcan organist and composer. He studied with Benet Andreu and Joan Fuxà. He was organist of the parishes of Sant Francesc and Carme in Maó, as well as of Santa Maria from 1876, where he had, among other students, Llorenç Galmés Camps.

Salvador Brotons was born in Barcelona into a family of musicians. He studied flute with his father and continued his studies at the Barcelona Conservatory of Music, obtaining higher degrees in flute, composition and conducting. In 1985 he was awarded a Fullbright Fellowship and moved to the United States, where he earned his Ph.D. in Music from Florida State University.

As a composer, he has written more than 150 works, mostly orchestral and chamber music, and has won several awards, including the Premio Orquesta Nacional de España (1977), the Premio Jove d’Or (1980), the Premi Ciutat de Barcelona. 1983 and 1986), the Southeastern Composers League Award (1986), The Madison University Flute Choir Composition Award (1987) and the Queen Sofia Composition Award (1991). Most of his works have been published and a good number of works has also been recorded on various CDs, both in Europe as in the United States.

In our country he has been the principal conductor of the Balearic Symphony Orchestra “Ciutat de Palma” (1997-2001 and 2009-2013), the Vallès Symphony Orchestra (1997-2002) and the Barcelona Municipal Band (2007-2018 ). Since 1991 he has conducted the Vancouver Symphony (United States) and is currently also the principal guest conductor of the Barcelona Municipal Band. From autumn 2022 he will also be the principal director of the Orquestra Simfònica de Sant Cugat. As a guest he has conducted several orchestras in Israel, Germany, China, Belgium, Korea, France, Italy, Mexico, the United States and in our country. In addition, he combines an intense agenda as conductor with the composition of a number of commissions for works of all genres. He is professor of orchestral conducting and composition at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMuC).

In 2020 he was awarded the Clark County Arts Commission Lifetime Achievement Award for his years in the service of the SW Washington arts community.

He was born in Córdoba in 1982. He studied piano at the Conservatory of his hometown with Mª Paz Ramos Millán, Juan Miguel Moreno Calderón, and later perfected his studies with Peter Bithell and Manuel Carra.

In the field of composition he received a great influence from Antón García Abril, and carried out his academic studies with Francisco Novel Sámano and Daniel H. Sprintz at the Conservatorio Superior de Música “Bonifacio Gil” in Badajoz. He has received the “Andrés Segovia-José Miguel Ruíz Morales”, “Intercentros”, “Pedro Bote” and “Alnafir” awards.

His works are part of the current international interpretive scene, and range from the lyrical to the symphonic, through various chamber works. His latest commissions include those for Arno Bornkamp, ​​with whom he presented his “Arlesienne Fantasy Concert” at the 2012 World Saxophone Congress in Scotland, the “Piano and Orchestra Concerto No. 1”, performed for the Orchestra of Córdoba through the AEOS and the Fundación Autor, “Hymn of the Province of Jaén”, commissioned by the Diputación de Jaén, and “Denebola”, a piece commissioned by Luis González and Pacho Flores.

His work as a teacher has taken place at the Conservatories of Music of Badajoz and Sevilla, and currently at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Jaén.

Josep M. Brotons i Cervera (*Barcelona, 1931,† 14 de setembre de 2017)

Josep M. Brotons studied music at the Conservatori Superior de Música de Barcelona, where he studied ‘solfeo’ with the professor Gálvez, and harmony and fugue with Maestro Zamacois, obtaining excellent grades.  He studied flute with his father and later passed examinations at the Conservatori Municipal with the highest grades.

He continued his studies with professor Francesc Casanovas, the prestigious musician who was one of the first teachers of the famous orchestra conductor Zubin Mehta.

At the age of 16 he was soloist of the Banda Municipal de Barcelona, and the youngest member in the history of this ensemble.  Later he became a member of the Orquestra Municipal (now called Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya) with which he performed for 41 years until his retirement.

He has performed numerous recitals as a soloist. A highlight was the premiere in Barcelona of ‘Belvedere’, a composition for flute and orchestra by Professor Joan Manén, with the Orquestra de Ràdio Nacional, under the baton of Rafael Ferrer.

He has been a member of several chamber ensembles such as Quartet Germans and the Trio Santa Cecília, as well as the Conjunt Català de Música Contemporània and the group Diabolus in música. He is founder-member of the woodwind quintet Aulos.

He was an orchestra member of the Filharmònica and the Simfònica de Barcelona for many years. He has also performed several times for different radios and TV stations and has participated in many recordings.

In terms of composition, he has written several chamber pieces and his arrangements, transcriptions and harmonisations are highly appreciated. He has been professor of the Centre d’Educació Musical Diaula where he taught flute and chamber music.

Years after retiring he continued to be part of the Aulos chamber ensemble, playing the flute and making arrangements, of which he wrote more than 200.

Ricardo Baixauli Ferrer (* 1963, Alfafar – Valencia) began his musical studies at the Escola de Música de l’Agrupació Musical “Santa Cecília” of Sedaví (Valencia) and later entered the Conservatory of Music of Valencia where he obtained the titles of Professor in the specialties of Clarinet, Solfeggio and Music Theory, Transposition and Accompaniment, Harmony, Counterpoint, Composition and Instrumentation, and Senior Professor in the specialities of Clarinet, Harmony, Counterpoint, Composition and Instrumentation, Choir Conducting and Musicology ; he obtains, in addition, the “Mencions Honorífiques fi de carrera” (Honorary mentions at the end of studies) in Clarinet and “Counterpoint and Fugue”.

He has been part of various instrumental groups such as the “Quintet de vent” of the Professional Conservatory of Music of Salamanca or the “Quartet de clarinets” of the JJMM of Valencia, with which he performs various performances throughout the Spanish geography (Barcelona, Salamanca, Lleida, Albacete, Moguer (Huelva), etc …) and Valencian (Valencia, Sagunto, Benicàssim, Vinaròs, Peñíscola, etc …), with the “Quartet of clarinets” of the JJMM of Valencia obtains the 2nd Prize of the “Permanent National Competition of Chamber Music” organized by JJMM (Jeunesses Musicales) of Spain, celebrated in the city of Albacete in September of the year 1987.

He has worked as Master-Director of the Bands “Societat Artístic-Musical” of Castellnovo (Castellón) (October 1997-July 2001), “Joventut Musical” of Albal (Valencia) (September 2001-July 2002) and “Agrupació Musical Santa Cecília “of Sedaví (Valencia) (September 2002-July 2009), with which it develops numerous activities and participates in several Festivals and Competitions of which the obtaining of the 3rd Prize in the Provincial Contest of Bands of the Diputación de Castellón (3 ª Section) can be emphasized, held in Castellón, in April of the year 2000. Or the obtaining of the 2nd Prize in the National Contest of Bands “City of Leganés “(1 ª Section), June 2004.

He has taught “Clarinet” at the “Pablo Sarasate” Professional Conservatory of Music in Pamplona (Navarra) (1986/87 academic year) and at the Salamanca Professional Conservatory of Music (1993/94 academic year), and as Lecturer in the subjects “Musical Forms”, “Harmony” and “Analysis” at the Conservatory of Music “Joaquín Rodrigo” in Valencia (courses 94/95 to 96/97) and at the Professional Conservatory of Music of Valencia (courses 97/98 to 2003/04): since the 04/05 academic year he has been working as a Professor of the subject of “Analysis” at the “Joaquín Rodrigo” Conservatory of Music in Valencia.

He has developed several papers related to various topics (elaboration of didactic programs, study of fragments of various authors (Stravinsky, Falla, etc …), approach to musical analysis, etc …), which have been exposed in the during the celebration of different “Courses” organized by the Teacher Training Service of the Ministry of Education of the Generalitat Valenciana, which have been taught in places such as Valencia, Alicante, Godella (Valencia), etc …

He is the author of many musical compositions, commissioned by various instrumental groups, such as, for example, the following: “Prelude and Fugue” -solo piano-, “Three pieces for summer flute” -recorder-, “Three pieces for clarinet”-, “Capricho “-clarinet and piano-,” Quartet “-clarinet quartet-,”Tempo di scherzo “-wind quintet-,”Four miniatures “-Orchestra-, etc … , some of these musical pieces have been performed by soloists or groups such as: Miguel Alvarez-Argudo-piano-, Oscar Oliver-piano-, Alberto Ferrer-clarinet-, Arturo Llacer and Carlos Apellaniz-clarinet and piano-, Quartet de clarinets Vert, Clarinet quartet “A tempo”, clarinet quartet of  JJMM of Valencia, wind quintet of the Professional Conservatory of Music of Salamanca, Orquestra de l’Horta-Nord, etc …, and have been performed in places such as: Palau de la Música of Valencia, Palacio de Congresos y Exhibiciones de Castilla y León (Salamanca), Roman Theater of Sagunto (Valencia), the Auditorium Torrent (Valencia), Casa de la Cultura of Dénia (Alicante) etc.

She studied Professional Degree in the violin specialty at the Professional Conservatory of Music of Vila-seca with professors Rafael Fabregat and Evelio Tieles, where he is also part of the Handel Orchestra and the Cor Sant Esteve with which he performs concerts in Catalonia, Spain and Europe and records two CDs.

In 2012 she completed her studies in Violin Pedagogy at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) with teacher Raquel Castro, obtaining an honors degree in the final degree project supervised by the pedagogue Marisa Pérez. As a result of this project, the method Violinades: Introduction to the Violin through the group class was born.

She currently teaches music in a variety of fields, from kindergartens to elementary and high schools as well as a music school.

I’m a filmmaker and my contribution is my music. I’m a composer. I create music from stories because I listen to the picture to see the music.

Arnau Bataller Carreño is a Spanish film composer for cinema and TV, who works with prestigious Spanish directors such as Jaume Balagueró, Cesc Gay, Fernando León de Aranoa, María Ripoll, Pau Freixas and Mariano Barroso among many others.

Based in Barcelona, he has been a composer in demand for the last 10 years, scoring a wide range of projects ranging from big-budget features such as Way Down, Rec4, or A Perfect Day, to more independent dramatic TV shows such as I Know Who You Are or Red Bracelets: to date, this includes some 25 feature films, 8 TV series, and many concert music commissions.

Striving to choose the best musical color for the picture, Bataller always works with Marc Blanes, one of the most sought after engineers in Spain, thus assuring the highest quality in his music. He has recorded with most of the Film music orchestras in Europe and was the first-ever to record a film score with The Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona’s Opera House. He also loves to explore new sound worlds, from ethnic instruments or synthesizers, always searching for a unique sonic palette for every project he works on.

Bataller’s music has been recognized with more than 15 awards and nominations such as the International Film Music Critic Association Award (IFMCA) for Best Original Score for Television or the VII Spanish Film Music Critics Award for Best Spanish Composer.

He graduated from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles (USC) where he studied in the prestigious Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television program, recording more than 10 times at Paramount Studios. Arnau also has a violin degree.

Arnau normally works in his studio with his friendly cat Tofu who loves to sleep, really cozy, behind the computer monitors. Arnau is a proud dad of the twins, Lluc and Laia (Catalan names for Luke and Leia).

Giuliano Belotti was born in 1974 in Bergamo, Italy, and began his musical studies at the age of seven. Later, he studied for ten years under the tutelage of Giorgio Oltremari, who had a great influence on his musical education. He graduated from the “Gaetano Donizetti” conservatory and received his final diploma with the highest honors. During his studies in Bergamo, Giuliano Belotti participated in several master classes given by Alirio Díaz, Tilman Hoppstock and David Russell.

Since 1992, Giuliano Belotti, a classical guitarist, has given many public presentations and numerous recitals and concerts in Asia, Europe, the United States and Mexico. He has performed on stages such as Weill Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, The Juilliard Theater, the American Irish Historical Society and the Spanish Institute in New York City; the Manuel de Falla Auditorium in Seville and the Sala Galvé in Zaragoza, Spain; the Salle Cortot in Paris; the Gaetano Donizetti Theater and the Piazza della Libertá Auditorium in Bergamo, Italy; the Teatro Juárez de Guanajuato and the Teatro de la República de Querétaro, in Mexico; the DBS Auditorium in Singapore. His executions have been broadcast on television in Singapore and Mexico, among others. His performance of El Concierto de Aranjuez with the Czech National Orchestra has been broadcast live in Italy.

He has been honored with several scholarships and obtained the Advanced Certificate in Guitar Performance at The Juilliard School in New York City under the tutelage of Sharon Isbin for classical guitar and Carol Wincenc for chamber music.

In 1998 he was awarded the Higher Diploma in Interpretation unanimously by the jury at the École Normale de Musique “Alfred Cortot” in Paris, under the tutelage of Alberto Ponce. An Italian musician whom Ponce has described as “a guitarist endowed with great musical finesse”.

Alma del Sur, his first album, highlights Belotti’s versatility as a musician. His solo guitar work mesmerizes listeners through his original interpretations of works by Spanish and South American composers including Rodrigo, Albéniz, Gismonti, Barrios and Dyens. His second album, Hawa confirmed Belotti’s rightful place on the world stage, a classical musician just beginning to enter his prime. Along with the Cuban percussionist, Armando Cornell, Belotti dazzles everyone with works by composers Marcel Khalifé, Carlos Jobim, Django Reinhardt, Ariel Ramírez, along with his own original compositions.

The acclaimed album, Milomar is an exquisite DVD/CD featuring Belotti’s compositions for solo guitar and chamber ensembles. Finally, in collaboration with the Orquestra de Cambra del Principat de Catalunya, Belotti released Vivaldi sulle Sei Corde, featuring his guitar transcriptions and concertos by Antonio Vivaldi.

Composers such as Marcel Khalifé, Simone Iannarelli and Ricardo Llorca, among others, have dedicated works to him for guitar.

Born in 1971 in Carcassonne (France), he began his musical training at L’École Nationale de Musique de Perpignan, where he earned four  gold medals in clarinet, music theory, improvisation and chamber music.

He teaches clarinet at different schools in the region of Vallespir, and he takes advantage to work with Professor Deplus Guy, and he obtains the Premier Prix de Clarinette Ville de Paris. In 1994 he won the Prix d’ Exécution in Clarinet de l’ Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris .

That same year he won the audition for the position of principal clarinet of the Musique des Flotte Equipages of Toulon, position he held until 1997. Currently, he is Eb clarinet soloist in this prestigious ensemble and teaches clarinet at l’École de Musique de Bandol.

He is also devotes time to composition, his passion since the age of 15.

A member of the SACEM, and his latest compositions are mainly commissions from orchestras and performers. From the year 2007 he is mentored by Jan Van Der Roost, internationally recognized composer in the specialty of wind orchestra (symphonic band).

Joan Josep Blay i Màñez

(* Gavà, 1955)

He studied at the Barcelona Municipal Conservatory of Music and obtained the professional title of saxophone with Adolf Ventas, and counterpoint, harmony and composition with Xavier Montsalvatge, Manuel Oltra and Josep Soler i Sardà. In 2009, he obtained a Master’s degree in Music Therapy awarded by the University of Vic, while training in Integral Psychology.

In its beginnings he was part of different groups of light music and coblas of sardanas. He was a founding member of the group “Blay Tritono” which, as part of what became known as “Música Laietana” within the circle of the “Zeleste” hall in Barcelona, ​​contributed to the development of Catalan Rock and the “Sax Quartet”. He has played the tenora (typical Catalan instrument of the traditional cobla group) in La Principal de Collblanc and Mediterrània coblas. He has also conducted coblas, such as Ciutat de Cornellà and  Marinada (2006), or choirs, such as the Coral Jovenívola de Gavà or the Coral Bruela in Sant Feliu de Llobregat.

His compositional work has been developed in various fields, however, it has been the music for cobla that has enjoyed his predilection.

He has been a music teacher in primary and secondary school for 24 years at the Escola Mestral in Sant Feliu de Llobregat. Under his tutelage his students were deserving a “Baldiri Reixach Prize” awarded by the Jaume I Foundation.

He is head of studies and teacher of saxophone, musical language, choral singing and instrumental ensemble at the Municipal School of Music of Sant Feliu de Llobregat. He has collaborated with “Invitation to Music” from where he takes his music to marginal groups such as phrenopaths, prisons, hospitals, etc.

Among other public recognitions, he has been named Citizen of Gavà of the year 2002 for his professional career and in 2003 he received the Joan Cererols i Fornells Prize for Music, awarded within the Baix Llobregat Cultural Recognition Awards.

Llorenç Borràs de Riquer, count of the House Dávalos.

Llorenç Borràs de Riquer was born in Palma de Mallorca on July 13th, 1925. At the age of 7, he started showing a great interest in music. He started his musical studies with well know teachers such as Jaume Roig (piano), Concha Villella (ear training and sight singing), and Jaume Mas Porcel (piano).

He also studied music composition, orchestration, counterpoint and fugue with Rvd. Antoni Matheu, subdirector of the Palma Conservatori and organist of the Cathedral.

Later on he obtained the professional qualification in piano, awarded by the Conservatori Superior de València with the highest grades. He has composed numerous pieces for piano, piano and violin, piano and cello, guitar, voice and piano, choir, concertos for piano and orchestra, fantasies for piano, choir and symphonic orchestra, chamber orchestra, and trios, quartets and quintets with piano.

He has premiered compositions for orchestra in the Palma de Mallorca Auditorium, including Brisas (fantasy for piano, choir and orchestra), interpreted by the Orquestra Simfònica Ciutat de Palma under the baton of Julio Ribelles. In October 1990, the Associació ADEBA, Balearic Fine Arts Institution, offered an homage to Llorenç Borràs in the Teatre Principal de Palma de Mallorca, awarding him the title of Honorary Member for his dedication to art.

Prolific artist of ambitious temperament, he has developed his sensitivity in the visual arts (painting and sculpture) as well as in musical composition.

Lluís M. Bosch i Daniel was born in Barcelona in 1966. He obtained superior titles in Composition and Instrumentation, Music Pedagogy and Musicology. He has composed some forty works, the majority of them of small format (solo, duo, trio or quartet) and especially thought for didactic purposes (some of them are published). He has won different composition prizes and his works have been interpreted in Spain and in France.

He is a teacher of the Professional Conservatory of Music in Manresa (Barcelona) since 1989, where he teaches Harmony, Counterpoint, Analysis and Musical Forms. Since 2002 he has been the head of the Department of Theoretical Subjects in this center. He is the creator of the shows for children Drawn Music (2002) and Enchanted Music (2008) with which he has offered near two hundred representations throughout Spain.

Lluís M. Bosch i Daniel summarizes his thoughts as follows: «Explaining my small story through music, offering all kinds of details without making anything clear, is a liberation for me, a catharsis that calms me and gives me the necessary peace and  serenity to continue being an optimist. I am fully convinced that only with words I would not have been able to reinstate my internal equilibrium so easily. »

David Bozzo David Bozzo is a composer and violinist based in Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona, Spain), born on 1980.

He followed part of his music studies at the Conservatorio Municipal de Música de Barcelona with the composers Xavier Boliart, Carles Guinovart and Albert Sardà among others. David also studied at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Castellón (Valencia, Spain) with the composers Ferrer Ferran, Claudia Montero, César Cano and Emilio Calandín among others. He also studied violin with the violinists Francesc Guarné, Iwona Burzyñska and Eduard Arnau.

As a composer he has developed a freelance career with premieres in some countries. His works include music for solo instrument and chamber music as well as symphonic orchestral works (with and without soloist) and incidental music for theatre. He has received commissions from prestigious musicians and ensembles such as the flutist Patricia de No, Orquestra Simfónica Sant Cugat, Banda Municipal de Música de Palma de Mallorca (actually Simfovents Palma), The Angel Orchestra and London City Quartet among others.

Within his catalogue of works it is worth highlighting Adagio y Fuga (2012) premiered in the UK and Spain and performed on several occasions, a Violin Concerto (2013) premiered in 2015 in St. James’s Church Piccadilly by the violinist Francisco Jimeno with the orchestra Philharmonia Britannica conducted by Peter Fender, Pendus for violin and wind orchestra (2015) commissioned by the Banda Municpal de Música de Palma de Mallorca and performed on several occasions, Légende n.1 (2019) commissioned by the Orquestra Simfònica Sant Cugat, Preludio y Fuga for flute and piano 82022) commissioned by the flutist Patricia de No and premiered in a concert of the 11^th cycle Els Teus Classics that organizes Associació Joan Manén, and music for violin and piano for the play La Vida en un Tren (2018) by playwright Víctor Alexandre to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the train to the city of Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona, Spain). All the information about his catalogue of works can be consulted in David Bozzo’s website.

Various of his works have been published by Clivis Publicacions and Brotons & Mercadal Edicions Musicals. Furthermore, there are 2 albums with recordings of his music, both available on Spotify: One featuring all David Bozzo works for solo violin, recorded by the violinist Francisco Jimeno on 2014; and the other one was recorded in 2018 by the London City Quartet featuring two string quartets, commissioned by the British string quartet Billroth String Quartet in 2011 and the London City Quartet in 2017 respectively.

David Bozzo combines his compositional career with instrumental teaching. He has taught violin in academies and privately since 2003, and is currently violin and piano teacher at European International School of Barcelona, organizing the Trinity Music Exams sessions, accompanying students for Trinity College of London examinations and performances. He also has composed music for the school students choir; recently for the celebration of the 25^th anniversary of the school has composed and orchestrated music for symphonic orchestra, children choir and ballet.

Anna Briz López obtained a Higher Degree in Piano in 2004 (studying at the Liceu Conservatory with Professor Margarita Serrat) and a Diploma in Music Teaching in 2003 (UAB).
She studied modern music at the Taller de Músics in Barcelona for a few years and spent a long time as a student of Lluís Vergés in instrumentation, arrangements and harmony. He has also taken numerous music and piano pedagogy courses.

In the field of children’s composition, he won the following prizes: 1st prize (2016), 3rd prize (2015) and second prize (2015) in the Ziryab composition prizes for children’s instrumental ensembles in Balaguer; two ex-aequo prizes in the XXIV “Ciutat de Reus” Prize for composition for children’s choirs (2015)) and one prize and 3 second prizes in the same competition in the XXV edition (2017).

She is currently a teacher of musical language and other subjects at the School of Music-Municipal Conservatory of Sant Cugat del Vallès where she is involved in the REMIS methodology team. There many children have been performing their children’s compositions and arrangements.

She has other children’s compositions such as Fantasmades musicades (5 songs + opening for children’s choir based on poems by the writer Núria Albertí. Ed. Brotons Mercadal) and Reciclapaires (children’s cantata in one voice with text by Carles Espelt. Ed. Brotons Mercadal).

She has made arrangements for the group A l’aire (saxophone quartet + voice).

Nicole Buetti has composed extensively for chamber ensembles and large ensembles of various configurations, as well as children’s music and music for media. She spent several years in the Los Angeles area working as a composer in the film and television industries, and has had music commissioned and licensed for use all over the world. She was appointed the “Composer in Residence” for the Assisi Performing Arts Music Festival in Italy in 2013. Nicole has published several works for orchestra, chamber groups and wind bands, which are available from Forton Music, Brotons-Mercadal Publishing and JW Pepper. Her most recent orchestral work, Odyssey, received standing ovations for its premiere. She is currently working on a commission work for acclaimed Violist, Brett Deubner.

She has been honored for her film score work at the Wild Rose International Film Fest, Dodge Grant Association, and Telly Awards Association. In addition to having music featured in TV promos, movie trailers and DVD interactive menus, she also has theme music on the popular French television series “Foudre.” Nicole co-owns Goes to Eleven Media, a music and media company specializing in recorded music for film and television and children’s educational songs. In 2017, she released her 6^th album of songs for kids called Just Be You! which was honored by both the “Parent’s Picks Award for Top 5 Best Preschool and Elementary Music CD’s of 2018” and “2017 Educational CD of the Year” by Creative Child Magazine. Her song, “Halloween Masquerade Waltz” won Fan Favorite in the 10th annual Independent Music Awards (Best Holiday Song Category) and is now the featured midnight waltz for the Annual PDX Vampire’s Masquerade Ball.

Nicole is also a bassoonist and contrabassoonist and performs with several orchestras in the Pacific Northwest. When she is not composing or performing, Nicole teaches bassoon at the University of Portland and has her own private teaching studio.

Sergi Casanelles Abella, born in Barcelona in 1980, moved to New York in 2009.

Sergi Casanelles completed his Ph.D. in Film Music in 2015. His research focuses on how technology is utilized in music for the screen, and how using technology influences the aesthetics of screen music. He is especially interested in how technology serves to expand the timbral possibilities of music and new methodologies for analyzing music from a timbral perspective. In his dissertation, he defined the Hyperorchestra as a virtual ensemble that transcends reality through technology.

He has written concert music for piano, chamber ensembles, orchestra, electronics, as well as music for the screen. He has also worked as an orchestrator. He won the COM Radio Tutto Award for his solo piano piece Postlude to Chopin’s F minor Fantasy, and the III Orchestral Composition Competition Evaristo Fernández Blanco for his work From Hell: 4 scenes of Dante’s Divine Comedy. This premiere of this piece was awarded by the Spanish PRO SGAE as one of the top premieres of the year. During his time as an NYU student, his orchestral work Masques was part of the NYU Orchestra Composer residency program.

He holds a Ph.D. and an MM in Film Music Composition from NYU, a BM in Computer Science (UPC, Barcelona), and a BM in Composition (ESMuC, Barcelona) and Piano performance (Liceu, Barcelona).

Some of his works have been published by Brotons & Mercadal.

Anna Cazurra Basté is a composer. She holds a PhD in Musicology.

Several prestigious music institutions have commissioned works from her, and both her compositions and her musicological activities have earned recognition, both nationally and internationally. She has won major awards. Her compositional production includes works for piano, chamber ensembles, voice, orchestra and stage musical theater.

In 2003, she was appointed composer-scholar in residence at City University of New York. In September 2008, the Cervantes Institute in New York commissioned a new piano work, Mediterránea, which was later released that same year by pianist Adam Kent, gaining great recognition from the general public and critics. In October 2008, the Spanish Embassy in New York commissioned another collection of piano works (Hesperia), which was premiered at Carnegie Hall.

Her most recent work includes the original soundtracks of two American films: “A Thousand Masks: The Aztec Revenge” and “Exes”, a concert for piano and symphony band, premiered at the Barcelona Auditori and the “Suite Americana” for piano and orchestra.

She has recently released four CDs, including “Hesperia, complete piano works by Anna Cazurra”, by pianist Albert Nieto, “Catalan string quartets”, performed by the Catalan quartet Teixidor and “With a woman’s voice. Catalan Arts Songs by Women Composers ”, performed by Patricia Caicedo and Nico Stavlos.

Since 2010 she has been a teacher of Composition, Fugue and Counterpoint at the Conservatory of Music of Castellón.

Leonello Capodaglio was born in 1945 and resides in Lendinara, in the Venetian region of Italy.

Having developed activities as a pianist, composer, harpsichord soloist and conductor, he was director of the National Conservatory of Music of Adria and director of various chamber ensembles and symphony orchestras. He has won ten international composition competitions. He is the author of more than 450 opus numbers composed in tonal style and “reattivista”, which was invented by himself, many of them published by editorial companies in Italy, France, Belgique, Germany, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Spain, USA and Canada.

As a musicologist, he discovered the fonocromatica technique used by Antonio Vivaldi and spreaded it in in Rome, at a radio-television conference at the Chamber of Deputies.

Leonello Capodaglio’s catalogue includes three oratorios and three operas, collections of concerts for solo instruments and orchestra and for many other musical ensemble presented in numerous performances, broadcasts and recordings in Italy and in other countries. Furthermore, some of his works appear on the list of mandatory works for national and international competitions, for which he is often invited as a member or president of the Jury.

A man of letters, essayist and lecturer, he has published fifteen prose and poetry works. For one of his historical novels, he received the national award “Gianni Spagnol”.

His biography has been published in most of the important music dictionaries and dedicated webpages.

Sergi Carballo Losada was born in the Horta district of Barcelona in 1980. He began his guitar studies at the age of 14 with the teacher Josep Maria Gual. At the age of 18 he began to study music theory and ear training, harmony and piano with the teacher Josep Cortès i Granero. In 2003 he continued his guitar studies with the teacher Moisès Vara at the Virgínia Blanch Music School. In 2005 she started her classical voice studies with the soprano Eva Castanedo. Since then he has continued to study classical singing with the baritone Cèsar Puente at the School Pausa of Barcelona,  baritone Toni Marsol at the CEM School of Terrassa, the soprano Maria Mateu at the Conservatory of Terrassa and with the soprano Mariona Pallach. He also studied harmony with Marc Codina. He is currently studying singing at the Center for Musical Studies in Terrassa with the soprano Ana Puche and has begun the most rigorous study of composition with Professor Enric Ferrer.

He is considered, like Borodin, a “dilettante composer” and also self-taught. His main occupation is teaching in Training Cycles and the upbringing and education of his three children.

Joan Carreras i Dagas (Girona, 1828 – La Bisbal d’Empordà 1900) was one of the main musical figures of nineteenth-century Girona. The son of a humble family, studied with the organist Antoni Vidal and Josep Barba and carried out a great amount of compositional work, collecting and as an instrumentalist. He is considered the creator of the first music school in the city of Girona, as well as one of the first educational institutions for the blind and deaf in Girona. He held the position of Chapel Master of the Cathedral of Girona at various times in his life, and was also a member of the Orchestra of the Liceu Opera House in Barcelona.

Around 1848 he premiered the opera Rosamunda in Ravenna in Girona and in Madrid Il rinnegato and the oratorio Los pastorcillos. After living in France for a few years, he returned to his country and resided from 1880 until his death in La Bisbal d’Empordà. There he created another school of music that indirectly contributed to the birth of the cobla La Principal de la Bisbal in 1888. Its collection of musical instruments and its important musical library, which, before his death, were acquired by the Provincial Council (Diputació) of Barcelona, ​​were later the subject of a careful classification by the Felip Pedrell and an illustrated catalog was published.

Image source:  GRUPO EL PUNT website

BARTOMEU CARRERAS LLAMBIAS (Maestro Carreras)

He was born in Alaior (Menorca) on April 5, 1899 into a humble family with a long musical tradition. At the age of 20 he did his military service, during which he was a member of the Military Band of Maó. When he finished his military service, he moved to Alaior for a short period and in 1926 he moved to Ciutadella where he taught music in a music school and began to lead bands and orchestras.

In 1927 he came into contact with the Cercle Artistic where he led the Orfeo Artistic. His association with the institution lasted until he retired. From 1949 until his retirement, he conducted the popular zarzuela Foc i Fum, to which he made some amendments. He also composed numerous musical works.

In 1952 he became director of both the Alaior Band and the Ciutadella Band. He was in charge of The Band of Ciutadella until retirement. In 1964 he won the award “Ala d’or” of the First Menorquian Song Festival with the piece ‘Menorca always Menorca’.

He died on February 5, 1971 having retired. In recognition of his musical career, the City Council of Ciutadella named a street of the town in his honour.

Biographical data are extracted from PONS BOSCH, Jordi / CARRERAS JAUME, Francesc (2000) “El mestre Carreras i el seu entorn” dins Publicacions d’es Born núm. 8. Cercle Artístic. Ciutadella.

El Vendrell, 10th of June, 1921 –  Barcelona, 9th of march, 2012

Agustí Cohí Grau started his musical studies at the age of 4 with his mother.  In 1927 he moved with his family to Barcelona and studied the violin with Santiago Burgués.  At 10 years of age he became a member of the Orfeó Català children’s choir, and was referred by Lluís Millet to the Escola Municipal de Música, to finish his studies with Eduard Toldrà and Joaquim Zamacois.  At the age of 13 his was appointed the musical director of the Escola de la Sagrada Familia.

In 1936 (when he was 15) he wrote his first compositions. In 1939 he became choir master at San Salvador del Vendrell, and during this period he wrote approximately 50 religious works and 2 masses.  In 1944 he became member of the Cobla Albert Martí, and became interested in the music for cobla. He has since written over 80 sardanes.  He has also composed over 800 instrumental popular ballets, and the majority of Catalan dance groups (esbarts catalans) take advantage of his output.

For many years he was a music teacher in several schools, including the Institut Balmes and the Col·legi Sant Ignasi de Sarrià, and the Escoles del Metro.  During 10 years he conducted the music festivals of various Spanish cities and which included 1400 singers and a symphonic orchestra.

In 1957 he became the conductor of the Orquestra Estela, a post which he maintained for 40 years, with the responsibility of preparing instrumentalists for their professional careers, and he premiered many works of young composers.  He also collaborated with the Banda Municipal de Barcelona, which premiered one of his pieces each year.

In 1965 he premiered his opera Nausica,  in concert version, with texts by the poet Lluís Gasó i Carbonell.  He also premiered the sarsueles, La polka roja (The red polka) and Timbaler del Bruc (The Bruc drummer).

He conducted several choirs and he wrote a considerable number of compositions and arrangements, some of which have been performed by well known artists such as Josep Carreras, Carmen Bustamante, Lina Richarte, Antoni Lluch, among others.

Since 1988, he was the president of the Associació Musical de Mestres Directors (Musical Association of Conductors) since it was founded.

In 2004 he was awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi (Sant Jordi Cross) by the Generalitat de Catalunya. He died on March 9, 2012, at the age of 90.

Jaume Coll Florit
(*1972, Menorca, Balearic Islands)

He obtained the Higher Degree in the University Program of Taller de Músics and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) in the specialty of Composition / Arranger. He studied double bass with Ferran Sala, Horacio Fumero and attended master classes with Thomas Martin, Michael Wolf, David Murray. He studied composition with Lluís Vergés, Ramon Civit and Santiago Galán. He was awarded three consecutive years by the AIE (Association of Performers of Spain).

He has written a large number of compositions for different styles: sardana, choral, chamber, quartet or big band, among others. He has received commissions from the Bandas Municipals of Menorca:  Coneix-ment (2005) for the Banda Municipal de Ferreries, A romandre as Murtar (2014) for the Banda Municipal Mercadal, among others.

He wrote the work Contacontes musicats (2013) for alto saxophone, narrator and double bass. There are three popular children’s stories (La ratita presumida, En Patufet and La llebre i la tortuga), which are dedicated to his daughters. This work was recorded by the company 3D Conte, and is very well received by the public.

He wrote the arrangements Vuit obres per a dos contrabaixos (Eight works for 2 double basses) (2014). He presented the work in a series of performances in the Balearic Islands.

He created the duet Trobàss (trumpet and double bass), and made arrangements for this ensemble, mixing different styles such as jazz standards and contemporary music, performing in the Balearic  Islands and Catalonia.

He composed the work Una naveta o un pou (2015) for quartet (soprano saxophone, trumpet, euphonium and double bass) and narrator, a work based on the Menorcan legend Sa naveta des tudons, with the text written by the Menorcan philologist Toni Mercadal.

He graduated in guitar performance with honors at the CSM of Murcia. Postgraduate in guitar and composition at the CSM of Zaragoza.

He obtained the first prizes in the Manuel de Falla (Sevilla 2019) and Miquel Llobet (Barcelona 2020) international guitar composition competitions with the works Dos preludios para guitarra and Canción primera respectively.

Likewise, in 2020 he was selected as one of the twenty best artists among composers from 36 countries, in the international piano composition competition She Lives in Budapest with the work Dos miniaturas sobre poemas de Frank O’Hara.

Some of his works for piano have been performed at prestigious contemporary music festivals such as Internationales Musikinstitut of Darmstadt in Germany or Mixtur in Barcelona.

He has published two reference books about improvisation for classical guitar: Armonía y sistema CAGED Vol. 1 & 2, and a third book on the application of the IEM methodology in Carcassi’s guitar studies.

As a guitarist and arranger, he has been a finalist in five categories of the International Independent Music Awards in 2020, with his band Panta Rei Ensemble.

In 2021, the multidisciplinary project Mar Nuestro, in which he works as a composer, was chosen as one of the six best music, dance, theater or circus projects by the Instituto Valenciano de Cultura.

Born in Torrent (Valencia) 1968. He began his musical studies in his hometown, continuing at the Higher Conservatory of Valencia, studying Piano, Harmony and Counterpoint with R. Talens, L. Blanes and F. Tamarit. He continues his studies at the Madrid Superior Conservatory of Music.

He approved by Competition-Opposition the position of Horn in the Military Music Corps, being assigned to the Madrid Marine Infantry Band.

He takes Film Music courses at the S.G.A.E. with professors Antón García Abril, José Nieto and Luís de Pablo (2000 – 2003).
He takes conducting courses for Orchestra and Band in Madrid with Mr. Pedro Villaroig and in Valencia with Mr. Pablo Sánchez Torrella.

He has been an accompanying pianist at the European Dance Center in Valencia and the Esther Mortes Dance School.
He is the author of music for T.V.E., broadcast in documentaries and various programs.

Director experience:

Director of the Torrent Polyphonic Orfeón (1993-1994)
Director of the Zarzuela Madrid Lyric Orchestra (2001-2002)
Composer Member of Cosicova.
He performs the duties of Deputy Director of the Torrent Musical Union.

Teaching experience:

He teaches Solfeggio and Music Theory and Harmony classes
Horn Teacher.

Fran Devesa (José Francisco Devesa)

Melcior de Ferrer i Manresa, son of the Marquises of Puerto Nuevo, was born in 1821 in Peralada, and died in 1884 in La Bisbal de l’Empordà. As a member of an aristocratic family, he always enjoyed great financial independence, allowing him the freedom to compose and teach music without financial constraints.  He was always able to write the kind of pieces he liked best, without the need for students to sustain himself.

He pursued legal studies in Bologna, where he immersed himself in the musical ambiance of early 19th-century Italy. During this period, Italy, though not yet unified, was a hub for opera, particularly the bel canto style, epitomized by the works of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini.

He composed an opera entitled “Giuditta”, which premiered in Girona to notable acclaim, along with the zarzuela “Una broma pesada”. One of his significant successes was the “Stabat Mater”, premiered in Barcelona in 1848, receiving enthusiastic praise from both the audience and critics.

He was a disciple of Josep Barba in Barcelona, and spent periods in France, where he became friends with the poets August Maitre and Theophile Blanc, who wrote the texts that served as inspiration for the romantic evenings where they performed his French lieder, waltzes, and other chamber pieces.

Baron de Ferrer’s work includes, in addition to those already mentioned, two Requiem masses, a symphony for organ and another for four hands, as well as two more Gloria masses.

Javier Escribano Redondo was born in Camuñas (Toledo). He studied trombone and music education at the RCSM (Real Conservatorio Superior de Música) in Madrid and received the Título Superior as well as a master’s degree in Creación e Interpretación Musical.

After passing the selection process, he is an official member of the group of professors for music and performing arts of the Ministry of Education and Professional Formation.

As a trombonist, he works with various ensembles, including the Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid, Orquesta Filarmonía, Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Film Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta Clásica Santa Cecilia, Orquesta Filarmónica de la Mancha and groups such as Modus Novus of the Spanish Radio Orchestra ORTVE. He is also a member of the Bob Sands Big Band.

He has done research on the use of the trombone in Spain in the 19th and 20th centuries, the trombone in symphonic band music, or the trombone repertoire of Spanish composers in the 19th and 20th centuries. He has published articles in RCSMM (Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid) Music Magazine, the AEDOM (Asociación Española de Documentación Musical) DM Bulletin or for the URJC (Universidad Rey Juan Carlos) at Dykinson Editions. He recently published J. Menéndez’ critical edition of Pieza lírica, which was selected as a compulsory work in Category D of the National Trombone Competition, which was convened by the Spanish Trombonists’ Association in Issues III and IV. Other works published in Brotons & Mercadal Edicions Musicals are Pasajes y solos de trombón en el repertorio bandístico español (passages and trombone solos in the Spanish symphonic band music repertoire), Rapsodia española, El trombón ‘de repente’ (sheet music for trombone in the competitions and examinations of the Royal Music Conservatory in Madrid from 1856 to 1943) etc. Several of his works have also been published by Spanish Brass Ediciones.

He is currently a trombone teacher at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música “Amaniel” (Madrid). He was also a teacher at the Conservatorio Profesional de Múica (CPM) Victoria de los Ángeles, CPM in Getafe, Centro Integrado de Música Federico Moreno Torroba and at CPM Adolfo Salazar, where he also taught during numerous summer courses.

He combines teaching with composition and with his work as a trombonist and researcher.

Salvador Espasa Chafer

He was born in Alfafar (Valencia), the city where he began his musical studies, which he would later finish in Madrid.

He has been a member of the ensemble Círculo since its foundation in 1983, with which he developed an intense work in contemporary music. As such, he participated in festivals in Bordeaux, Rome, Cosenza, Siena, Vicenza, Paris, Strasbourg, Metz, Geneva, New York, London, Seville, Granada, Alicante, Santiago de Compostela, Valencia, Barcelona, ​​Canary Islands, etc.

He has performed as a soloist at the Teatro Real in Madrid and at the Auditorio Nacional de España. He has recorded more than twenty CDs with the Círculo ensemble, being a soloist on six of them. He has premiered more than two hundred works by Spanish composers. He has also recorded for RNE, RF, and RAI.

He has taken courses in Marbella, Cuenca, Malaga, Aranjuez, Arenas de San Pedro, Madrid, Segovia, Lugo, Almendralejo, Linares, Úbeda, San Sebastián, León, Ourense, Coruña, Bilbao, Alhaurín el Grande, San Andrés de Rabanedo, etc. .

He has numerous works for flute: Taximeter (undetermined number of flutes), Tension (five flutes), Soleá (eight flutes and reciter), Poema y Persecución (flute solo), Argos (flute solo), Lamentos bajo el mar (flute solo and reciter), Carnival of Flutes (orchestra of flutes), Danza de los lamentos (orchestra of flutes), Las Secuencias (study book), Development of the study of the flute (six volumes), Development of Technique and Music ( Study book). He has also made more than fifty arrangements for flute and flute orchestra: Sonata by F. Poulenc, Sonatina by H. Dutilleux, Hungarian Peasant Suite by B. Bartok, Suite in A m. G. Ph. Teleman, etc.

He is currently a professor at the “Amaniel” Professional Music Conservatory (Madrid), director of the Flute Orchestra of Madrid, the Basque Country, Málaga, León, Galicia, director of the “Manuel Garijo” summer courses and a member of the Muy Royal, Illustrious and Venerable Order of the Knights of the Traverse.

David Esterri i Carrasquer (Alpicat, el Segrià, 1970) studied at the municipal conservatory of Lleida (Lérida) and Conservatori Municipal de Música (Bruc) de Barcelona violin, viola, double-bass, harmony, counter-point and fugue, obtaining the professional degree of music and at the same time the university degree of Geography and History from the University of Lleida. Currently he is a secondary teacher in a high school.

As a poly-instrumental musician of string he was a member of several musical formations as the chamber orchestra Enric Granados de Lleida (Lérida), groups of jazz, coblas, traditional music…leaving this 20 years’ work reflected in more than forty CDs published in Catalonia.

As a composer, his children’s opera Gàbia Daurada, was premiered in Lleida and also in Weimar (Germany) in its orchestral interpretation, the cantata Rostres, the sardanas Aurembiaix and Camins i rierols, winners of the first and second prize of the last edition of the music competition for cobla of Mollet del Vallès. Recently he premiered a symphonic-choral labor about a personal view of an unpublished Cant de la Sibil·la in the cathedral La Seu Vella of Lleida and Weimar. Another successful project was Memòria/Oblit, a fusion of chamber music with images of the Civil War and lectures of fragments from soldiers’ diaries about the issue of the historical memory.

His passion is the rock music of the fifties, he performs under the stage name Lo Pardal Roquer. 

Mohammed Amin Ezzat was born in Baghdad (Iraq) in 1961. He graduated from the University of “Ciprian Porumbescu” in Bucharest/Romania 1984-85 with a Master of Arts in Music Composition and Orchestra Conducting.

He participated in the Festival of Young Conductors (Poshten/Romania). Directly after his graduation he conducted the Symphony Orchestra of Radio and TV, Romania. In 1989 he was appointed the first conductor of the Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra (I.N.S.O.). At present he is chairman of the Committee of Music Composition there. Additionally to this position he is a member of the National Committee of Music for the UNESCO, lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts and supervisor of the School of Music and Ballet.

During his career as composer and conductor Mohammed Amin Ezzat concentrated on a lot of musical compositions and performances (Iraqi – Arabic – Global) and he conducted many compositions from different schools and ages (Baroque – Classical – Romantic – Modern – Jazz – Classic).

In 2002 he was invited by the International German Goethe Institute as guest of the German Federal Government’s visitors’ program. As participant of this program he met top leaders of German orchestras and got the chance to attend concerts and to rehearse with symphony orchestras in Berlin, Munich and Bonn.

In December 2003 he conducted the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center (Washington DC). His compositions were performed at music theatres and opening concerts of several festivals, for example his work Fragments in three movements for orchestra from 1999, The old days for Solo U’d and orchestra composed in 2005 and his Requiem for Solo cello and string orchestra from 2006, which was played in New York 2009. This is the first project in US history to bring music by a living Iraq composer to orchestras and audiences in America. The work Heritage vision from east to west from 2010 is inspired by the musical heritage of Iraq. It is a mixture of Eastern and Western music and instruments.

Mohammed Amin Ezzat’s work Desert Camel is a Suite for orchestra composed in 2011. The world premiere of this work took place in Bonn on October 2011. This work is commissioned by Deutsche Welle and was performed by the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq conducted by Paul MacAlindin at the International Beethovenfest Bonn 2011.

Ferran Ferrando Domènech

(*1970, Pego – Alacant)

Born in Pego (Alicante) in 1970, studied at the Conservatorios Superiores in Alicante and Valencia, where he got the degrees as Profesor Superior in the specialities French horn (1993), Solfège, Music Theory, Transposition and accompaniment (1995), composition, harmony und counterpoint (2000) and orchestra direction ( 2003). In French horn and composition he was awarded with the Premio Extraordinario de final de Carrera (honor mention).

His teachers were Roberto Trinidad, Mª Dolores Costa, Ferrer Ferran, Ramón Ramos, Manuel Galduf and Dolores Sendra.

Actually he is teacher in a superior school in Pedreguer; Horn player in the Orquesta Simfónica de Alicante (since 1996) and in the Orquestra de la Marina Alta (since 1998). He is founder member and horn player in the brass quintet Al Vent (since1992) and director of the youth orchestra Jove Orquestra de la Marina Alta (since 2006).

As a composer he composed several works for dolçaina (traditional instrument of the reed family) and orchestra, symphonic band and other symphonic works, Marchas Cristianas und hymns. Some of his works are recorded in CDs and were awarded in competitions.

Joan Fuxà i Gelabert (Maó, Menorca, 1819 – 1890) was an organist and composer disciple of Benet Andreu. In 1832, after being ordained a priest, he replaced his teacher as organist of the church of Santa Maria de Maó. He enjoyed this benefit for almost 44 years until, in 1876, he suffered paralysis which forced him to resign.

Dr Andrea Fernández-Barros holds a PhD in Music Education, a Master’s degree in music performance, a Master’s degree in teacher-training and a Degree in Music performance – viola. Over the last 10 years, she has worked as a violin and viola teacher in music schools and conservatories in Catalonia, and as a viola performer in professional instrumental ensembles. She combines this professional practice with research and the training of future educators at the University of Lleida. Her main line of research is focused on peer learning and peer tutoring in music education. She also studies new methodologies of teaching and learning music audiation and intonation that promote the interdisciplinary and the development of social abilities. In her educational material, she has captured the accumulated experience and research gathered over all these years.

Born in Valencia in 1975, he began his musical education at the age of 10, studying the specialties of violin, piano, organ, musicology and composition. In 2002 he passed the examinations in the specialty of Fundamentals of Composition.

As an organist, he has given concerts in the great Cabanilles organ of the Iglesia de la Compañía in Valencia, within the cycles that are usually celebrated in Advent, Lent and Easter. He has also played in San Sebastián (Donostiarra Musical Quincena) and Montblanc.

He obtained his Master’s degree in Music from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, publishing part of his thesis as an article in Quodlibet Magazine (February 2010), which is published by the Music Department of the University of Alcalá de Henares.
Among his compositions are Sonata for viola and piano, the processional march for band Timete Deum and Concertino for eight violas.

He is currently Professor of Analysis at the “Joaquín Rodrigo” Superior Conservatory in Valencia. He also teaches an online analysis course for the Gabou Institute, aimed at oppositions.

He was born in Calella (Barcelona) in 1991, where he began studying theory, ear training and piano at the Escola de Música Victòria Geli, later graduating in the specialty of orchestra conducting at the Conservatori Superior del Liceu.

In the field of orchestra conducting, he has received classes from Manel Valdivieso, Daniel Mestre, Antoni Ros-Marbà, Enrique García Asensio, Edmon Colomer, and  KA Rickenbacher.  In choir conducting, he has studied with Johann Duijck, Mireia Barrera, Philip Lawson or Josep Vila, among others.

He has directed the choirs of the Escola de Música Victòria Geli in Calella, ‘L’Esplai’ in Calella, Cor de Musicologia de la UAB and the Coral Esclat. He currently conducts the Cor Diaula and Cor Tessàlia, and is the artistic director of the Grup Vocal Cambra Setze. He is also the co-director of Revoice International Vocal Ensemble, with which he has performed in Spain, Serbia, Germany, Belgium, Italy and Austria, performing at the Milan Expo (2015) and the “Voices of Spirit” Festival Graz (2015). Also noteworthy is his participation the artistic committee of the 11th Barcelona World Choral Symposium 2017, as well as the scholarship granted by the European Festival of Youth Choirs Basel, to participate in the festival as part of the Start Up for Young Conductors program.

He has also conducted ensembles such as Jove Ensemble of Barcelona, ​​Orquestra Amics dels Clàssics, Ensemble Liceu XXI and Opera Jove, highlighting the premiere of the work Les Solitudes, by Joel Riu (2013).  He has also toured different Catalan theaters and auditoriums with the opera L’Impresario in angustie (2015), and was in charge of the  musical direction of the chorus and inner band of the opera Suor Angelica at the Conservatori Superior del Liceu (2014). In 2016, the European Festival of Youth Choirs Basel granted him a scholarship to participate in the “Start Up for Young Conductors” programme, within the festival. He also participated in the Barcelona 11th World Symposium on Choral Music 2017 as a presenter and member of the Catalan artistic committee

In the field of composition, he has premiered several choral, piano and vocal works, highlighting Les quatre estacions (2013), premiered by soprano Júlia Sesé within the framework of the XXXI Jocs Florals in Calella, an arrangement of La castanyera (2014) by the Cor Ariadna, and an O Magnum Mysterium (2015), premiered by Revoice International Vocal Ensemble. Also, in March 2016, he won the 1st prize in the Concurso Nacional de Composición Coral Universidad de Burgos for the work Galatea. Recently two of his compositions, O Magnum Mysterium and the Christmas carol El desembre congelat, have been published by Brotons & Mercadal, Edicions Musicals.

In the field of composition, he has made several premieres of his works for choir, piano and voice, winning the 1st prize in the National Choral Composition Competition Universidad de Burgos (2016) for the piece Galatea, the 3rd prize in the Choral Composition Competition for choirs “BAE” Gran Premio BBK (2019) for the piece Canción de cuna (2019), and the 3rd prize in the International Composition Contest Universidad de Alcalá (2021) for the work In Paradisum. Some of these compositions have been performed around Europe and America, and some are published by Brotons & Mercadal.

(Foto: Nasi Nandes)

David Gálvez Pintado was born in 1974 in Valencia, where he successfully completed his higher studies in music theory, piano, choir conducting and composition. Later he moved to the Liszt Ferenc Zeneakademia in Budapest, where he graduated in choir and orchestra conducting and composition, studying with Éva Kollár, Judit Hajtyány, István Parkai, Gyula Fekete and Tamás Gál among others.

He is currently the Artistic and Musical Director of the Pamplona Chamber Choir since 2013, a group that under his baton has been awarded the Príncipe de Viana Award in 2018. His work in the choir stands out not only for the quality that the group has acquired, but also for the work of recovering choral works from the 20th century, especially that of the composers in exile from the 1950s, as well as the attention to avant-garde music, experimental music and that of the 17th and 18th centuries. As a choirmaster, he has worked in important opera productions and symphonic concerts.

He actively participates in European choral activity as a jury member in competitions, professor of choral conducting and guest conductor in numerous courses, competitions, symposiums and conferences around the world.

As a composer he stands out mainly in the field of choral music. His works have been performed in concert halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Sala Juan de Salazar in Asunción (Paraguay), Salón Grande Centro Cultural San Marcos in Lima, Teatro Nacional de Panamá, Palau de la Música in Valencia, Palau de Les Arts “Reina Sofía”, Gayarre Theater, etc.

Among his awards are the National Forum of Hungarian Musicians Award for the best interpretation of contemporary Hungarian music in 2001, the Europa Cantat young directors award, ​​the First Prize and the second prize of the “Catalonia Choral Composition Awards” in 2006 or the artistic recognition as a composer during 2007 by the Ministry of Culture/INAEM.

He has also been the musical head of the Young Orchestra and Choir of Central America (JOCCA) since its foundation in 2008.

José Luis González González was born in Puente Genil (Córdoba), Andalusia in 1960.

He studied music at the Conservertorio Superior de Música “Rafael Orozco” in Córdoba under the tutelage of composers such as D. Alfonso Romero and Juan de Dios García. He furthered his composition studies with renowned composers such as César Camarero, Agustín Charles Soler, Tomás Marco, José Manuel López López and Adolfo Núñez.

Since 2009 he has collaborated with the music magazine “Intermezzo”, directed by Paula Coronas Valle.

In the field of composition, he is the author of different works for chamber ensembles, as well as exercises and studies of pedagogical nature. Among his premiered works we have “Coro” (electroacoustic work) and “Suggestion” (work for guitar).

He currently lives and works in Granada developing his pedagogical work at the M. Ángel Barrios Conservatory.

José María González Zubieta was born in Lucena (Córdoba) in 1950.

His first contacts with music were with the harmonica that his mother gave him. Later he studied guitar, piano and composition. For years he has combined music with his profession as a senior telecommunications engineer and PT doctor in computer science. His first compositions were for guitar and, successively, he expanded his production to other genres. Since his beginnings in composition, he is the author of more than 170 musical works, both light music, classical, symphonic, orchestral, choral and piano. He is the author of innumerable works, among which stand out: Misa sinfónica a la Virgen de Araceli, Miserere sinfónico a Jesús Nazareno, Elegía a Adolfo Suárez y a la transición, Concerto for piano and orchestra in C minor, Sinfonía Génesis en Mi menor, as well as various works as resident composer for choirs in Madrid. At present he has recorded six discs, five under the title Romantic Music for piano, the present work of Romantic Music in classical style with piano and flute and piano music, a third classical CD with Tristesse 1 and 2, and a fifth with the title Volume.5 of Romantic Music. These discs include a wide variety of boleros, ballads, jazz music, habaneras or tangos, as well as a sonata, a ballad, a nocturne and a waltz. All these works are edited by Piles Editorial and Gte Música. The sixth disc is Misa Solemn a la Virgen de Araceli, for cathedral organ with pedal.

Criticism and assessment of the author’s music, by his master of symphonic composition: “Jose Maria Gonzalez Zubieta’s music is eminently melodic. In it we find themes with a wide range of nuances and with an expressive curve of great magnitude. At the same time there is a very defined harmony with nods to the modal exchange. A highly dense orchestration is built on this axis, with defined accompaniment designs, against especially expressive melodies and a solid architecture of the tutti. In addition, its extensive production should be highlighted, which ranges from solo instruments, chamber music, orchestras, choral works, opera and even light music with romantic melodies.“

Miguel Àngel Grau Sapiña was born in Cullera (Valencia) in 1963. He began his studies at the Sociedad Ateneu Musical de Cullera (Valencia), entered the Superior Conservatory of Music of Valencia studying with teachers as Juan Vercher, Lucas Conejero, Salvador Seguí, Rafael Talens, among others and finishing his clarinet studies with the highest qualifications.

He passed the examinations for the military music corps at the age of 16. He moved to Pamplona where he also holds a position in the Symphony Orchestra and is a teacher at the conservatories of Pamplona, ​​Sangüesa and Tafalla.

He perfected his studies in Madrid with the teachers José A. Tomàs and Modesto Escribano, both clarinet soloists from the O.N.E. (Orquesta Nacional de España). He takes advanced training courses with Michel Arrignon and Jean Louis Sajot, soloists of the National Orchestra of France and the Paris Opera, respectively. As a clarinetist, he is part of several chamber groups and founded the Ébano quartet, recording an album and making recordings for radio and television.

As a clarinet player, he has performed in different orchestras and symphonic bands, performing works by Mozart, Rossini, Weber, Poulenc, etc. He collaborates with the RTVE, Euskadi, Madrid Symphony and Balearic Islands orchestras.

On the occasion of the 250th anniversary of W. A. ​​Mozart’s birth, he is touring with choir and chamber orchestra as clarinet soloist and conductor, with a monographic program of this composer.

He has received conducting lessons from teachers Jan Cober and Enric Garcia Asensio. He actively participates as a guest conductor in several musical ensembles. His work as a composer of works for symphonic band, chamber music, concerts, etc. stands out, some of them being commissioned and performed in competitions as a work of free choice. He has been a finalist in several composition competitions and recently won the competition for the National Anthem of the Sports Association of Colmenar Vell (Madrid). He is a member of the S.G.A.E.

He is currently a member of the Music Unit of the Royal Guard (Unidad de Música de la Guardia Real) and director of the School of Music and Symphonic Band of Colmenar Viejo (Madrid).

Joan Josep Gutiérrez Yzquierdo, born in Barcelona into a family of artists, is a pianist, composer, and musicologist. Graduated from the Superior Municipal Conservatory of Music of Barcelona (piano), from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Master in Musicology and Musical Education) and from the University of Barcelona (Postgraduate in School Management).

From 1996 to 2012 he directed the Professional Conservatory and the Victòria dels Àngels Municipal School of Music in Sant Cugat, where he has taught for more than three decades. He is a member of the Catalan Association of Composers and co-founder and vice-president of the Muzio Clementi Association of Barcelona, an organization where he carries out musical research work. He has written works for piano, piano for four hands, voice and piano, chamber, choir, orchestra and cobla (Catalan wind ensemble), as well as numerous didactic works. He has published in several publishing houses and won prizes for choral composition and sardanas (Catalan traditional dance).

Joaquim Homs i Oller

Born in Barcelona on 21st August 1906 he completed his secondary school and his studies in cello in 1922. Until 1929 he taught himself composition while at the same time qualifying as an engineer, a profession which he has to practice until 1971. Between 1931 and 1936 he widened his musical knowledge under the direction of Robert Gerhard, a pupil of Pedrell and Schönberg.

Homs was drawn, from the very beginning by the necessity of solving the problem provoked by the tonality crisis. Curiously enough, he reached a solution that brought him closer to Schönberg’s dodecaphonism. In Homs’evolution it is hard to identify great aesthetic changes, one could rather talk about a logical and coherent process in the adoption of new ideas. However a very fine and subtle change can be observed in the pieces he composed since 1967 and 1970, where the painful period of losing his wife and his master and friend Robert Gerhard gave a nostalgic and dramatic tone to his music, hard to perceive in earlier productions. In like manner, the colouring received a touch of greater luminosity and the melodic line a greater contemplative accent.

His work Presences for orchestra won the Prize City of Barcelona-1968. He has received many distinctions such as: Gold Medal for Artistic Merit (1981) (Barcelona City Council) and Gold Medal for Merit in Fine Arts (1993) (Ministry of Culture), the National Music Prize (1992 / 1999) and Prize of Honour for Catalan Music-1994. In 1989 he has been Member Elect of the “St. Georges Royal Catalan Academy for Fine Arts”.

The musical output of Joaquim Homs consists of more than two hundred and twenty instrumental and vocal works of all genres. Of these, three have been selected to represent Spain in the Festivals of the ISMC in Paris (1937), Varsaw (1939) and Stockholm (1956). More than one hundred works have been put together on different record labels, including fourteen CD’s dedicated solely to his works.  

April 2007

Joseph House (*North Carolina, 1993) 

Joseph House is a native of North Carolina who grew up in the central Raleigh area of the State. House started his musical career at an early age, singing in choir for church. In grade school he picked up the flute for a short while, but soon traded it for the Horn in F. House studies horn with Dr. Karen L. Robertson for his undergraduate degree at Appalachian State University. He also played Eb tenor horn with the Triangle Youth Brass Band in his youth, and has sung with the North Carolina Master Choral, under the baton of Alfred E. Sturgis. He continues to play horn regularly with the Raleigh Festival Orchestra.

House has received commissions from high schools and various soloists in the musical community. He has served as “Composer in Residence” for the Raleigh Festival Orchestra during their 2013 Summer Cycle and now sits on their board as a director of the ensemble. He has also served in residence with the Appalachian State University Flute Choir. He studies composition with Dr. Scott Meister for his undergraduate degree.

Lauri Hämäläinen is a Finnish-Swedish string teacher from Helsinki, Finland. He started his school with the first Swedish-speaking music class in Helsinki. He graduated as a performing musician and music teacher from the Turku Conservatory (2000), The Royal College of Music in The Hague (2002), and the High School of Music in Rotterdam (2004). He continued his studies with Ulla Magnusson in Sweden during 2019.

Lauri has been working as a violin, viola, and orchestral music teacher at The Northwestern Music Institute in Helsinki, the Espoo Music Institute, and the Avonia Music Institute in Espoo. He has played viola in many orchestras and groups and is the founding member of The Allegros String Quartet, Duo Humoresque, and the Finnish-Japanese chamber orchestra La Tempesta. He has played the viola in the Swedish Theater in Helsinki, The City Orchestra of Lohja, The Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, Continuo Chamber Orchestra, The Allegros String Quartet and the Elite String Quartet. Lauri has recorded music for films, commercials, theaters, artists, and documentaries in Finland.

Lauri is the author of Violin Friends and Viola Friends teaching materials. He has made many arrangements for string orchestras and composed original works for violin, viola, string trio, and string quartet, as well as the music for the multimedia show “Instrumental Impressions of Helsinki.” The Amazing Violin Comics -Tips for practicing and mental images for learning string instruments is the first publication in the world to combine visualization, mental images, and teaching the violin with comics.

Hämäläinen is the secretary of the String Teachers Association in Finland (SJO), a member of the Finnish Viola Society (SAVS), The American String Teachers Association, The European String Teachers Association and The European Chamber Music Teachers Association. Violin Friends publications aim to make learning and teaching more fun and effective and create happiness by making music with friends.

Lauri is an international lecturer presenting workshops in string teacher conferences in Finland, Sweden, Estonia, UK, Spain, and Turkey.

Eduard Iniesta is a musician, composer and guitar player with a long career, and he is the creator of unique and emotional music.

Specialized in double-stringed instruments, he is considered a benchmark in Mediterranean music, with a solid career as a performer and composer of music as varied as folk, rock, blues, classical or world music.

Oleg Kiselev, composer, performer, recording artist and teacher, winner of several international competitions, was born in 1964.

He graduated at the Chelyabinsk Musical College in Russia, where he studied with Victor Kozlov, the well-known guitarist, composer and teacher.

Oleg Kiselev has given numerous solo recitals at international festivals in many countries around the world, including Russia, Poland, Hungary, Armenia and Serbia. He is a prolific composer, having written over 400 pieces for the guitar, and has released eight CD’s.

Composing music in a variety of different styles including jazz, latin, contemporary, romantic and popular, Oleg is particularly active in creative work with music for children and youth.

Currently he teaches guitar at the School of Arts in Asha, Russia. His music is published in several countries including Poland, Russia, Italy, Switzerland, Great Britain, Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, France, Canada, Belarus, Norway, Ukraine, USA and Spain

His work has been reviewed in Seicorde (Italy), Classical Guitar (Great Britain), Guitart (USA), Soundboard (USA), Guitar bulletin (Switzerland), Guitar Review (Russia) and Guitarist (Russia) magazines.

Vassil Kostov was born in  Sevlievo, Bulgària into the family of a musician (trumpeter). This predestined his fate. He graduated from the Bulgarian State Conservatory as a trumpeter. He was laureate of the international youth festivals in Moscow (1957) and Vienna (1959). For 23 years he was the leading trumpet player of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, and later he became its Chief Artistic Director. He was also first secretary of the Union of Bulgarian Musicians and a lecturer in trumpet and brass at the Bulgarian State Conservatory, a 15-year practice that had a beneficial effect on his musical works. His marches for brass band bear the marks of  simplicity, high professionalism and great knowledge of the potentialities of the different instruments.

Francisco is the Principal flute of the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra OBC and he was the Residence Artist of the Orquesta de Extremadura in the season 2019-2020.

In 2015 he won 4 prizes at the prestigious competition “ARD-Musikwettbewerb” in Munich (2^nd prize, Audience prize, Special prize for the interpretation of the commissioned composition, BR-KLASSIK Online Prize). Since then, he has been very active playing as a soloist, recitals and chamber music.

He also often gives masterclasses at Barrat Due Music School in Oslo, Gothenburg University, Conservatorio Superior de Badajoz, Conservatorio Superior de Aragon, Conservatorio Superior de Granada and ESMUC in Barcelona.

He has been a guest principal flute at Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orquestra de Cadaqués, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony, Swedish Radio, Sidney Symphony, Den Norske Oper & Ballett, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Frankfurter Museumsorchester and Gran Teatro del Liceo Orchestra in Barcelona, to name some.

Francisco is not only a flute player, but a composer. He has written a few pieces for solo flute like “Mangata for solo flute” and “El Bailaero de las Gitanas” for flute, narrator and Orchestra. He has written the compulsory piece for the Spanish Flute Competition in Malaga 2020 “Mononoke-Hime”, which was comissioned by the competition and AFE (Asociación de Flautistas de España) and edited in Brotons & Mercadal.

Josef Lammerz, born in Bonn in 1930, began taking piano and organ lessons at a young age. He was particularly influenced by Hubert Brings, the longstanding Münster organist in Bonn. He studied church music at the Robert Schumann Conservatory in Düsseldorf. He expanded his studies with private composition studies with Rudolf Petzold in Cologne and organ studies in Düsseldorf with Clemens Ingenhoven.

From 1956-1975 he was organist and choirmaster at the Christ-König-Kirche in Duisburg; where he built up a highly acclaimed choir, which presented numerous performances of important works of choral literature and his own compositions to the public. Particular highlights of this were certainly the participation in the concerts of the city of Duisburg in the Mercator Halle: Fauré’s Requiem, Stabat Mater by Verdi and Christ by Liszt were on the program. From 1961 to 1975 he was a lecturer in piano and organ at the Niederrheinische Musikschule in Duisburg and in theory at the Folkwanghochschule in Essen, Duisburg Institute. His last position in Germany was as organist and choirmaster at the Münsterbasilika in Bonn from 1975 to 1989.

Josef Lammerz has lived in Teulada (Costa Blanca) in Spain since 1989. Great works (masses, cantatas, psalms) were premiered here. Lammerz is an honorary citizen of Teulada. In Xàtiva, the birthplace of the Borjas popes, there is a street named after Lammerz.

He died in Teulada on January 8, 2014.

Recordando a Josef Lammerz (1930-2014) en su 90 cumpleaños – Erinnerungen an Josef Lammerz zu seinem 90. Geburtstag

Aitor Llimerà Galduf began his musical studies at the Escola de la Banda Primitiva de Llíria with his father Vicent Llimerá, continued his intermediate studies at the Professional Conservatory of Music of Llíria with Vicent Carbonell and finished his undergraduate studies at the Superior Conservatory of Music “Joaquín Rodrigo” in Valencia, with Professor Francisco Salanova, obtaining the “Honorable Mention and the Final Degree Award”. At the age of 7, he took his first course with Lothar Koch (soloist of the Berlin Philharmonic) and later took advanced courses and master classes with Hänsjorg Schellenberger (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra), Stefan Schilli (Munich Radio Orchestra), David Walter (Paris Conservatory), Víctor Ànchel, Ramon Puchades and Rafael Tamarit (Spanish National Orchestra), Fabian Schäfer (Berlin Opera Orchestra), Jesús Fuster (Valencia Superior Conservatory).

He has been awarded in several competitions, 3rd place in the autonomous phase of the Valencian Community of the National Contest of Intercenter Interpretation in the category of Intermediate Grade, finalist of the I National Competition of Young Interpreters of Llíria, 2nd Prize in the National Contest of Young Interpreters of Castellnovo in 2007 and winner of the IV National Competition of Young Musicians Ciutat de Llíria. He has been a member of the Jove Orquestra de la Generalitat Valenciana, with which he has performed as a soloist W. A. ​​Mozart’s Symphony Concertante and Franck Martin’s Wind Concerto. He has also been a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Spain with which he has performed numerous concerts throughout the Spanish geography.

As a soloist, it is worth mentioning the recital of oboes and organ in the Franciscan Church of Salzburg that he performed together with his father Vicent Llimerá, within the International Organ Festival of Salzburg in 2008 and the premiere of the Concert for English horn and band “Concertijo” with the Municipal Band of Santiago de Compostela in 2015. He has also performed as a soloist with the Banda Primitiva de Llíria, the Orquestra de la Banda Primitiva de Llíria, the Micalet Plectre Orchestra and the Llíria Professional Conservatory Orchestra.

He currently collaborates with the Grup Instrumental de València, Valencia Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of Barcelona and National Orchestra of Catalonia OBC, National Orchestra of Spain, Latin American Youth Symphony Orchestra, Ibero-American Youth Orchestra with teachers such as Gustavo Dudamel, Jirí Bêlohlávek, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Manuel Galduf, Franz Paul Decker, José Antonio Abreu, Lutz Köhler, Josep Pons, Jan Cober, Christian Vásquez, Pablo González, Salvador Brotons, Henrie Adams, Juan Miguel Romero, etc.

He is oboe and English horn of the Banda Municipal de Barcelona, ​​founder of Vent a Cinc and Obac Ensemble, and since 2013 he is Professor of Oboe at the Superior Conservatory of Castilla La Mancha and from September 2022 also at the “José Iturbi” Municipal Conservatory of Valencia.

Joan Lamote de Grignon i Bocquet studied at the Conservatori del Liceu, where he later worked as a teacher. He married Florentina Ribas, with whom in 1899 he had his only son, Ricard. He devoted his time to composing with works like La Gavota (the Gavotte) in D minor, Sis cançons catalanes (Six Catalan songs), Imogina and L’Angelo. His ideological and musical training was consolidated during the Modernist period, which influenced him strongly.

With works like the symphonic poem Médona, the oratorio La Nit de Nadal (Christmas Eve), written in 1902, and the lyrical poem Hesperia, Joan Lamote stood out for his compositional maturity at the turn of the century. 1902 was also the year of his public presentation as orchestral conductor, on being chosen by Associació Musical de Barcelona, to direct an unofficial orchestra. With this orchestra he not only won great prestige amongst the general public, but also managed to introduce works of many different styles and by little known composers.

Although in 1910 he was not accepted to conduct the Banda Municipal de Barcelona (Barcelona Municipal Band), in 1914 the municipal decision was overruled and Joan Lamote de Grignon began to direct the Band. At that point, however, he had already set up what would be the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona, (Barcelona Symphony Orchestra), with the support of the Associació Musical de Barcelona. The excess of work was not well seen by the association, which withdrew its economic support from the orchestra.

In 1913-14, at the age of 41, he was invited to Berlin to conduct the Bluhner Orchestras and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra with a program composed of his own compositions for orchestra and soloists and for solo orchestra. The critic emphasizes the serenity of its melodic line, the curious rhythmic combinations and the musical value of the orchestration.

He carried out a major task of renovation with the Banda Municipal de Barcelona, which received the praises of Richard Strauss, who invited the Band to Germany to serve as a model for other ensembles. Joan Lamote’s efforts were increasingly acclaimed by the musical world and by the public in general. Another important milestone was the participation of the Band at the 1929 International Exhibition in Barcelona. Even though the number of concerts decreased due to the outbreak of the war, the Band continued to fulfill the expectations of its audience.

With the new political regime in power, Joan Lamote and his son Ricard were accused of carrying out defamatory activities and he was deprived of the direction of the Band. At 71 years of age, he was invited to Valencia to set up a new ensemble, the Orquestra Simfònica de València (Valencia Symphonic Orchestra), which he conducted together with his son. In 1944 his wife died, and he remarried two years later. When the contract in Valencia came to an end, he decided not to renew it and came back to Barcelona. There he was able to conduct a number of orchestras like the Filarmònica, with which he gave his last concert in 1949. He died in March of that same year. In spite of the silence of the institutions towards a person who had dedicated himself to the musical enlargement of the city, the people of Barcelona and all the musical profession paid homage to the elderly maestro.

Ricard Lamote de Grignon i Ribas

Son of the composer and conductor Joan Lamote de Grignon i Boquet, Ricard Lamote de Grignon was born in Barcelona in 1899. Following the steps and the vocation of his father, he studied at the Conservatory of the Liceo and in the Academy Marshall. As a composer, his output started with the collection of pieces for piano named Crumbs. By the time he was 20, he was already a member, as a cellist, of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and the Liceo Orchestra.

His career as a conductor started in 1930 with the Girona Symphony Orchestra, and two years later he became assistant conductor of the Banda Municipal de Barcelona. With the outbreak of the Civil War he settled in Valencia, where he worked as assistant conductor of the Symphonic Orchestra of Valencia, of which his father was the founder and music director. Four years later he returned to Barcelona, where he continued his activity as a composer, writing several commissions for radio programs and music for several films. In 1957 he became the assistant conductor of the Orquestra Municipal de Barcelona, of which his friend Eduard Toldra was the conductor and music director. i

Regarding the composition of symphonic works, important pieces include Dos Petits Poemes, Cartell Simfònic (1936), Joke (1936) for which he obtained the Prize Juli Garreta in 1938 and Three Sonatas of Pare Soler and Catalan Symphony (1950). Film music written by him includes Concierto Mágico and Tríptico de la Piel de Toro, both for piano and orchestra. Among other genres are the two big operas The Dragon Head (1939), with libretto by Valle-Inclán, and Le Petit Chaperon Vert, a chamber opera with a French text by Marià Camí, and the children’s opera The FLower, premiered in 1934. He also wrote several ballets such as The Beehive, Dreams (1929) and Prairie, dedicated to his father and a symphonic ballet for jazz band named Divertimento.

In 1950 he obtained the City Prize from Barcelona for his symphonic poem Enigmes. His vocal music includes pieces for voice and piano based on poems by Carner and Maragall, among others, and the harmonization of traditional songs for choir, as well as other works such as the Romance del Caballero. In his output we find works for piano, and compositions for several instrumental ensembles, such as Toccata, Goya, six unpleasant pieces for ten soloists and the set of small pieces or exercises, called Miniatures, written for the wind players of the Valencia Symphony Orchestra. His posthumous work is the symphonic poem El Càntic dels Càntics finished before his death in 1962.

Juan Carlos Lax, composer from Murcia based in Madrid, is the result of a combination of honesty, simplicity and emotion. In 2012 he self-published “Día libre”, his first album. A collection of 12 songs produced by the winner of a Latin Grammy, Yadam González. In 2016, dramaturg Andrés Alemán collected part of Juan Carlos’ repertoire to write “Solitarias de estreno”, a musical theater work presented in various theaters in Spain, allowing greater diffusion of Lax’s music. In 2018 guitarist Santi Guillén (Coti, Alejo Stivel) began production of what will be Juan Carlos’ second album, “Errores y aciertos” whose first single “Hablando solo” was released in March 2019. His songs, direct and naked, and its unmistakable style is a versatile proposal for lovers of acoustic music and leisurely projects.

David León Fioravanti was born in Palma de Mallorca. He began his musical studies at the Professional Conservatory of Music and Dance of the Balearic Islands where he obtained the title of Piano Teacher. In 1990 he moved to Barcelona and continued his piano studies and began composition studies at the Conservatorio Superior Municipal de Música de Barcelona. He obtains the Superior Title of Composition and the Title of  Professor of Solfeig and Music Theory. At the same time, he studied at the University of Barcelona where, in 1994, he obtained a Degree in Mathematics.

His teachers were, among others, Xavier Boliart and Salvador Brotons (composition), Albert Balcells (musical analysis) and Àngel Soler (piano).

He has been full professor in the Composition Department of the Professional Conservatory of Music and Dance in Mallorca since 2005.

Since 2008 he has also been the director of the Musical Education Area of ​​the Integrated Center for Primary and Secondary Education and Elementary and Professional Music Education Àgora Portals International School.

He has collaborated with the Educational Administration of the Balearic Islands in the planning, coordination and projection of artistic education in the Balearic Islands for fourteen years, as a technical advisor and as head of the Special Regime Education Service.

As a composer, his output includes more than 50 piano, vocal, chamber and orchestral works. He regularly receives commissions from different institutions and organizations. His works have been performed in various Spanish locations such as Madrid, Salamanca, Barcelona, ​​Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and abroad in Paris, Germany, Poland and Brazil.

Jordi León i Royo was born in Barcelona in 1952. He attended the Conservatory of Music in Barcelona where he studied theory, harmony and various wind instruments, obtaining the Superior title in Oboe. He continued higher studies in harmony, counterpoint, and instrumentation with Manuel Oltra and attended conducting classes with Antoni Ros-Marbà.

He has shown great interest in the tamborí and flabiol (Catalan folk instruments): after having studied with Narcís Paulis (1970), he unveiled the flabiol as a concert instrument (1976), revealing the unprecedented possibilities as a solo instrument and introducing the teaching of this instrument in the academic world.

He is well known as an excellent teacher, giving clases in the Conservatori Superior Municipal de Barcelona (1977-89) and the Conservatori del Liceu (1989-2003) where the most prominent current flabiol performers trained. He is the creator of the modern design of the instrument as well as nearly all of the current concert repertoire and teaching material, and his knowledge and expertise are reflected in an extensive encyclopedic-like method, published in 2003.

Since 1977, he has been a member of the Banda Municipal de Barcelona, playing the  flabiol and oboe. He has been a member of several coblas, as a tible or flabiol soloist, and is founding director of the Sant Jordi Cobla (1983). With this ensemble, which he has conducted and led for over 20 years, he has developed a large repertoire of concert music for cobla, recovering forgotten or unpublished works, and performing many premieres and recordings for audio and television. At the end of 2008, he was directly involved in the founding of the new Cobla Maricel in Sitges, which he led during its first year. Since 2009 he has taken over the historic Cobla La Principal de Llobregat, a task which he combines with other activities in the cobla world.

He has written chamber compositions generally for wind instruments, as well as twenty sardanas, among other works for cobla. Since 2004 he has been a regular contributor to the Traditional Music Department of l’ESMUC.

José Raúl Llanes Membrillo was born on November 14, 1974 in Minas de Riotinto, at the age of 8 he moved to Valverde del Camino, where he entered the town’s rondalla that same year, playing the lute. At the age of 13, he began to study at the conservatory in this town where he completed the elementary degree in guitar, he continued his studies at the Conservatorio Profesional de Huelva, finishing the higher degree in Seville with the highest qualifications.

He has taught at music schools in Puebla de Guzmán, Niebla, Aracena or Valverde del Camino.

From 2001 to 2008 he worked at the conservatories of Córdoba, Jerez de la Frontera and Huelva, teaching guitar and flamenco guitar. In 2008 he won the competitions in the specialty of classical guitar.
He currently teaches at the Conservatorio Profesional de Huelva.

Finally, in terms of his compositional work, we can highlight from works for guitar (both classical and flamenco), to works for chamber groups (guitar and flute, guitar and clarinet; saxophone quartet, among ‘others) and music bands. One of his compositions, premiered in May 2005, was a flamenco concerto for guitar and symphonic orchestra called “Sueño Andaluz” with himself playing solo guitar, and which served as the music for Fran Rivera’s biography.

In September 2009, a disc called “world music” was released with his group Aquattro (guitar, flute, violin and double bass), where you can hear various music from the world geography, all these songs composed by J. Raúl Llanes. This album has been sponsored by the Department of Education of the Junta de Andalucía.

Jordi Lluch Bellón, born in Alboraia (Valencia, 1984), where he began his studies of musical language and bassoon. He later studied at the Joaquín Rodrigo, José Iturbi and the Liceu Conservatories. In the latter he was part of the bassoon quartet of this organization, with which he premiered his works Tutte le Forme and Petit Guinyol. In the world of the band (wind orchestra), he has participated in numerous festivals and competitions, with various groups.

Self-taught in orchestra composition and conducting (in this last aspect he has attended courses with maestro Antoni Ros Marbà as a listener and conducting courses with Luis Cobos and Arturo Tamayo), he has a catalog of more than 70 works, which include symphonic, symphonic-choral, vocal, lied, chamber music, incidental music, and band music. He has won the 3rd prize in the choral composition competition of the Getafe Polyphonic Choir.

It has more than fifteen publications, distributed among the publishers Boileau, Tripharia, Dinsic, Brotons & Mercadal, Tot per l´Aire and Periferia Sheet-Music.

He collaborates with the magazine La Porta Clàssica and has published several articles on contemporary creation and the figure of the composer in our day, on the internet. As a composer, he is a member of the ACC and the SGAE.

Gerard López Boada (*Barcelona, 1969)

Graduated from the Conservatorio Superior Municipal de Música de Barcelona in Piano and Composition with several honorary prizes, he has worked on the piano mainly with Carme Poch and Luiz de Moura, and has received advice from Claude Helffer, Paul Badura-Skoda, Aquilles Delle Vigne, Germain Mounier and Joaquin Achúcarro, among others; he has worked on chamber music with Àngel Soler, Pere Busquets and Manuel Garcia Morante; and the composition, with James Sellars, Carles Guinovart and David Padrós, as well as occasionally with Jonathan Harvey, Joan Guinjoan, José Manuel López López, Walter Zimmermann, Agustí Charles and Lleonard Balada.

He is awarded at several piano and composition competitions throughout Catalonia and receives a “Talent Award” scholarship from the University of Hartford where he is studying for an Artist Diploma and a Master’s in Piano. He has worked as an accompanying pianist at the Girona International Musical Interpretation Course, Ruggiero Ricci’s violin course, Magda Puyo’s Theatrical Interpretation Course for Singers and Isabel Penagos’ Spanish Music Course. He has also collaborated with the contemporary music groups “Bártok”, “Sinfonietta”, “Barcelona 216” and “Hartt Contemporary Players”. He has performed solo and chamber recitals in Spain, Italy, France and the United States.

His compositions such as “La Força que mou l’Univers” (Force that moves the Universe), “The Emperor’s new suit”, “Variations looking for a theme”, “Mirroring the mirror”, “Arioso e burlesca”, “Signes”, “4 Cançons eroriques (4 songs erotics), “Pictures”, “Work in progress”, “Dialogues” or “Haikú” have been released in Catalonia, England and the United States. He currently combines the work of repertorist at the Conservatories of Manresa and Igualada with that of performer and composer.

Born in 1976, she began her piano studies at the age of 7. She takes classes with Venezuelan pianist and composer Carlos Duarte and pianist Arnaldo Pizzolante, as well as Music Theory classes at the Conservatorio Juan José Landaeta in Caracas, Venezuela. During this period, she participates in masterclasses and concerts that reward her achievements and her pianistic qualities as a young artist.

In 1994, she moved to Israel to continue his piano, composition and orchestral conducting studies at the Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, where she obtained his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees. Her mastery of the three disciplines captures the attention of both, her teachers and the general public, considerably increasing her musical activity.

She has had as teachers: the pianist Zecharia Plavin, the conductor Mendi Rodan and the composer Menachem Zur.

In 2006, she decided to start a Doctorate in Didactics of musical expression at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), focusing on the research of artistic-educational works, especially in the work Mikrokosmo by Béla Bartók, with the help of the Romanian composer Sergiu Shapira, who gives her the Cum Laude mention for her research and presentation.

She currently lives in Barcelona and acts as a pianist, composer and director of various instrumental and vocal ensembles.

Her compositional style is a mixture of styles and cultures, where the most common characteristic is the combination of the tonal with the atonal and the minimalist structure.

As a noteworthy aspect, she herself writes her own texts for her compositions, when appropriate, since in this way the originality and total individuality of her work is preserved, she writes the texts in several languages. Composition is a discipline in which she expresses her emotions and thoughts, almost as if it were a personal diary of experiences. She believes that imagination and intuition are the path to composition, and that composing, when it begins and ends, is an ascent to higher humanity, awareness and spirituality.

Claudia Montero was born in Buenos Aires on June 25, 1962 and began her musical studies at the Alberto Ginastera Conservatory. At the beginning of the 2000s, following the corralito, she settled in the city of Valencia, where she studied a master’s degree in Aesthetics and Musical Creativity at the University of Valencia. There she was also linked as a teacher at the Salvador Seguí Superior Conservatory of Castelló.

During her career she composed compositions for soloists such as Floraleda Sacchi, Allison Brewster, Marcelo Brú, Guillermo Anad and Piero Bonaguri; and worked with groups such as the Buenos Aires Chamber Orchestra, the Jerez Chamber Orchestra, the Sinfonietta de Paris, the Turin Philharmonic and the Grossetto Chamber Orchestra, among others. She won the Latin Grammy Award in the category of Best Contemporary Classical Work in 2014, 2016 and 2018, and in the category of Best Classical Music Album in 2018 for Mágica y misteriosa. She obtained other awards and recognitions such as the René Teseu Composition Award in 2000, the ADOMU Composition Award in 2001 and the Pillars of Culture Award in the 2016 edition.

She was president and founder of the Asociación de Mujeres en el Arte de Valencia, from which she worked for the promotion and dissemination of the tasks of Women in Art, holding concerts and conferences at the Palau de la Música in Valencia.

On January 16, 2021, Montero died at her home in the city of Valencia. In July 2020, Montero had joined as resident composer of the Palau de la Música and was working on a work entitled “Ave Fénix Symphony”.

Jordi Marcé Nogué

(*Igualada, 1979)

Doctor from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, researcher in the field of mechanics and computational biomechanics, is today an internationally recognized expert in the use of computational biomechanics in vertebrate paleobiology and anthropology, who devotes his free time to the composition.

Trained musically at the Municipal Conservatory of Music of Igualada Mestre Joan Just i Bertran, obtained the professional cello title with professors Antoni Cabanes and Romain Boyer and studied harmony, composition and counterpoint with Concepció Ramió.

He actively participates in the cultural pulse of the city of Igualada in various musical entities and musical formations of all kinds (orchestras, choirs, chamber music and modern music formations). In the field of composition, he has arranged and written several works for various formations, in different genres and styles, winning several prizes: City of Reus Composition Award for children’s choirs (1998 and 1999), Joaquim Maidéu Composition Award (2004) and Paquita Madriguera City of Igualada Prize for Musical Composition (2004 and 2006) with the works El gat amb botes (Puss in boots): Petita simfonia en 4 moviments per a orquestra, 2 pianos i percussió and Rapsòdia per a orquestra respectively.

In 2007 he wrote the Suite for the Procession of Sant Crist in Igualada for band, which is performed regularly during Holy Week in this city. He has participated in the arrangements of the album Amb lletra Petita by the pop-trist group Conxita, winner of the 2007 Enderrock award for the best album of the year according to the critics.

Julio J. Maestro Oliver was born in Quart de Poblet in 1978. He began his musical studies at the Sociedad Ateneu Musical de Cullera and the Elementary Conservatory of Music Agustín Olivert de Cullera with teachers Vicent Bustillos and Àngel Murillo. He continued his musical studies at the Superior Conservatory of Music in Valencia with professors Lluís Sanjaime Meseguer and Josep Cerveró, obtaining the title of Superior Clarinet Professor with the highest qualifications.

He has taken clarinet courses with Joan Vercher, Albert Rodríguez, Jean Louis Sajot, Juanjo Mercadal, Salvador Brotons, Josep V. Herrera, Manel Martín Ventura, Reinhard Wienser, J. Antonio Fenollar, David Martínez. He has also attended teaching and IT courses.

He has advanced knowledge of web design and sheet music editing. He is a collaborator of Brotons & Mercadal, Edicions Musicals SL.

He has collaborated with several orchestras and symphonic bands. He is a founding member of the Ensemble de Clarinetes Clar-i-Arts, a chamber music group that is  performing concerts all over Spain.

Since 2006, he has been a civil servant of the Corps of Secondary Education Teachers in the music specialty of the Junta de la Comunidad de Castilla la Mancha (funcionari de carrera per oposició del Cos de Professors d’Ensenyament Secundari). Since 2018 he has been Director of  the High School IES Riu Túria in Quart de Poblet (Valencia), center of definitive destination.

Josep Marimón i Figueras

(1883 Sant Jaume Sesoliveres/Anoia  – 1953 Barcelona)

Born in 1883 in Sant Jaume Sesoliveres (Anoia), Josep Marimon was an innate musician, although without antecedents in his family. He apprenticed as a barber and at the age of 18 he enrolled at the Escola Municipal de Música de Barcelona. There, he studied with the professors Antoni Nicolau, Quintas and Lluís Millet. In 1906 the Quinteto Filarmónico was formed, of which he was the pianist-director.

In 1911 he moved to Argentina where he worked as a pianist for silent cinema. In 1913, he was finally able to settle in France where he broadened his studies. He became a member of the Orchestre Guitton, in Lyon. The beginning of World War I forced him to move back to Barelona where he received lessons from Enric Morera. By 1920 he was working professionally as a musician, composing and conducting the Llevant and Violeta Hortense choral societies. In January 1926 he married Teresa Cuch with whom he had three children: Salvador, Lluís and Josep. In 1928 he started conducting the El Roser choral society, which thereafter underwent renewal and improvement. In 1932 his third son was born, and two days later his wife died.

In 1938 he was appointed Special Professor of Music Education of the School Groups in Barcelona, a post he was only able to keep until January 1939, due to the Civil War. He became organist of the church Santa Madrona del Poble Sec and he remarried with the singer Esmaragda Claverí, with whom he had his daughter Esmaragdeta. In 1945 he became the conductor of the children’s choir of the Casa Provincial de  Caritat de Barcelona, but the next year he suffered a heart attack which forced him to take a break from his musical activities.

He was awarded with about 40 prizes for his musical works, among those the two prizes he won in 1949 in the II Concurs Barcino de Música per a Cobla i Sardanes, with the sardanas M’estimes? and Meravella nostrada. Around 1950 he began, with great dedication, to write a practical Manual to guide composers of sardanas, which remained unfinished at his death in May 1953 in Barcelona.

Francisco Jose Martinez Gallego

(*1969, Sant Antoni de Requena -Valencia)

He began his musical studies at the School of Music of the Musical Society “La Armónica” in San Antonio, later passing to the Conservatories of Murcia, Torrente and Valencia, a center in which he obtained the Superior Title of Clarinet in 1994.

After this date, his musical concerns began to diverge, focusing mainly on three aspects: teaching as a clarinet teacher, conducting bands, and composition.

In 1998 he began to be interested in band conducting, expanding his studies with different teachers, among which Jan Cober and especially José Rafael Pascual Vilaplana should be highlighted. His main activity as director focuses on three groups: the S. M. “El Arte” from Sinarcas (Valencia), the Youth Band of the Musical Society “La Armónica” from San Antonio and the brass group “Armónic Brass”.

However, the field in which he is going to see himself fully realized and in which he moves with total ease is going to be that of composition. He will expand his training in this field with the Jazz teacher and composer Daniel Flors and with the composers Ferrer Ferrán, Teodoro Aparicio and Miguel Ángel Matéu.

In the year 2000 he obtained the 1st Prize in the I National Festive Music Contest of Altea with the Marcha Mora Ziryab, in 2002 he also obtained the 1st Prize in the II Festive Music Composition Contest of Calpe with the Marcha Mora Benifat. 2005 also wins the 1st. Symphonic Music Composition Award for Finestrat Band with the Suite for Band Monuments and again gets the 1st Prize in the Sant Joan de Moró Pasodoble Composition Contest, in December 2009, with the pasodoble Ángel ‘El Calo’. There are also several awards, 2nd prizes and participation in the finals of multiple composition contests.

He has an extensive catalog of works with more than 20 pasodobles, Moorish marches, procession marches, chamber music and symphonic music for band and orchestra, among which the following stand out: ‘Cantata Profana’ (for 2 choirs and orchestra), Piano Concerto and Orchestra, Concerto for Trumpet and String Orchestra, Akhenaten (Symphonic Poem for Band), La Concepción 1910 (Suite for Symphonic Band), Monuments (Suite for Band), Theatrum (Music for the Stage), Españolada nº 1 (for wind quintet and piano), Los Caprichos de Goya and a long etcetera.

He is a member of the SGAE (General Society of Authors and Publishers) and COSICOVA (Association of Valencian Symphonic Composers).

In June 2010 he finished the Higher Degree in Composition at the Superior Conservatory of Castellón. In this new stage he studied with professors among which it is worth mentioning, once again Ferrer Ferrán and César Cano, Miguel Ángel Berbis, Claudia Montero, Jesús Vizcaino and Emilio Calandín.

He is currently a professor of harmony, analysis and fundamentals of composition at the ‘Mestre Molins’ Professional Conservatory in Quart de Poblet (Valencia).

Fèlix Martínez Comín was a prominent figure of the music for cobla in Catalonia. He studied piano and violin at the Conservatori Municipal de Barcelona and harmony and composition with Joaquim Zamacois. As a performer, he played the French Horn in the Orquestra Filharmònica de Barcelona and the Orquestra Amics dels Clàssics until 1936. Later, he decided to devote his time to composition, producing a large quantity of works. In the 1940s, he specialized in dance music for which he became an expert arranger. He also became acquainted with the cobla, a genre in which he became a master and for which he received great acclaim and numerous prizes.

In 1943 he met Pepita Llunell i Sanahuja, an actress and singer who played the role of La Princesa Clara Luz (Princess Clear Light) in the well-known Centre de la Creu Roja. By coincidence, he met her again in 1947, in a trip from Barcelona to Vic. They fell in love and later became engaged (1949), and were married on November 28, 1953. As fiancées, Martínez Comín and his wife formed an artistic couple performing combinations of piano, violin and singing. Later, they formed a production company for “Galas Artísticas” which took place mainly in the summer.

Fèlix Martínez Comín was remarkable particularly for the new instrumental combinations that he used in many of his compositions, especially in those with a free format. His production also includes chamber music, lieder and some symphonic pieces which stay within the realms of tonal language. Among his compositions, he wrote notable works for symphonic cobla with the inclusion of a solo instrument, such as Suite per a percussió i cobla, Concert per a trompa i cobla, Plany (for four tenoras and cobla) and Fra Garí (symphonic poem for two coblas, timpani and harp).

Pascual Martínez Martínez was born in Alcásser (Valencia) in 1965. He began his musical studies at the Joaquín Rodrigo Conservatory of Music in Valencia, specializing in clarinet with D. Juan Vercher, and later piano. He has been a member of the Orchestra of Conservatory and Youth Band of the Federation of Musical Societies of the Valencian Community. In 1986 he obtained the Superior Title of Clarinet with Honorable Mention.

Later he studied with Mr. Rafael Talens, Mr. Amando Blanquer, Mr. Eduardo Cifre and Mr. Manuel Galduf, obtaining the Higher Degrees in Composition and Orchestration, Choir Conducting and Orchestra Conducting, obtaining Honorable Mention in the latter and Extraordinary End of Career Award, respectively. He was selected by teacher Aldo Ceccato to do the Orchestra Conducting Course in Santiago de Compostela. As guest conductor, he has directed the following musical societies: Ateneo Musical de Cullera, Primitiva de Llíria, Tavernes de la Valldigna, Band of the Federation of Musical Societies of the Valencian Community and Youth Orchestra of Albacete.

He has been director of the musical societies of Yátova, Aldaia, Alcàsser and Xàtiva, as well as assistant director of the Youth Orchestra of the Valencian Community. He has completed several courses in musical analysis and composition.

He has worked as a teacher at the Conservatories of Music in Carcaixent, Carlet, Vall d’Uixó, Cullera and Valencia, specializing in Clarinet, Harmony, Musical Forms and Orchestra. He has composed several works for band, chamber music and orchestra, being a finalist in several competitions, among them the Accèsit of the VI Composition Competition for Band Music Rafael Rodríguez Albert of the Diputació d’Alacant, with the work sequences In 2014, he received the award for best conductor at the Certamen de la Diputació, and in 2017 Accèsit for best conductor at the First Orchestra Competition of the Valencian Community.

He currently conducts the Orchestra of the Conservatory of Valencia, where he works as a full professor in the Orchestra specialty, having performed at the Palau de les Arts and the Palau de la Música in Valencia, with works such as Carmina Burana and The Song of the Forests. He also directs the Youth Orchestra of the Ateneu Musical de Cullera and the Banda Unió Musical de Llanera de Ranes.

Ginés Martínez Vera

(*1978)

Ginés Martínez Vera completed his higher studies in Orchestra Conducting at the CSM of Murcia “Manuel Masotti Littel” with Professor José Miguel Rodilla and completed his higher studies in Jazz composition in Madrid with Félix Santos. He has completed training courses with Bruno Aprea, Ricardo Frizza and Atso Almila.

He has conducted the Symphonic Orchestra of the Region of Murcia, Orchestra and Band of the CSM “Manuel Masotti Littel”, Orchestra of the Opera of Cluy (Romania), Classical Orchestra of Sucina, Philharmonic of Chamber of Catalonia, Camerata Antonio Soler, Classical Orchestra of Conservatory of Lorca and Classical Orchestra Juventudes Musicales Comarca del Guadalentín.

He has been awarded by the Youth Institute and the Council of the Presidency of the Autonomous Community of Murcia as “Young Murcian of the Year 2005” for his musical and artistic career. International prize for composition “Villa de Benidorm” 2010 with Marcha mora Yasmina. The work Fantasía para banda was a required work in the National Band Competition of the Region of Murcia 2006 and in the Regional Competition 2007. Its arrangements and compositions have been performed throughout Europe, America, South America and Asia, highlighting the Goya award-nominated orchestration of Cartagonova, award-winning Gitana at the 50th Festival del Cante de las Minas de La Unión by Abdón Alcaráz and Iberia by I. Albéniz for piano (four hands).

He was selected in the 1st Jesús López Cobos International Competition among the 50 Young Opera Directors, he was also selected by the orchestra in the 2013 International Conducting Competition of the Cadaqués Orchestra and won 1st place in Spain in the I International Maurice Ravel Orchestra Composition Competition.

He combines teaching as an Orchestra director at the CPM in Murcia with composition, arrangements and orchestration.

Marc Migó Cortés

After receiving a Deutsche Grammophon CD collection from his grandfather for his 16th birthday, Marc Migó (1993, Barcelona) became unexpectedly and passionately drawn to its contents. This discovery led him to seek out guidance from pianist Liliana Sainz and composer Xavier Boliart. Three years later, he enrolled at ESMUC (Superior Music School of Catalonia).

In 2017, thanks to a scholarship issued by Fundación SGAE, Marc moved to New York in order to continue his musical studies. He pursued his Masters at The Juilliard School, where he was awarded the 2018 Orchestral Composition Prize. In 2019 he received The Pablo Casals Festival Award for his Cello Sonata “Cerdanyenca”, a Morton Gould young composers award by ASCAP and the New Juilliard annual commissioning competition award. He also has been a fellow at the 2020 Minnesota Orchestra Composer’s Institute and a winner of the George Enescu Prize 2020, among other international recognitions.

Marc Migó is currently a C.V. Starr fellow at Juilliard, where he is earning a DMA in composition under the mentorship of John Corigliano. He has received commissions from leading institutions, ensembles and performers, such as UrbanArias, the Dutch National Opera, Liceu Opera House, the New Juilliard Ensemble, Festival Pablo Casals in Prades, l’Associació Joan Manén, Fundación Pro Arte Córdoba, and duo Isas-Kwiek, among others.

Manuel Mondéjar Criado

He began his musical studies at the “Ruperto Chapí” Conservatory in Elda and at the Banda Santa Cecilia music school in Elda, where he would later be part of as a musician.

He studied band conducting at the Vall d’Albaida music school with professors José Rafael Pascual Vilaplana, Ramón García Soler and José Vicente Asensi, and later at the Instituto Superior Europeo Bandístico (ISEB) in Trento, Italy, obtaining in 2008 the Higher Diploma in Conducting in the Band of Music specialty, with professors Jan Cober, Felix Hauswirth and Carlo Pirola.

He has also attended directing courses with teachers such as Francisco Cabrelles, Juan Antonio Espinosa, Jesús López Cobos, Enrique García Asensio, Jan Van der Roost, Eugene Corporon, Alex Schilling and Douglas Bostock.

In the professional field, he has directed the Bands of Mutxamel, Estivella, Pinoso, Xixona, Villena, Muro, Municipal de Tenerife, “Musikè” Wind Orchestra of Bergamo (Italy), Rundfunk Blasorchester of Leipzig (Germany) at the international festival of wind music “Mid-Europe” held in Schladming (Austria), and the Band of the Royal Dutch Navy at the World Music Contest in Kerkrade (Holland).

He has held lectures on wind music at the “Paurides González Vidal” Foundation, at the Central Board of Comparses of Elda and at the Professional Conservatory of Music of Cartagena. In 2008 he presided over the 1st National Congress of Band Directors held in the city of Yecla, and since November 2009 he has been president of the “National Association of Band Directors”. He has given lectures and specialized courses in Band at the Professional Music Conservatories of Elda and San Vicente.

In 2006 he won the I “Villa de Muro” Conducting Competition, in the summer of 2009 he was a finalist in the “Palermo Giannetti” band conducting competition held in Tuscany (Italy), and winner of the first “Batuta de Oro” prize in 11th Conducting Competition within the World Music Contest held in Kerkrade (Holland) in July 2009.

He has been invited by the Band of the Royal Dutch Navy to conduct the opening gala concert of the season in Tilburg (Holland), and as a conducting teacher to close the band conducting course organized by the Band Training Center of Brescia (Italy).

He has been the titular director of the bands Sociedad “Nueva Artística” in Anna, Círculo Musical “Primitiva” in Albaida, “Santa Cecilia” in L’Olleria, Unión Musical “La Artística” in Novelda, Asociación Músico-Cultural Eldense ” Santa Cecilia” in Elda and the “Verge de la Pau” Cultural Art Center in August. He is currently the titular director of the “Unión Musical” Society of Crevillente.

*València, 1987

He began his musical studies very young at the School of Music in his town, Oliva, where he learned to love music. The instrument he uses for this purpose is the euphonium, an inseparable travel companion.

Then, a long stay at the Conservatory of Castelló, provided him with solid training as a performer and composer.

During this stage, he always combines his studies with various artistic projects that range from classical music, to jazz, through reggae, ska, punk, band and xaranga music, brass band, and everything that puts it ahead of him. This is how he learns the trade of arranger.

Later, he moved to Vienna to finish maturing his knowledge and soak up the cultural life of the city. Here he learns to respect music.

Now, he tries to earn a living with what is his passion: music.

Chano Montes

(*1944, Barcelona)

CHANO MONTES, composer and musical producer

Chano Montes was born in a family of mixed nationalities – his mother was Mexican, and his father was Spanish. He started studying music at Barcelona’s Conservatorio Superior de Música. Aged 14 he premiered his first compositions and aged 20 he received awards at several music festivals, such as Benidorm, Mediterráneo, Andorra and Viña del Mar (Chile).

Very early on the versatility of his creations and initiatives characterised him and made him stand out. He wrote music for theatre plays, both classical and modern, and was asked to compose the music to accompany “LOS ENTREMESES DE CERVANTES”, which was premiered at Barcelona’s Teatro Griego (Greek Theatre) by the Luis Prendes and Emilia Aliaga Company. He was commissioned to compose the theme for the comedy “CLEMENTINA”, which the Josefina Güell Company premiered at the Romea Theatre in Barcelona, and the main musical piece for the experimental theatre play “SOLO DE VIOLIN”, directed by Antonio Chic, which premiered at the Candilejas Theatre, also in Barcelona.

He was artistic director and sole composer for the radio programme and lyrics writing competition “Festival de la Canción de Fortuna”, in which numerous lyricists took part through some of the main local radio stations, including Radio Barcelona, Radio Peninsular and Radio Miramar. The creative singularity of the programme was that Chano Montes wrote the music to the 128 lyrics chosen from all the submitted entries, directing and premiering two songs every week during four seasons. This deserved to be put forward for the Guiness Records, but the record was never formalised for reasons alien to the composer.

From then on, Chano Montes’ versatility catapulted him forward not only as a composer but also as a music promoter, entrepreneur and public speaker, always true to his principles of identity and testimony, which he expresses as follows: “To me, IDENTITY is who we are and how we feel, and TESTIMONY is the pride to proclaim it”.

In chamber music, he formed TRIO BARTOK as a promoter, an original trio of violin/viola (Pere Serra), clarinet (Miquel Gaspà) and piano (Maria Carme Poch). Performing pieces by Milhaud, Turina, Debussy, Mozart, Schumann, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Berg, Toldrá and Homs, they played throughout the whole of Spain and other European countries and were the only Spanish musicians to take part in Budapest’s Bela Bartok International Festival, brilliantly performing Bartok’s “CONTRASTS” at the Festival’s closing session. (Please see link to TRIO BARTOK.)

As an entrepreneur, he opened the night club “LA COVA DEL DRAC”, which vindicated Catalan identity holding musical and cultural events and was the springboard for many singer songwriters such as Joan Manuel Serrat and Maria del Mar Bonet.

He has made numerous musical contributions to cartoon productions and short films for TV in Mexico and Peru.

He was commissioned by the Government of Catalonia to compose the ANTHEM FOR CATALAN SPORT as a symbol of national identity inspired by world-class Catalan sportspeople with international profiles. It was premiered at the Palau de la Generalitat, seat of the Catalan government, and performed by the choir Coral Polifónica de Puig-reig, conducted by Ramón Noguera, before Jordi Pujol, president of the Generalitat at the time, and top political and sporting authorities.

This debut brought Chano Montes to the attention of numerous social and sporting bodies throughout Spain, which commissioned him to compose their corporate identity anthems. This encouraged him to create his own producing company, MUSICAL SPORT, to meet the demand for this type of composition.

As a public speaker, Chano Montes was invited by the Mexican Secretary of State for Education to give a series of talks on “THE LIFE AND WORK OF JUAN MIRÓ” during the Miró Year (1993). He has also given talks on Mexican young people’s training and education.

Mexico is very close to Chano Montes’s heart. Aware of Mexico’s historical and religious values, he wrote “JUAN DIEGO DEL TEPEYAC”, the first literary and musical work which poetically depicts the experiences of the indigenous man Juan Diego and the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This work was worthy of recognition from Mexico City’s Cardinal Primate, from the Centre of Guadalupan Studies and from renowned experts in the wider Guadalupan community.

The Catalan Government’s Department of Culture organised EXPOCULTURA, an exhibition of Catalan culture and crafts, and commissioned Chano Montes to create the EXPOCULTURA ANTHEM as the exhibition’s identity song.

As a result, several city councils became interested in having their own corporate anthems. Chano Montes created MUSICULTUR, a production company which creates and produces identity pieces for towns and villages wishing to enhance and celebrate their distinctive values in their local events and festivities.

Chano Montes is captivated by the historical importance of the Toltec civilization, which preceded the Maya and the Aztec civilizations. Inspired by the Toltec, he is currently working on the cantata “PIRÁMIDE”, an epic on the emergence of the Mexican people, for soloist singers, choir, orchestra and offstage narration.

Chano Montes’s creative work has granted him audiences with and praise from H. M. King Juan Carlos I, the Director-General of UNESCO, Mexico’s Cardinal Primate, the President of the Mexican Republic, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, the President of the International Olympic Committee, the internationally acclaimed soprano Montserrat Caballé, and other dignitaries and organisations from the cultural, musical and sporting arenas.

Aiming to bring music closer to music lovers, Chano Montes created in September 2005 his EUROPEAN PERSONALISED METHOD, which he applies in his INTRODUCTION TO PIANO AND HARMONY SEMINAR. The seminar’s innovative and attractive teaching style has rapidly won numerous enthusiastic students of all ages and occupations.

Chano Montes enjoys yoga and Eastern philosophy and poetry by Swami Vivekananda y Kalil Gibran.

José Manuel Morales Sánchez

(*1961)

He studied music at the Conservatory of Castelló, the Conservatory of Music of Valencia and the Real Conservatorio Superior of Music of Madrid, with Lucas Conejero, Juan Vercher and Vicente Peñarrocha being his clarinet teachers. It is the Final Honors Award of the Higher Degree, Honors Award in Counterpoint and Fugue and Honorable Mention in Composition by the Superior Conservatory of Music of Valencia.

In addition, he holds the title of Professor of Harmony, Counterpoint, Composition and Instrumentation, the Title of Professor of Solfeggio, Theory of Music, Repentance and Accompaniment, the Title of Piano, the Title of Musicology and Musical Pedagogy and the Higher Degree in Choir and Orchestra Conducting.

He studied composition with teacher Amando Blanquer, in addition to taking several courses with Mauricio Kagel, Antón García Abril, Leonardo Balada, José Luis de Delás and Carles Guinovart.

As a composer he has cultivated different genres, and among his works stand out “Aloiosis” and “Compendium” for chamber orchestra, “Dos piezas lúdicas” (dedicated to the clarinetist Alberto Ferrer) for clarinet, vibraphone, piano and percussion, ” Mavam” for oboe, clarinet and string quartet, “Two Blue Minutes” for clarinet quartet, “Mutacions Lumíniques” for solo clarinet or “Pequeña Mar” for two clarinets and string quartet which is dedicated to the clarinetists Carlos Casanova and Wolfgang Meyer, in charge of its premiere in Valencia.

He is a civil servant, member of the faculty of teachers of music and performing arts in the specialty of Foundations of Composition, currently developing his teaching activity at the Professional Conservatory of Music “Mestre Tàrrega” in Castelló.

David Mora Manresa was born in Callosa de Segura (Alicante) in 1973, where he began his musical studies at the S.A.M. “The Philharmonic”.
He studied Composition and Instrumentation with Manuel Seco de Arpe at the C.S.M. de Murcia, completing the Professional Title with Honorable Mention and the Superior Title with Extraordinary End of Career Award.

Expands Composition studies with Cristóbal Halffter, Tomás Marco, Javier Darias, Mauricio Sotelo, Antón García Abril, Joseba Torre, Manuel Hidalgo, Thierry Pecou, ​​Víctor Rebullida, Leo Brower, J. Mª Sánchez Verdú and Leonardo Balada; of Orchestration with Samuel Adler; of Analysis with Carmen Verdú and Odón Alonso; and Harmony with Katalin Szekeley.

He has been awarded a scholarship for the following composition courses: Music in Compostela (Santiago de Compostela-1996), Campo de Composición del Injuve (Málaga-1997 and Madrid-1999), Composition Course of Villafranca del Bierzo (León-1998), Course of Analysis and Composition of the Manuel de Falla Chair 2003 (Cádiz-2003), and Courses of Alto Perfeccionamiento Musicales de Montserrat (Valencia) in the specialty of Composition (2007).

He has received the following composition awards:

– Prize of the Composition Campus of the Youth Institute (Injuve) in 1997 and 1999.
– 1st Prize Ex-aequo of the Murcia International Composition Competition in the XIII edition (year 2000).
– Special Mention for the foreign work in the 2000 Guitar Composition Competition of the Buenos Aires EAC (Argentina-year 2000).
– Prize of the RTVE Symphonic-Choral Composition Competition in its II Edition (year 2002).

His works have been performed in various auditoriums and theaters in Spain, Argentina, Holland, Mexico, Costa Rica and France.

He is a Civil Servant in the speciality Fundamentals of Composition. He is currently a professor of Harmony and Analysis at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Murcia.

Enric Morera i Viura (Barcelona 1865-1942)

He is best known for his sardanas, choral pieces, several chamber compositions and for his contribution to the harmonization of Catalan traditional tunes. However, Morera himself complained about the fact that these types of works overshadowed his own lyric and instrumental production. His childhood participation in musical activities in Argentina, the advice he received from Isaac Albéniz when he returned to Barcelona, and most important, the five years he spent studying in Brussels resulted in his becoming one of the best prepared composers of instrumental music in Catalonia.  He first appeared on the Catalan musical scene in 1980, and made his entrance in the symphonic arena with the Dansa dels Gnoms [Gnomes Dance] (1892) and the Introducció a l’Atlàntida [Introduction to the Atlantida] (1893).

His enterprising and nationalistic character and his devotion to the new European trends led him to search for models that avoided the Italian-style operas and the academic nature of the Castilian lyric genre.  Morera looked to Wagner and to the French and the Belgium tendencies of the time.

He founded and conducted the choral society Catalunya Nova in 1895. He was one of the driving figures of the Festes Modernistes de Sitges [Sitges Modernist Celebrations] and the highest representative figure of the Teatre Líric Català [Catalan Lyric Theater].  Fruit of his modernist ideas, he composed many works such as: Les monges de Sant Aiman [Sant Aimant Nuns], with lyrics by Àngel Guimerà (1894), La Fada [The Fairy], with the libretto by Jaume Massó i Torrents (1897), L´alegria que passa [The Happiness that Passes], with lyrics by Santiago Rusiñol (premiered in the Fifth Modernist Celebration, in 1899), and Tassarba (premiered in the Liceu Theatre in 1916).

Morera was motivated by his pedagogical vocation which was present in all facets of his musical life and gave rise, at the turn of the century, to a treatise on harmony and a post as composition and harmony tutor at the Escola Municipal de Música de Barcelona [Barcelona Municipal Music School].

In spite of being one of the most representative composers of the modernism and one of the most significant figures of our music history, Enric Morera i Viura is still a little known and mostly forgotten person.  He composed around 800 works – operas, theatrical works, symphonic pieces, concertos, choral works, sardanas (Catalan folkloric dances), etc.- many of which have as yet not been published.  Many of his holographic scores can be found in the music archives housed in the Biblioteca de Catalunya.

Foto: Enric Morera per Rafael Areñas

Melissa Mercadal Coll

Higher studies in Flute at the Municipal Conservatory of Music of Barcelona and Bachelor in Psychology from the University of Barcelona. In 1985 he moved to the USA where he obtained a Master’s Degree in Music Therapy (Florida State University, 1987) and a Doctorate in Music Pedagogy from the University of Oregon (1993, USA). From 1988 to 1998 she was a professor of Music Therapy at Willamette University (Oregon) where she combined her work as a teacher with that of a clinical and research music therapist. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Pedagogy and Deputy Director of Organization and Academic Planning at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, a center where she also directs the Master program in Music Therapy. As a music therapist, she collaborates in different Music Therapy programs, especially aimed at the areas of geriatrics and dementia.

She has extensively published research works in the field of geriatrics and music education in Spain and the USA. She also regularly presents at national and international conferences.

She is co-author with her colleague Patrícia Martí of the book “Musicotherapy in Geriatrics and Dementia: Theory and Practice” published by Ediciones Montsa-Prayma (2008) “Musicotherapy in Medicine. Aplicaciones Prácticas” (Editorial Médica JIMS, 2010) and “Música, Musicoterapia y Discapacidad” (Editorial Médica JIMS, 2010).

James Niblock (1917-2018)

Born in Oregon in 1917, James Niblock has BA & BEd from Washington State University, MA from Colorado College, and PhD from the University of Iowa. From 1948-1985 he was a faculty member of the School of Music at Michigan State University where he taught theory and compositon, played violin in the Beaumont String Quartet, finally being elected Chairman of the School of Music –a position he held for 15 years. He was also Concertmaster of the Lansing Symphony Orchestra.

Since retirement he continued to perform, conduct, and compose, especially for the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp– an educational facility in Western Michigan that now serves more than 5000 young teen-agers in its four 2-week sessions. Many of Niblock’s compositions have been written and performed for the anniversary celebrations of this camp. e.g. the 35th anniversary presented 4 performances of his opera “RUTH”, based on the biblical text. During the summer 2006 the 40th anniversary, his chamber opera, “The Last Leaf”, based on a short story by O. Henry, was performed 10 times.

DR NIBLOCK HAS BEEN RECIPIENT OF SEVERAL AWARDS FOR HIS ADVANCEMENT OF THE ARTS ESPECIALLY AMONG YOUTH GROUPS.

1) FIRST EMERITUS FACULTY AWARD, MSU, 2006

2) THE DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FROM WSU, 2012.

More than 100 of Niblock’s compositions are housed in the Michigan State University Library Archives. Many of them have often been performed in America and Europe, and some of them have been recorded. His choral works are published by Harrock Hall, and the instrumental works by Brotons & Mercadal Edicions Musicals.

On January 3, 2018, Dr. James Niblock died shortly after turning 100.

Howard Niblock (*1950) is Professor of Music at the Lawrence University Conservatory of Music in Appleton, Wisconsin, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1981. He has previously held faculty positions at Luther College and Ohio University. Niblock holds degrees from the University of Michigan and from Michigan State University.

As an oboist he has performed widely in Europe as well as in the United States, has made two concert tours of China, and has also performed at five conventions of the International Double Reed Society.

All of his principal compositions are chamber works featuring or including the oboe. Niblock’s publications are many and varied, and include essays, articles, reviews, and arrangements, as well as original compositions; many of these have appeared in such publications as The Instrumentalist, The Double Reed, and The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism as well as in The New Grove Dictionary of Music in the United States.

Vasil Nikolov

He graduated from the Higher Academy of Music in his hometown, Sofia (Bulgaria), where he obtained a Master’s degree. He finished the conducting course with master Gordon Campbell, in the United States of America. He has been principal bassoonist of the Symphony Orchestra of the National Radio of Bulgaria and the Symphony Orchestra of the Theater of Fine Arts of Mexico, among others. Director and founder of the chamber orchestra “Santiago de Querétaro” in Mexico, resident director and manager of the Lyrical Theater of Europe for Spain, Portugal and Andorra. He is a member of the Tactum Group and founder of the chamber music group “Ludos Instrumentalis“. He is collaborating with the main orchestras and chamber groups in Spain, France and Bulgaria, among others. He plans to make recordings of concerts for bassoon and orchestra by Spanish composers such as Enric Ferrer and Bulgarians such as Marin Valchanov, with the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra.  Together with Roland Messih,  he organized tours through Spain and France conducting “La Traviata” and “Nabucco”.

Albert Nieto López is a pianist, pedagogue, researcher, composer, lecturer, and screenwriter of the theatrical programs he prepares for voice and piano, as well as for radio programs.

An outstanding student of Rosa Sabater in Spain and Frédéric Gevers at the Antwerp Conservatory, he has been one of the performers who has contributed the most to the spread of piano and Spanish and Catalan chamber music in particular, as he has premiered more than a hundred works, highlighting the premiere of Recóndita armonía by Xavier Montsalvatge.

He has participated in fifteen albums, recording works for piano and chamber music by authors such as Albéniz, Malats, Guridi, Blancafort, Guinjoan, Luis de Pablo, Marco, Bernaola, Josep Soler, Carles Guinovart, José Luis Turina, Casablancas, Charles, Llanas, Durán, David del Puerto, Erkoreka, Beatriz Arzamendi, Marisa Manchado, Iluminada Pérez Frutos, Salvador Brotons (Sonatas for duo with piano), the integrals for piano by Àngel Oliver and Anna Cazurra, and up to thirty more contemporary composers. His recording of Albéniz’s Iberia Suite has been highly praised by critics.

In 1996, on the occasion of the centenary of the birth of Roberto Gerhard, he founded the Trio Gerhard, a group that recorded the string and piano integrals of Gerhard, Montsalvatge and Granados; of the latter, it was the first recording based on the manuscripts. He has collaborated with several singers, such as Carmen Romeu, Mireia Tarragó, Sara Bañeras, Cristina Toledo, Ruth González and Lorena Paz.

He has participated in important festivals and cycles such as those in Granada, Santander, Quincena de Sant Sebastià, Peralada, Bordeaux, Fundació March…

His side as a composer is developed especially in the formation of singing and piano, and in playful-theatrical pieces for piano for four and six hands.

He was the scriptwriter and presenter of the series of thirteen programs entitled “Tenemos una cita” broadcast by “Radio Clásica”. He has a doctorate in Music and is the author of six books on piano technique and one on music dissemination.

Eduardo Ocón Rivas (Màlaga, 1834 – 1901)

Eduardo Ocón, pianist and composer, was born in Malaga in 1834. He studied sight-singing and composition with Mariano Reig, and piano with the organist of the Malaga Cathedral, Joaquín Tadeo de Murguía. Later, he studied organ in Paris with Benoit, and counterpoint and fugue with Ambroise Thomas. At only 13 years of age, when he was still in the basilica of the cathedral in Malaga, Ocón composed Miserere, a piece for four voices in which he sang the soprano part. At 19 years of age, he was appointed to the post of second organist of the same basilica. Between 1853 and 1858 he was piano professor in Malaga, and in 1858 he premiered a Cantata that he composed to the honour of the Prince Alfonso in the Teatro Real in Madrid.

When he moved to Paris, he was able to premiere some of his compositions in 1867 through his friendship with maestros Gounod and Auber. Some of his religious works, such as Ave Maria, Cántico a la virgen and O Salutaris for five voices, were performed in Parisian churches. He moved to Brussels for some time, where he met Joseph Fetis, director of the city Conservatoire.

In Paris, Eduardo Ocón held the post of professor of the Paris communal schools, until in 1879 that he went back to Malaga. There, he recovered his post as organist, and also directed the city’s Sociedad Filarmónica. The manuscripts of his Cancionero de Upsala became known through his student Rafael Mitjana.

Eduardo Ocón’s output mainly includes religious music, with a production that includes choral works such as Salves, Motets and Masses. He also composed works for piano and voice and several chamber music pieces. His compositions for piano reflect the relationship with the music that was successful in the rest of Europe at that time. His most popular pieces were published for the first time in Leipzig and include a collection of popular songs with piano accompaniment entitled Cantos de España.

Tomé Olives Villalonga, born in Menorca in 1972, holds higher degrees in composition, language, harmony and organ with unanimous honorable mentions. Montserrat Torrent has been his teacher and he has extended his studies in Germany and France with Marie Clair Alain.

He has released some records, among which “Ave Maria” stands out, a sample of the Menorcan sacred repertoire of the 19th century, where he is accompanied on the organ by the baritone Lluís Sintes. He has given concerts throughout the Peninsula, France, Germany, Finland, Austria, Japan and New Zealand. The Balearic Symphony Orchestra has premiered its work Simfonia Balear, and plans to premiere Missa Requiem. He has premiered all his works for organ.

He has given concerts in the south-west of England, in the cathedrals of Truro and Exeter, in the Palau de la Música in Barcelona and Chiavari, Italy, and he plans to present shortly some recitals in the Balearic Islands on the occasion of Diada del Poble Balear, as well as in Montevideo, Uruguay.

He is director of the School of Music of Sant Lluís, and for twenty years he has been organ teacher at the Municipal School of Music of Maó. He is responsible for the concert activity at the organs of Santa Maria de Maó (where he performs the Matins a l’orgue concerts), Alaior, Mercadal, the S. E. Cathedral of Menorca, as well as El Socors. He is responsible for the pedagogical auditions at the organs of Menorca, offering more than thirty each year. Since 2000 he has collaborated with the Friends of the Opera of Maó.

Together with the flautist Hans-Jürgen Hufeisen, he has offered three recitals in Menorca performing works composed by both. Rotary Menorca has named him an honorary member.

Marcel Olm i Plana

(*1932, Mataró)

He was born in Mataró. He studied piano and composition. The master Cristòfor Taltavull guided him correctly in the way of structuring his musical language.

Prominent performers have presented their works in various concert halls in cycles organized by Joventuts Musicals and in the AVUIMUSICA seasons of the Catalan Association of Composers.

The pianist Ángeles Presutto was one of the first to comment on his work: “His works are interesting, defined as they are in an intimate style, devoid of external appearance”.

In the Gran Enciclopèdia de la Música, edition of the Enciclopèdia Catalana Year 2002, is written: “His music stands out for its elegance and sobriety and for its intimate and harmonious character”.

As a pianist, he formed a duo with the soprano Pilar Adán (Singing Prize of the Conservatorio Superior Municipal de Barcelona) and they performed continuously since 1967 in recitals of the classical repertoire, highlighting those held in Paris, Bern, Geneva, Madrid, Barcelona and Balearic Islands

He has recorded for Catalunya Música and Radio Nacional de España. He is currently dedicating his time to composition. He is a member of the Catalan Association of Composers.

Alberto Olmo López begins his musical studies at the Tomás Luis de Victoria Conservatory in his hometown, Ávila. He studies harmony with D. Antonio Bernaldo de Quirós. He obtained the title of piano teacher from Marisa Arribas. In Salamanca he continues his musical studies at the professional and higher conservatories of this city. He studies, among others, with Omar Abad (counterpoint and fugue) and with the composer Alejandro Yagüe (composition and instrumentation). On the other hand, he has a degree in Fine Arts specializing in painting and in History and Music Sciences from the University of Salamanca. He is currently a high school music teacher.

Being a student of composition at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Salamanca, he premiered the work “Cuadros para quinteto de viento metal”, being the first work by a student to be premiered at this Conservatory. Later, in 2009, the work was published by Tot per l’aire Ediciones, from Valencia.

In 2019, he won the prize of the 1st “Ateneo de La Laguna” International Musical Composition Competition with the work “Discantus, para cuarteto de cuerda”.

Manuel Oltra i Ferrer was born in Valencia on the 8th of February 1922, and moved that year to Barcelona. He started his musical studies at the age of 14 with the professor Josep Font Sabaté, continuing them intensively despite the typical difficulties of war times, his family move to Lleida in 1949, and his enrolment in the army in 1943.

The latter circumstance obliged him to move to Ceuta and threatened to disturb his career. Fortunately, the situation was quickly resolved when he obtained a position as teacher in the Conservatorio Hispano-Marroquí  in Tetuán. Three years later, on finishing military service, he returned to Barcelona where he became fully involved in musical activities as a pianist, conductor and composer.

In 1957, he decided to formalize his studies at the Conservatorio Superior Municipal de Barcelona, where he was immediately offered a post as associate tutor. In 1969 he became a Professor teaching Counterpoint and Musical Form, and four years later was appointed vice-principal of the institution. He retired in 1987.

He has also taught at the Instituto de Rítmica Joan Llongueres, and he has been in charge of several workshops and masterclasses in a number of institutions; he has also been the musical director of many folk groups, such as the Coral C.E. de Terrassa, the Esbarts Montserrat and Montseny, Ballets de Catalunya, Esbart de l’Orfeó Gracienc, etc.

His production as a composer is large and varied, including a great variety of genres: chamber music pieces for several ensembles, symphonic works, choral pieces for choir “a cappella” or with instrumental accompaniment, and pieces for cobla from which the “Rhapsody for piano and cobla” (1953) stands out for its very unusual instrumentation. His harmonization of traditional songs and ballets forms a notable body of work

Margarida Orfila Tudurí

(Maó, September 10, 1889 – Barcelona, ​​April 29, 1970)

Born in Maó and settled in Barcelona since childhood, Margarida Orfila was an outstanding composer, pianist and pedagogue belonging to the noucentista generation. With precocious talent and solid training, she studied at the Barcelona Municipal School of Music with teachers Ll. Millet Pagès, A. Nicolau, E. Daniel and J.B. Pellicer. In this same center, she taught Solfeggio and Theory classes from 1907 until she retired in 1959. Her husband, Frederic Alfonso Ferrer (Valencia, 1879 – Barcelona, ​​1946), was also a composer and teacher at the same school.

The cultural splendor that permeated Barcelona at the beginning of the 20th century encouraged the development of her career, which was also closely linked to the Orfeó Català. As a composer she received numerous recognitions such as the prize of the XII Rabell i Cibils Competition in 1934 for the Quatre Estudis for piano, ex-aequo with Xavier Montsalvatge.

Within her catalog, not very extensive but of undeniable quality, the works for piano are undoubtedly the largest, but she also composed songs, choral pieces, chamber works for string and piano, a sardana, a concert for piano and orchestra, etc., mostly before the Spanish Civil War.

An intelligent, orderly woman, a tireless worker who did not seek notoriety, she defined herself as a classical-romantic composer: Bach, Wagner and Beethoven were her references. Margarida Orfila’s music is very well crafted and stands out for its beauty and inspiration with the influence of popular Mediterranean melodies and distinctive features that give it its own personality.

Isabel Fèlix Riera

Peregrí Portolés Chulvi was born in Borriol (Castelló) in 1963. He did all his musical studies at the Conservatori Superior de Música de València with M. Rosa Gil and he obtained the Prize of Honour at the elemental, medium and superior levels.

He has been awarded several scholarships and has had the opportunity to extend his musicals studies from prestigious professors and guitarists.

He made his first recital at the age of 8 and since then has been performing throughout Spain and on radio and television, both as a soloist and as a member of different chamber groups, particularly as part of the duo formed with the pianist Clara Llop and with the flautist Nèlia Sanxis.

He has received several prizes in national and international competitions: II Concurs regional in Vila-real, V Certamen Nacional Manuel Palau in València, IX and XI Certamen Internacional Francesc Tàrrega in Benicàssim in 1977 and 1979, being the youngest finalist in history of the competitions IV Mostra Juvenil per a solistes in Barcelona, III Concurs Nacional de joves intèrprets in Seville, among others.

Since 1985 he has been guitar professor of the Conservatori Professional de Música in Tortosa and actually he has turned his full attention to music pedagogy and composition.

In terms of composition, he is the author of works for solo guitar, piano, flute, 2 or more guitars, and for different chamber groups, and has written exercises of a pedagogic nature.

In April of 2010 he has been awarded with the 2^nd prize in the competition “Internationaler Kompositionswettbewerb der Zweiten Gitarrentage für Kinder im Saarland”, Germany, that was dedicated to the repertoire for guitar trio.

Jaume Pahissa i Jo

Moved by the modernist ambiance, Jaume Pahissa i Jo took an early interest in lyrique works, opera and symphonic music in general. He collaborated with the Espectacles-audicions Graner in the Teatre Principal, where he premiered La presó de Lleida (1906) (Lleida prison), based on the homonim popular song, which brought him recognition as a composer. Earlier, in 1903, he had premiered the music illustrations for Oedipus the King, by Sophocles, within the framework of the Teatre Íntim d’Adrià Gual, and the Trio in G for string orchestra (1905).

Some of his compositions were inspired by the Catalan popular repertoire: Pahissa would develop the themes and give them a new treatment by playing with the orchestration. This is the case of La princesa Margarida (1928), the opera version of the lyric work La presó de Lleida, with a text by Adrià Gual, which was premiered in the Gran Teatre del Liceu in 1928; Canigó (1910), a poem conceived from the songs Muntanyes del Canigó and Muntanyes regalades; and the Obertura sobre un tema català: El rabadà (1917).

Along with these pieces inspired by Catalan popular themes, there are other works which stand out, including the operas Gal·la Placídia (1913), Marianela, premiered in the Gran Teatre del Liceu (Barcelona Opera House) in 1923 and performed in the Colon Theatre in Buenos Aires in 1946; the symphonic works Estudi simfònic (1898), the ouverture A les costes mediterrànies (1906) and Sinfonietta (1921), premiered by the Orquestra Pau Casals; and the symphonic poems De sota terra els aires (1906), El combat (1901) and El camí, premiered by the Associació Musical de Barcelona in 1909 under the baton of the composer. In addition, he wrote chamber music and choral music.

Motivated by the avangarde that was arriving from Europe, Pahissa changed his harmonic conception and moved towards completely new innovative and experimental tracks. He started a theory on intertonality which he did not finish. Pieces from this period include Monòdia (1925) and Suite intertonal (1926). Both pieces were premiered in the Palau de la Música Catalana; both are governed by the intertonal system of the pure dissonance and are characterized by a risky harmony, full of homophonic effects and chromatisms.

At the age of 50, he started to accept different posts within the academic world. The first was the chair of Culture and Music Aesthetics of the Conservatori del Liceu. In 1935, he took up the vacant position as a composition professor of the Escola Municipal de Música de Barcelona substituting Enric Morera. Two years later, he became the director.

In 1937 he went to Argentina in exile. There, his main preocupation was to achieve a professional stability that would allow him, among other things, to disseminate his compositions. His work as an orchestra conductor made it possible to reach this goal. During those first years, he came to alternate his own works with those of Wagner, Beethoven and Borodin, among others, in the concert programs, with great success and reception. Despite his role as director, he never left the world of composition. He wrote a lot of stage music and Pau Casals himself premiered his Nocturne for cello and piano at the Teatre Colón.

Of all that time, it is necessary to highlight his valuable pedagogical and musical work; a task that he had already been developing throughout his life, as a critic, columnist and lecturer and that he ended up enhancing in those last years in Argentina. He wrote the first biography of Manuel de Falla, collaborated on several radio stations and became one of the mainstays of Catalan culture in exile. In 1941 he presided over the first Floral Games held outside Catalonia.

Unfortunately, oblivion has diluted the weight of the figure of Jaume Pahissa i Jo, and today many of his works are still inexplicably an unedited manuscript.

Composer, conductor, clarinetist and teacher, Javier Pérez Garrido has studied with many renowned musicians in Spain and other countries, earning various High Degrees from the Conservatory and the University of Murcia.

Pérez Garrido has taken part in numerous national and international music contests and has been awarded more than 30 prizes, including the International Composition Contest of Symphonic music for bands ‘Vila de Muro’, the Gold, Silver and Bronze Medals at the famous Global Music Awards in California and the Akademia Music Awards in Los Ángeles. He has also been officially nominated for the prestigious Hollywood Music in Media Awards and the Jerry Goldsmith Awards, among others.

As a composer, Pérez Garrido has created an extensive and diverse catalogue of a hundred works, some of them published and recorded in Cd´s by Molenaar (The Netherlands), Cimarron Music Press (the United States), Egge Verlag (Germany), Piles and Brotons & Mercadal (Spain) and others. Likewise, music institutions and musicians around the world, such as the International Trumpet Guild, the European Union Youth Wind Orchestra or the Banda da Armada Portuguesa have commissioned him to write new pieces. His compositions have been premiered and performed in European as well as American and Asian countries, and listened to by outstanding personalities, including the King and Queen of Spain.

As a clarinetist he played as a soloist with the European Union Youth Wind Orchestra in the 2009 and 2001 tours, and as a member of the orchestra in the 2013 tour, which premiered one of his compositions. He has also played with the Spanish Youth National Orchestra (2007 – 2011), the FIOJ International Orchestra (2007) and the Murcia Youth Orchestra, among others. He has performed in many of the most important European concert halls. Furthermore, he has offered frequent recitals as a soloist, among which we can highlight the premiere of 30 compositions by worldwide composers at Fifteen Minutes of Fame, New York.

As a conductor, he has conducted several Spanish orchestras, like the Camerata Orchestra from Murcia, the Alter Musici Orchestra, and the bands Didsbury High School Symphonic Winds from Canada, the Sociedad Unión Musical Santa Cecilia from Caudete, Albacete, the Banda de Música Ciudad de Toledo, the Asociación Músico Cultural Julián Sánchez-Maroto from Manzanares, Ciudad Real, the Sociedad Unión Musical  Ribarroja del Turia from Valencia, the Asociación Musical “El Castillo” from Serón, Almería and the Agrupación Musical Maestro Martín Díaz from Argamasilla de Alba, Castilla la Mancha.

Nowadays, Pérez Garrido works as a Professor of Composition at the Conservatorio Superior de Música in Pamplona, Navarra, Spain.

Carlos David Perales
(Úbeda, 1979)

He studied piano and composition at Conservatory of Music of Seville with Pilar Bilbao and composition with A. J. Flores. He subsequently moved to Vienna to continue his studies in composition and orchestra conducting at Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien with M. Jarrell, D. Schermann, W. Suppan, Y. Yuasa and L. Hager. He focused on electroacoustic composition with D. Kauffman at the Institut für Komposition, Elektroakustik und TonmeisterInnen-Ausbildung. In 2006 is resident composer at the Mixed Reality Lab at the National University of Singapore. PhD by Polytechnic University of Valencia.

His main area of interest is the extension of the acoustic sound through the possibilities of the electronic expression and the human-computer interaction. His creative process is closely related to the concept of gesture and the psychology of perception.

His works have been performed by ensembles and performers such as Amores Grup de percusió, Ensemble D’Arts, Plural Ensemble, A. Rosado, X. Giner, S. Tchirkov, X. Pestova, M. Bernat, J. Elvira and D. Kientzy among others; at festivals like Festival Internacional de la Imagen (Colombia), Synthese (Bourges), IDKA – FYLKINGEN (Sweden), Primavera Electroacústica en la Habana, CIME 2011 (Greece), Musicacoustica (Beijing), Audio Art (Krakov), Forum Wallis (Switzerland), Florida International University, Center for the Arts Casa das Mudas (Madeira), Deptford Town Hall – London University, Akousma (Canada), among others.

He has been invited as speaker at international festivals such as Architectures Contemporaines (Marseilles, 2011), Sonoimágenes (Argentina, 2014), Tetramatyka (Ucraine, 2015) and Visiones Sonoras (México, 2017). He has been awarded in various awards such as Arts Price granted by Instituto Andaluz de la Juventud in 2003, Miniaturas Electroacústicas- Confluencias (Huelva, 2008), XXII Premio Jóvenes Compositores SGAE Fundación Autor-CNDM (Madrid, 2011), Musica Nova (Prague, Czech Republic, 2012), Luigi Russolo (Annecy, France, 2012), Fundación Destellos (Argentina, 2013).

His works are edited by Molenaar Edition, Impromptu Editores, Piles Editorial de Música, Babelscores, Tot per l’aire ed. and Brotons&Mercadal Edicions musicals.

Since 2016 his is Professor of Musical Technology at Conservatorio Superior de Música Joaquín Rodrigo de Valencia where he teaches Sonology and Electroacoustic Composition and at MA Composition with new technologies at UNIR (International University of La Rioja).

Katrina Penman was born in London in 1982 and began flute and piano lessons  with Helen Duffy. She studied composition and arrangement with Dr Timothy Bowers. She was a Scholar at the Royal College of Music as a flute student of Jaime Martin from 2001 to 2005, also studying piccolo with Stewart McIlwham.  

In 2003 Katrina studied as an ERASMUS student at Berlin’s Universitat der Kunste, meanwhile performing as solo piccolo with the Sibelius Orchester at the Konzerthaus during the 2003-4 season.

Katrina carried out postgraduate studies at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome, and at the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where she studied for two years with Davide Formisano and Maurizio Simeoli.  

In 2006 she began to perform on both flute and piccolo with the orchestra of Teatro alla Scala under conductors such as Dudamel, Chailly and Harding, and subsequently performed with the Orchestra Nazionale di Santa Cecilia under Pappano and Termirkanov, and the Symphonica d’Italia under Lorin Maazel, touring extensively in Europe and Asia.  

As a chamber musician, she has performed at St Martin in the Fields, National Gallery and Victoria & Albert Museum in London, Teatro Filodrammatici, Milan, Universitat Der Kunste, Berlin, Universities of Burgos, Soria, Valladolid and Salamanca (Spain), Museum of Modern Art, Nice, and many other venues in the UK, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Switzerland.

She has performed as a soloist with the orchestra of the Portuguese Flute Association, the orchestra of Valladolid University and the Grove Orchestra (UK). 

In 2009 Katrina moved to Spain, and over the last ten years she has played with several of the major symphony orchestras in the country (Orquesta de la Comunidad Valenciana with Placido Domingo, Sinfónica de Castilla y León with Vasily Petrenko, Leonard Slatkin, Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos, Jesús López Cobos and many others).

She has performed works by different contemporary composers with her group Trio Rigoletto, giving premieres of works by Pablo Toribio and Mark Fish at the flute conventions of Great Britain (2014), Spain (2016) and Portugal (2016).  They recently released their debut CD “Trio Rigoletto”, of traditional flute trio repertoire, on Spotify. 

Some of Katrina’s own compositions have been premiered by ensembles such as AFLAUP (Association of Flautists of Portugal), by whom she was also awarded a composition prize, and published by Sonata Ediciones.  

In 2019 she was a prizewinner in the composition competition organised by “The Flute View” for the Galway Flute Festival, in honour of Sir James Galway’s 80th birthday.  Her piece was premiered the same year at the Festival, in Weggis, Switzerland by a group of world class flutists.  This, and other pieces, have been published by Brotons & Mercadal.

Katrina’s music has been performed extensively by teachers and students at different music conservatories around Spain.

Katrina has worked as music arranger for the Sinfonica de Castilla y León’s educational project called “In Crescendo”, where she is also a flute teacher.  She has taught at a number of different music academies, and has given masterclasses at the Conservatorio Superior in Seville. 

She is music director and arranger for three different productions by Teloncillo theatre company in collaboration with Quinteto Respira, giving well over a hundred performances all over Spain.  

Current projects include compositions for flute, piccolo and guitar for Dúo Lugares Comunes’ latest venture which focuses on women in culture, combining music and poetry. Music from this project, together with guitarist and writer María Elena de Prada, will be performed  by the authors at the 50th National Flute Convention of the USA in Chicago in August 2022.  

Further events in 2022 include recitals of Katrina’s complete works for solo flute and flute & piano with pianist Claudia Vior at the conservatories of Cordoba and Huelva in Andalucía, the premier of her trio for flute, viola and cello at the Música & Mujeres Festival in Valladolid by Luz Sonora trio, presentation at the Auditori Barcelona of Katrina’s compositions through performances by students of the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya and a residency during the cultural week at the Conservatorio of Segovia.

Much of Katrina’s work is influenced by traditional music, and she continues to enjoy performing as a Celtic musician.  She also has a keen interest in early development, and offers regular music workshops for young families.   

Antoni Parera Fons was born in Manacor, Majorca (Mallorca – Balearic Islands) in 1943. He first studied music at the Conservatory in Palma de Mallorca and then at the Music College in Valencia. Later on he also studied piano with Rosa Sabater.

His early success as a singer and songwriter received national and international recognition with such well-known hits as “Les muntanyes”, “Tot ja és mort”, “T’estim i t’estimaré”, etc. In later years,  he combined his job as a record producer with his talent as  a composer.

As one of the most respected Spanish record producers, he has made hundreds of recordings with many well-known performers, orchestras and conductors. Some of the most outstanding would include names such as Josep Carreras, Jaume Aragall, Joan Pons, Mª Dolores Pradera, Antoni Ros Marbà, Josep Pons, Víctor Pablo Pérez, ONE, OBC, and many, many more. He also was in charge of producing an anthology of Zarzuela which included historical recordings with such famous names as Alfredo Kraus, Plácido Domingo and María Bayo.

He has written over 250 works, many of which are songs or song cycles composed on commission from other performers. He has recorded his own works as well, but his compositions have been sung as well by such outstanding performers as José van Dam, Montserrat Caballé, Josep Carreras, Joan Pons, Núria Feliu, Mª Dolores Pradera, etc.

In the last few years, he has increasingly devoted more of his time to composing and has received many commissions to write not only symphonic music, opera, choral music and cantatas, but also orchestral songs and chamber music as well.

In 2016 Antoni Parera Fons has received the “Premio Nacional de Música” of the Spanish Ministry of Culture.

Josep Pascual i Triay

Vasco Manuel Nabeiro Pereira

(*1956, Lisbon – Portugal)

He began his musical studies in Campo Maior, with the teacher Dª Maria Amélia Dias, at the age of eight.

Later, he attended the “Conservatório Regional da Covilhã”-Portugal. He continued his musical studies in Spain, at the Superior Conservatory of Music of Badajoz, studying with teachers Juan Pérez Ribes – composition, Joaquín Parra and Estebán Sanchez – piano and also with teacher Carmelo Solís from whom he took a liking for Gregorian Chant and folk and traditional music; Superior Conservatory of Music of Seville, where he studied Folklore and Royal Superior Conservatory of Music of Madrid, where he studied Gregorian Chant with Professor Ismael Fernadez de la Cuesta. In particular, he studied Orchestra Conducting with maestro Francisco Navarro Lara, in Córdoba.

In 1996 he founded the “Orquesta Luso-Española” which he directed until 2009, to dedicate himself to other projects more geared towards chamber music with smaller ensembles. This orchestra had the peculiarity of being made up of young Portuguese and Spanish musicians. His repertoire ranged from Baroque Music to Contemporary Music. Several young people have come out of this orchestra for professional orchestras and bands.

Since its foundation, he has been a member of the “Association of Composers of Extremadura” and a collaborator of the “Ateneo de Badajoz”.

In 2009, he founded the “Ad Septem Ars – Associação Cultural de Campo Maior”, an association dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of Portuguese Art and Culture and its agents, as well as the teaching of music.

Also in 2009, he founded the Ensemble of Flutes (recorders), made up of soprano, alto, tenor and bass flutes.

In 2011 he founded the Camerata Ibérica, of which he is artistic and musical director, as well as resident arranger and composer. This chamber music group is dedicated to symphonic/orchestral music arrangements and contemporary music. It is formed by Spanish and Portuguese musicians. Its current instrumentation is 2 saxophones, 1 clarinet, 1 horn and piano.

As a composer, he has composed and continues to compose for all kinds of instrumental and vocal ensembles, from works for solo piano, mixed choir, chamber music (duos, trios, quartets, quintets, sextets, etc.), works for chamber orchestra, symphony orchestra, soloist with symphony orchestra, pieces for Orff instrumental and recorder, having several works premiered in Spain, France and Portugal.

Raül Pérez Piera was born in 1969 in Ayora (Valencia). He completed his musical studies at the Superior Conservatory of Music in Valencia, where he obtained the Superior Degree in the Oboe specialty with professors M. Morellà and F. Salanova. At the same time, he studies Harmony, Counterpoint, Piano and Singing, as well as Choir Conducting with E. Cifre and Orchestra Conducting with J. Collado. Participates in seminars on Harmony and Contemporary Music with professors Heribert Breuer and Alain Weber.

In 1991 he moved to Barcelona, where he developed his professional activity as Professor of the Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu. It is at the Superior Conservatory of Music of Barcelona where he expands his studies in Fugue, Composition and Orchestra Conducting.

He has composed several choral works, compositions and adaptations for Symphonic Band, as well as small instrumental works.

Foto: David Ruano

Juan Pérez Ribes

(1931, Montroy, Valencia – 2022, Badajoz)

Pérez Ribes began his musical studies with the conductor of the Montroy “Unión Artística Musical” Symphonic Band, Octavio Chapa. He studied at the “Joaquín Rodrigo” Superior Conservatory of Music in Valencia with Lucas Conejero García (clarinet), José Roca (piano), José María Cervera Lloret and Manuel Palau Boix (harmony, counterpoint, fugue and composition). He continued his studies in Madrid, at the Madrid Royal Conservatory of Music, with Victorino Echevarría López and Ricardo Dorado Janeiro. From there he moved to study in Paris, where he met Olivier Messiaen at the National Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance in Paris. He also studied Orchestra Conducting with Volker Wangenheim, Ígor Markévich and Enrique García Asensio.

Ribes is a member of the National Body of Directors of 1st Category Civil Music Bands.

From 1960 to 1964 he was director of the Casas-Ibáñez Music Band (Albacete) and from 1970 to 1980 director of the Santa Cecilia de Caspe Musical Society Band (Zaragoza) and of the “Ciudad de Caspe” Choir. In 1980 and 1981 he was director of the Municipal Music Band of Socuéllamos (Ciudad Real) and of the Municipal Music Band of Villarrobledo (Albacete). From 1981 to 1997 he directed the Badajoz Municipal Music Band and at the same time was a composition and harmony teacher at the Badajoz Conservatory of Music.

He is a founding member of the Association of Valencian Symphonic Composers (COSICOVA).

As a composer he has written works for orchestra, band, opera and chamber music for choirs. In 1953 he won first prize in the pasodoble composition contest organized by the Compañía Industrial Film Española, SA (CIFESA) of Valencia. Other important national prizes include the “Ciudad de Mozón (Huesca)” Composition Prize, the “Santa Isabel” Prize from the Zaragoza Provincial Council, the “Maestro Villa” Prizes from the Madrid City Council (1979 and 1982), the Extremadura Choral Themes Composition Prizes (1986 and 1988), Music Prize of the Constitution Junta de Extremadura (1990) and the first prize in the SGAE Composition Contest for Symphonic Bands (1992). He has written more than 150 works.

He died on October 23, 2022 in Badajoz, where he had lived for four decades.

(Source: Wikipedia, trad. Brotons & Mercadal)

Carlos Perón Cano was born in 1976 in Madrid (Spain). He began his music studies at the age of 10 years. Continues his studies with professors as Adriana Marchinkova, Ana Baget, Manuel Guillén and Hermes Kriales. He finished international courses with masters as Vartan Manoogian, Agustín León Ara, Ara Malikian, Lorand Fenyves, Ch. Bruggemann, Arcadi Futer, Oleg Lev, Liang Chai, Volkmar Holz, Boris Kuniev and Alexander Detisov.

In the area of composition he has participated in courses given by Mauricio Kagel and also taken part in conferences given by masters as G. Ligeti, E. Fubini, K. Penderecki, Luis de Pablo, K. Stockhausen, Klaus Huber, H.W. Henze and Claudia Colombatti.

He has been the concertmaster of the String Octet of Madrid and he has been conductor of the choirs Amadeo Vives (2001­-2002) and Federico Chueca of the township Madrid (2002­-2003).

He has also been invited as concert­master of the String orchestra Arpista Ludovico in the 6th International Harp Contest Arpista Ludovico in San Lorenzo de El Escorial (Madrid, 2009). Moreover, he dedicates himself to the world of composition as a member of the SGAE (Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, General Association for Authors and Publishers) and he has 832 musical works composed and more than 100 first performances in his production.

He has premiered his workpieces with orchestras and groups as the Torino Philharmonic Orchestra (Italy), the Opera Symphony Orchestra from San Sebastián de los Reyes (Madrid), the string orchestra Jóvenes Virtuosos of the township Madrid, the orchestra of the Autonomic University from Madrid, the chamber orchestra Joaquín Turina (Madrid), the Project Guerrero, the Plural Ensemble, 2i2 Trombone quartet, Terpsicore guitar quartet and the duo Alio modo (accordion and vcello), such as with the choral of the University from Murcia (International Festival of Young Orchestras 2002) premiered and conducted, and Duo Bartok (two violins).

He has collaborated with masters as Filippo Maria Bressan, Ananda Sukarlan, Nicolas Horvath, Fabian Panisello, María Rosa Calvo­Manzano, Ángel Luis Castaño, Iagoba Fanlo, Serjoud Kradjian, Joaquín Clerch, Pavel Crisan, Breno Ambrosini, Paul Meyer, Jose Luis Temes, Ros Marbà, Odón Alonso and Ara Malikian.

His works have been played and premiered in Mexico, France, Malaisia, Italy, Perú, England, Germany, Austria (Aspekte Festival), Ukraine and Turkey (XIX International Musikfestival of Ankara) such as in Spain (Ávila, Segovia, Sigüenza, Palencia, Sevilla, Granada, Barcelona, Murcia and in the township of Madrid ­ National Auditorium).

His works has also been recorded for the National broadcast from Spain (RNE) and for the Spanish TV (TV2). His music is published in: Brotons & Mercadal Ediciones Musicals (España), Ediciones Eudora S.L. (España), Perifería Music (España), Edicions La mà de guido S.L. (España), Tritó Edicions (España), Arte Tripharia (España), PerónMusicWorks (España), Lantro Music Publishing (Bélgica), Bayard-Nizet Editions Musicales (Bélgica), TEM – Taukay Edizioni Musicali (Italia), Wicky Edizioni Musicali (Italia), Noten Roehr Frankfurt Publisher (Alemania), Musik Fabrik Music Publishing (Francia), Beurskens Muziekuitgeverij Publisher (Holanda), Lighthouse Music Publications (Canadá), Mel Bay Publications (USA), Kallisti Music Press (USA), Tubaseal Press (USA), Really Good Music, LLC (USA), Wehr’s Music House (USA), Waterton Brass Music™ LLC (USA), Dorn Publications INC. (USA), Starborn Books and Music (UK).

In the year 2000 five of his opus have been nominated for the prices of the SGAE and he has been signalized in the competition of Young Composers of the CDMC (Centre for the distribution of contemporary music, 2004).

He has written articles, lectured at several universities and conservatories in Spain and also given an interview for the music magazine Mundo Clásico such as collaborated as music and image consultant with the company Globomedia SA, for Antena 3 (TV) and he has participated in the National Radio of Spain programme Gathering with the composers Luis de Pablo and David del Puerto.

He has studied composition with the Madrid composer David del Puerto and also collaborated with the composer Jesús Rueda and Joan Valent. He is author of the soundtrack of the movie “Cornerstone” and “Guest” (spanish films).

This year 2018 Carlos Perón Cano has been awarded with the National Honorific Award “Adalid de la Música”.

He has also been a radio host in the radio programs “The Door of the Pyramid”, “The Eye of Horus”, “Fas Fatum” and “Unusual World” (Diamond Wave 98.3 FM in Madrid, Spain).

Daniel Perpiñán Sanchis (1978) began his musical studies in Valencia and continued his training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. In 2000, he began working in the Bilbao Symphony Orchestra as a trombone soloist, until 2012. He has played with most Spanish orchestras, as well as with important formations such as the Mahler Chamber, the Mozart Orchestra and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, under the direction of renowned conductors.

He is a versatile musician who likes to explore different musical areas. He has made recordings with jazz artists such as Perico Sambeat, and is also very active as a composer and arranger. In the academic field, he has a Master’s Degree in Musicology and Music Education from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and a Postgraduate Degree in Orchestral Conducting from the Katarina Gurska Center Superior.

His facet as a director has always been present throughout his career. He has directed formations such as the Metals Group of the Superior Conservatory of Music of the Basque Country, the ESMUC Trombone Choir, the International Trombone Ensemble of the ITF 2015, the Aragon Brass Meeting or the European Brass Collective, an international group resident of the Brucknertage festival in Sankt Florian (Austria). He is also in charge of the artistic direction of the Nineties Trombone Ensemble. He has conducted the Katarina Gurska Center Superior Symphony Orchestra on numerous occasions, and in the operatic field he has conducted a production of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in Slovenia at the head of the Pehlivanian Opera Academy Orchestra.

His commitment to education has been intense for many years and continues to do so. He has often been invited by prestigious institutions to offer master classes. He has worked as a teacher at the Centro Superior de Música del País Basco (Musikene), the Superior Conservatory of Music of Aragon (CSMA), the Superior Conservatory of the Liceu de Barcelona and the Alicante Brass Academy. Since 2006, he has been a trombone teacher at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC).

Bart Picqueur (*1972 Zele, Belgium)

Belgian composer and conductor Bart Picqueur studied at the conservatories of Ghent (B) and Tilburg (NL). He obtained master degrees for conducting, clarinet and music theory as well as a pedagogical diploma. Dirk Brossé, Freddy Arteel and Hardy Mertens were some of his inspiring teachers.

Since 2010 Bart Picqueur is principal conductor of the“Koninklijke Harmonie Ste. Cecilia Zele”. A band performing in the highest division of the Belgian amateur world. He performed as Guest conductor with several professional and amateur bands in Belgium and abroad. Among others: The Royal Band of the Belgian Guides, The
Banda municipal de A Coruña, The Slovenian Armed forces, etc.

Still he’s better known to the wind band world as a composer. He wrote test pieces for the EBBC 2017, The ECWO and CIBM de Valencia in 2018. Other works have been recorded by leading orchestras such as “the Royal Band of the Belgian Guides”, “Osaka Municipal band”, “Rundfunk Blasorchester Leipzig”, “The Dutch Royal Military band” , Dunshan Wind orchestra etc. As musical supervisor he recorded cd’s with the “Royal Band of the Belgian Guides”, the “Musikkapelle der Deutschen Bundeswehr” and the “RBO Leipzig”.

Beside his work as composer and conductor, Picqueur trains young conductors in his class in Ghent and at several master classes.

The music of Bart Picqueur is published by Hafabra Music, Beriato Music (Hal Leonard Group), BVT music, Golden River music, Brotons y Mercadal, Woodwindiana and the composer’s own label: minorscalemusic.com

Bart Picqueur is married to Dr. Ir. Anne-Mieke Poppe and father of Bo, Victor (†), Free and Roos.

Josep Miquel Pons i Melià

1882 – 1960

Josep Prohens Julià was born in 1956 in Felanitx, Mallorca/Balearic Islands, and began to study music at the age of 6 with Tomeu Artigues. At first he played the Eb clarinet, and later he changed to the Bb clarinet. However, instruction on this instrument was unavailable in Mallorca, and he changed to the piano. He studied with Sor Catalina Roger and Joan Moll. Later, he completed superior music studies in clarinet with Pascual V. Martínez, who was, for many years, the conductor of the Band of  Felanitx. Having completed the military service, he began studies in composition.

In 1986, he became assistant professor of harmony in the Conservatori de Música de Palma, and later took the position of composition professor. In 1997 he was elected director of the Conservatori Professional de Música i Dansa de Balears. During these years the superior studies in music were implemented in Mallorca, the music schools were extended, and today’s Conservatori was built in the Carrer Capità Salom, in which the professional and superior conservatories are housed.  In 2001 he was nominated scholar of the Reial Acadèmia de Belles Arts de Sant Sebastià de Palma.

Throughout his professional career he has been director of the Professional Conservatory of Music and Dance of the Balearic Islands from 1997 to 1999. He has been director of the Superior Conservatory of Music and Dance of the Balearic Islands where he continues as a teacher of musical composition.

As a composer he has created works for orchestra, voice, choir, piano, organ, guitar and chamber music. In addition, he has recorded works for the RNE and on CDs such as Amalgama, Frequencies and Elements.

He was also a teacher at the Pare Aulí Music School in Felanitx.

Santiago Quinto Serna (*1971)

He began his musical training at the Society “Unión Musical La Aurora” in his hometown, Albatera (Alicante). He later continued his studies at the Conservatorio Superior de Murcia with Manuel Seco de Arpe (composition), Mariano Melguizo (cello), Jacobo Ponce and Pilar Valero (piano) and José Luis López García (conducter).

He holds the title of professor of tuba and the titles of Superior Professor of piano, cello, orchestra conducting (honorary registration) and composition (extraordinary prize at the end of his career).

His musical production, with a catalog of more than 80 works, occupies a prominent place the works dedicated to the symphonic band, with titles such as: Suite Sencilla, Orión (obligatory piece in the 1st section of the National Band Competition of Murcia, 2005 and at the Certámenes de las Diputaciones Provinciales de la Comunidad Valenciana, 2009), Nocturnal, Rapsodia Hernandiana, Variaciones para banda and Sinfonía Hamlet (obligatory piece at the 2nd International Band Competition of Torrevieja, 2008) and Espírito Galego, an obligatory piece at the Certámen de la Federaciones Gallega y Valenciana in 2014. His works have been performed in Colombia, the United States, Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Portugal, etc. In 2008 he was commissioned by the Board of Moors and Christians of Elda to compose the work required for the Bands Competition. In July 2011, the Central Council of Moors and Christians of Guardamar del Segura dedicated a tribute to him during the patronal festival concert of this town, with a program entirely dedicated to his works. In October 2011, the Portuguese Symphony Orchestra won the Kerkrade International Competition (Holland) with a memorable interpretation of the Hamlet Symphony. He has recorded several albums and some of his compositions are published by the Spanish publishers Omnes Bands, Piles, Rivera, Denes, Tot Per l’Aire, Brotons & Mercadal and the Dutch Molenaar Editions. He is usually required as a jury in Composition and Interpretation Competitions.

He has collaborated with and directed numerous musical groups, such as: Orquesta de Jóvenes Región de Murcia, Orquesta Sinfónica del Conservatorio de Murcia, Orquesta Sinfónica de Alicante, Banda Sinfónica Municipal de Alicante, Orquesta Ciutat D’Elx, Orquesta de Cámara de Cartagena , Cantores de la Primitiva Passion de Orihuela, etc. As a pianist he is part of the Lutoslawsky Duo and the Jazzindo Trio. As director of the Aurora de Albatera Musical Union, he has won, among other prizes, the 1st Prize in the provincial competitions held in Biar (1997), Bigastro (2000) and Elda (2002), 2nd prize in the National Competition of Campo de Criptana (1998) (Ciudad Real), 1st prize in the Band Competition of the Valencian Community, in Cheste (2002), 1st Prize in the 1st Band Competition of the Febrero Musical de Cox (2004), 1st Prize in the LXI Certamen Nacional de Bandas “Ciudad de Cullera” (2009), also winning the Best Director Award in this Contest. 1st prize and honorable mention at the XLII Provincial Band Competition held in Redován (2013).

He is currently a professor of harmony, orchestra, music analysis and computer science at the Orihuela Professional Conservatory and director of the La Aurora Musical Union in Albatera.

Born in Barcelona in 1953, Jesús Rodríguez Picó studied music at the Liceo Superior Conservatory of Music, obtaining the Superior degree.

Instrumentalist and composer, he furthered his clarinet studies in France, later familiarizing himself with the contemporary music repertoire, collaborating as a clarinetist with several chamber groups. Between 1976 and 1990 he performed numerous concerts, spreading clarinet music, premiering and recording works by contemporary composers.

In 1976 he begins the catalog of his works, in his first compositions some flexible procedures are used as well as new spellings, it is the time of Polisonia 1 and 2, Volt, Apsû; it also incorporates characteristics that come from musical theater as in Autour de la Lune, a work premiered by the pianist Jean-Pierre Dupuy.

As of 1979 he dispenses with the new spellings, this year is the first of numerous works for orchestra, La ciutat i les estrelles. From that moment on, works for orchestra followed one another, sometimes as a result of commissions such as Concerto no. 1 for clarinet and orchestra or the Sinfonia Americana (commissioned by the National Orchestra of Spain). The works for orchestra can be divided into two areas: the concertante, such as the two concertos for clarinet and orchestra or Cadmos et Harmonie for guitar and strings, and works related to the symphonic poem such as El lleó Afamat, Pluja Interior for narrator and orchestra, Simfonia Anàbasi or Danses d’Ibèria (work commissioned by the OBC).

The numerous chamber works are the result of friendship and collaboration with different instrumentalists, with a certain preference being given to works involving the clarinet (consequence of the friendship with the clarinetist Josep Fuster) or the saxophone, such as La Sonata Colombina for clarinet and piano, La Sonata Marina for saxophone and piano, Volt, Preludi i dansa, Horo (for clarinet), Catul canta (for baritone, clarinet and seven instruments) etc.

In the catalog there are several works that bear the title of “Dances” (Dances of Isaura, Fedora, Moriana, Zaira, Zora, Vest) these chamber works suggested by Italo Calvino’s book Le Città Invisibili, they have virtuosity and rhythm as common elements.

His first stage work was the chamber opera El paraíso de las montañas, with text by Miquel Desclot based on Alfred Jarry, premiered at the Teatre Lliure in Barcelona in 1998. He later composed other stage works such as Hotel Occident, Urbs, Vera.

Parallel to his activity as a composer, he has practiced musical pedagogy as a professor of clarinet and chamber music at different music schools and at the Professional Music Conservatory of Badalona. He has collaborated with several communication media such as Ràdio Barcelona and different specialized magazines. In 1987 he drew up the project for the music station “Catalunya Música”, of which he was head of programs until December 1990. Once this period ended, he returned to pedagogical activity, adding to the catalog numerous works conceived to be performed by music students, the various Fragments d’estiu, the cantatas Dissabte matí and El partit del segle stand out.

He is the author of the book Xavier Benguerel, obra y estilo, published by Idea Book.

Gloria Isabel Ramos Triano, conductor and Spanish composer with an international career. Studies at the Conservatories of Tenerife, Barcelona, Zürich and Basel, diplomas in piano, composition and orchestra conducting, with cello and oboe as secondary instruments. Winner of several orchestra conducting awards:

First Prize in the International Conducting Competition in Cadaqués, Spain, as the only woman to be awarded in this competition, leaving the second prize deserted.

Opera Conducting Award at Besançon International Competition

Prize of the orchestra at the Brasov International Competition

First prize in the Concurso Nacional de Granada

Chief Conductor and Music Director at the Orquesta de Córdoba (Spain) from 2001 to 2004, Ramos Triano is the first woman in Spain holding this position at an official orchestra, with great critical and public success.

As a guest conductor, she has conducted concerts with orchestras such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Schleswig-Holstein Symphony Orchestra, the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the Thüringen Philharmonie, Radio Orchestra Leipzig, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta Sinfónica de Tenerife, etc., sometimes conducting their own works, among others:

Abrazo del Agua, conducting the Orquesta de la RTVE, Madrid 2007

Las Flores del Mal, conducting the Ensemble de la ORCAM, Madrid, 2008

La Torre del Oro, conducting the Real Orquesta Sinfónica de Sevilla, 2010

Other awards, include RNE’s “Ojo Crítico” and “Mujer Canaria” from the Orfeón La Paz de La Laguna.

Founder in Switzerland of the Weltsaiten Sinfonietta orchestra, of which she is the principal and artistic conductor.

Intense compositional activity since 2009. Last premieres of choral works in Switzerland, and in the United States of the commissioned work for a large symphony orchestra, why?

M. Rosa Ribas i Monné, composer and pianist born in Barcelona, she made her musical studies in the Conservatory Superior Municipal of Music of Barcelona, where she obtained the degrees of Piano, Guitar, Solfa and Composition, and the prizes of Honor in Piano, Music of Camera, Harmony and Compositioin, as well as a mention of Honor in Fugue.

She has worked under the direction of Sofia Puche (piano), Xavier Montsalvatge (composition), Antoni Ros Marbà (orchestra conducting), Paul Schilhawsky (piano accompaniment). She also enlarged her music education with many short courses and seminars given by most reputable musicians as: Rosalyn Tureck, Dimitri Baskiroff, Frederic Gevers, Paul Badura Skoda, Witold Lutoslawsky.

In 1980 she was awarded in the contest of composition ‘Francesc Basil’ of Figueres, for the piano piece ‘Tema variant’. In 1998 the Catalan Assotiation of the Woman granted her the First Prize of Music ‘Caterina Albert i Paradís’ for the lied ‘El bes’. In  2009 she was awarded with the first prize ‘Ciutat de Sant Cugat’ for her work Dotze haikús japonesos,for voice and piano, with the Catalan text version by Jordi Coca. She  recorded a CD with poems by Marius Torres set to music by herself.

Her musical activity is as well in the interpretation field or in composition. As a pianist she make duo with the soprano M. Àngels Miró. Special take up to contemporary catalan music. She also presents and interprets together with the aforementioned soprano a lieder concert devoted to the ‘Women Composers’.

Many of their works has been played in several European countries, México, Japan and also in the USA.

She is teaching piano at the aforementioned Conservatory. Since 1980 she is a member of the ‘Associació Catalana de Compositors.’

Enrique Rodilla Navarro was born in Llíria (Valencia), where he began his musical studies in the Banda Primitiva. He studied horn at the Conservatory Superior of Valencia with D.J.J. Limerà and higher degree at the “Óscar Esplà” Conservatory in Alicante with Roberto Trinidad. He later perfected his horn and natural horn studies with D. Vicente Zarzo.

Since 1984, he has been horn soloist with the Alicante Municipal Symphonic Band. He has performed numerous concerts as a soloist, highlighting those performed at the Palau de la Música in Valencia, Teatre Principal in Alicante, etc. He has also collaborated with the Asturias Orchestra, Valladolid Orchestra, ONE, Valencia Symphony Orchestra, Het Gelders Orkest d’Holanda…

He is in possession of the Superior Degree Award in the specialty of Horn and the Performance Awards of the Alicante Concert Society and the “Óscar Esplà”.

As a teacher, he teaches several refresher courses, including the one he does at the University of Alicante. He has studied harmony, counterpoint, fugue and composition with M. Bernà, D. Francisco Amat and conducting with Vicente Spiteri and José María Cervera Collado.

In the field of composition, he has written works for various chamber groups. His works for large ensembles include: Eunice, Symphonic Poem for Band, Elegy, for Symphonic Band and Narrator, Sabbath, Concerto for Horn and Orchestra.

Antonio Rozas Matabuena, born in Cuevas de Amaya (Burgos) in 1940. He began his musical studies around the age of 20 at the then Municipal Conservatory of Burgos, with piano teacher Jacinto Sarmiento. In a short time he completed the necessary studies to obtain the professional piano title, taking the exams in Santander and Madrid. Later he studied composition at the Conservatorio Superior de Málaga.

Damián Sánchez Aviño was born in Madrid in 1987. At the age of 8, he began his piano studies at the Conservatorio Profesional “Jose Iturbi” in Valencia, a conservatory in which, five years later, he also began his percussion studies. He finished both specialties in 2006.

In 2005 he took his first steps as a composer and composed the music for the short film “LaCorbataDeLorenzo.com”, which offered him a great opportunity to start working in the audiovisual world, and he also published his first work Cuento de Hadas for marimba.

In 2007, he began his higher studies in music specializing in composition at the Conservatorio Superior de Música “Salvador Seguí” in Castelló, where he studied with renowned composers such as Claudia Montero and Ferrer Ferran.

In 2008 he composed his first soundtrack for the film, “ZHAO”, for which he was nominated for “Best Original Music” in the “XI Premis Tirant” of the Valencian audiovisual industry.

He has taken several courses, both composition and composition for audiovisual media, in which he has received classes from composers such as Leonardo Balada, Arnau Bataller and Christopher Lennertz, among others.

He has won the 1st “Synchronic” International Composition Competition in Lleida with the work Sueño y Esperanza.

In his short career, he has had a large part of his catalog published by several Spanish publishing houses, he has produced soundtracks for more than twenty short films, documentaries, films and commercials, in Spain, the United States and Canada, and published several recording works as a music producer.

He is a composer and audio director at Crema, a studio in Madrid, creators of the long-awaited multiplayer creature-capturing adventure Temtem and the well-received rogue-lite FPS set in Egypt Immortal Redneck.
Some previous interactive projects include Rise and Shine, Blues and Bullets and the acclaimed GRIS (add. sound) among others.

In the field of performing arts, he has been awarded the the prize for the best composition for a stage show at the prestigious Max Awards, for his work on Mulïer.

Salvador Sanchis Durà

(*1975)

He studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna. He has received different prizes in his specialty, such as that of the Juventudes musicales de España in the woodwind modality. He has performed chamber music concerts and as a soloist in numerous countries, highlighting his great work in contemporary music where he has participated in numerous festivals around the world premiering different dedicated works.

At the same time, he has taken courses in orchestration, analysis of 20th century music and composition with various teachers, notably Andre Douw and Marian Didu, among others.

He has published books of exercises for improvement and studies for bassoon at the publishing house Rivera música, in addition he has written several specialized compositions mainly for wind, some of which have been premiered in the main Valencian auditoriums such as the Palau de la Música and the Palau de les Arts. His research work has led him to discover and edit unpublished music for wind by Vicent Martín i Soler.

In 1992 he obtained the position of co-principal bassoon in the Galician Symphony Orchestra, being a founding member; in 1995 the position of soloist in the Orchestra of Valencia; since 1996 he has been part of the Cuesta Quintet based in Valencia, in 2006 he became bassoon soloist of the Palau de les Arts Orchestra (Orchestra de la Comunitat Valenciana), a position he currently holds, chosen by the great maestro Lorin Mazel, and where he has worked under the direction of masters such as Zubin Metha, Ricardo Chailly, Valery Guerguiev, Georges Prêtre, Gianandrea Nosseda, among other great artists.

In the pedagogical field, he has extensive experience, having been a teacher at the Aragon Conservatory of Music (CSMA), as well as at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, ESMUC. He is also a professor at ESMAR (Escuela Superior de Música de Alto Rendimiento). He has edited several books of exercises for the bassoon, in addition to several compositions of his own for this instrument, both chamber music and solo-concert pieces. He is regularly invited to give master classes and recitals at important musical institutions in Europe and America.

His recordings include more than twenty discs of mostly wind quintet repertoire, in addition to several recordings as a soloist.

His musical production includes both his own works and various adaptations of the great composers for wind chamber ensembles.

(*Alicante, 1974)

José Joaquín Sanjuán began his music studies specializing in saxophone at the “Ruperto Chapí” Conservatory in Villena, with teachers Javier de la Vega and José Luna Martínez, where he obtained the Teacher’s Title. At the same time, he studied piano at the same conservatory. In 2000, he obtained a place to enter the “Joaquin Rodrigo” Superior Conservatory of Valencia, where he completed the Superior Degree in saxophone with the highest qualifications. At the same time he perfected his studies at the International London Center Allegro in Valencia with Professor Javier de la Vega

From 1997 to 2003, he was part of the “Ciutat d’Elx” Municipal Band.

As a soloist he has performed concerts in the concert hall of the newspaper Levante in Valencia, in the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of Valencia, as well as in the Auditorium of the Faculty of Sciences of Valencia. He has collaborated with the Orchestra of the Conservatory of Menorca with the musical West Side Story at the Teatre Principal de Maó in February 2008. He has taken courses in other specialties such as analysis and harmony with Emilio Molina, musical language with Victor Solé, musical pedagogy with Wolfgang Hartmann, professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, the Orff Institute and the Klagenfurt Conservatory and with Diego Latorre and Ramon Lluch.

In 2001 he completed the Pedagogical Adaptation Course at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.

In 2003 he made different recordings with the Municipal Band of Elche and with the “Anacarsis” quartet of Valencia, on the album “Master Sax” with works dedicated to Javier de la Vega. He has been part of different saxophone ensembles and instrumental ensembles, as well as the “Menorca Swing Band”, directed by Lou Deach.

In the teaching aspect, he has been part of the faculty of the Professional Conservatory of Ibiza and Formentera. Currently and since 2006 he is part of the faculty of the Menorca Professional Conservatory of Music and Dance with the specialty of musical language, teaching saxophone since the 08/09 academic year, and winning the saxophone position in 2009.

As a composer, it is worth noting the compositions premiered with the Ballet d’Inma Cortés in Alcoi, in 1998 with the composition “Sàhara” and in 2004 with the composition “Als Joglars” (fanfare for dolçaines, percussion and brass). As well as, “Jerusalem, Holy Land” recorded on the CD of the III National Congress of Festival Music of the UNDEFF, the pasodoble “Lluís Amat” premiered by the Municipal Band of Alicante in 1998. He composed “Primavera d’hivern, Sonatina for alto sax and piano” (dedicated to Javier de la Vega) and “Impressions còsmiques” work for alto sax and electroacoustic, based on the harmony of the spheres.

REBECA SANTIAGO MARTÍNEZ

A guitarist and composer, she finished her higher studies in the guitar specialty at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Badajoz under the guidance of Evaristo Valenti with the highest marks, in addition to studying Counterpoint, Fugue and Composition with Domingo Sánchez and singing with teacher María Coronada Herrera. Throughout her training she has received advice from great masters such as David Russell, Carles Trepat, Manuel Barrueco, Ricardo Gallén, Cristobal Halffter, Tomás Marco, José Zárate …

From her catalogue of works a good number have been released, highlighting Trece (1998) for tenor saxophone, Chant (2005), for solo cello, Palabras (2006), published on CD and performed by the Amadeus group and VokalArt around Spain, De sombra (2007) for white voices, commissioned by the Simile group, and performed by the Canarian vocal group Ensemble XXI, and Psalmus (2006) for mixed choir, premiered by Lux Contemporánea at the Juan March Foundation, Saudade for mixed choir (2017) commissioned by the French vocal Ensemble Soli-Tutti directed by Denis Gautheyrie for the Fronte (i) ra project and his work for Ensemble Si yo pudiera morder la tierra toda commissioned by the Cosmos 21 group. His works have been performed, among others, at the López de Ayala and Meiac Theater in Badajoz, the Juan March Foundation and the Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid, Aranjuez, San Lorenzo del Escorial, Salamanca, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Lisbon, Castelo Branco, Paris, Basel, Kuala Lumpur and other stages of the national and international geography.

She is a founding member of Asociación de Compositores de Extremadura, appearing in the critical study and catalogue: “Compositoras Españolas. La creación musical femenina desde la Edad Media hasta la actualidad” del Centro de Documentación de Música y Danza – INAEM, Madrid, 2008, as well as in Manuel Miján’s book El saxofón “clásico” en España. Repertorio General de Obras y autores, published by Rivera Editores, Valencia, in 2009. Her work Invierno has been published by Extremadura Regional Editor in the book “Para el Piano” in which participated members of the Extremadura Composers Association (ACOEX), of which she is a part of. His work is published in Gerhmans Musikförlag and Brotons & Mercadal.

Musical director and member of the vocal group Lux Contemporánea, a musical project for the study and dissemination of contemporary music, with which she has performed concerts in different parts of the Spanish and Portuguese geography, highlighting its participation in different festivals, as well as in the Fundación Juan March, where it inaugurated the exhibition MAXImin, tendencias de máxima minimización en el Arte Contemporáneo,, broadcast live by RNE’s Radio Clásica, on the occasion of which Tomás Marco highlighted:

“(…) I find the case of the young spanish composer Rebeca Santiago particularly exemplary, who can now be regarded as one of the most interesting figures of her generation.”

His upcoming projects include the premiere in November 2021 of the score «Y el silencio era el aire» by Sergio Blardony with the Extremadura Orchestra (OEX) conducted by Andrés Salado and the premiere by Carlos Galán and the group Cosmos 21 of his work Si yo pudiera morder la tierra toda for alto flute, clarinet, tenor saxophone, piano, violin and cello.

Since 2002 she has been a guitar teacher at Conservatorio de Música Esteban Sánchez de Mérida, where she worked as its director from 2011 to 2015. Interested in poetry and painting, she tries to join different dimensions as a way of understanding reality, forcing the appearance of what remains under the surface.

Josep Solà i Sànchez was born on August 18, 1930 in Mollet del Vallès (Vallès Oriental) and died in his hometown on March 23, 2008.

Versatile composer, cultivator of almost all musical genres: dance (mambos and songs), film music (60 films), TV, choral, symphonic (at the moment there is a CD on the market with the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona and National de Catalonia where we can find part of his production in this field). In the world of the couplet he has composed around fifty sardanas and works for couplet (where we can also find a recent CD with the latest production). He has won important prizes in competitions such as Ceret, Banyoles, etc.

At the Mostra de Valencia in 2000 he was awarded a prize in recognition of his work. In 2001 he was awarded the Medal of the City of Mollet, and in 2002 a square in this town was named after him.

Photo Biography: 1948, studying the violin

Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Oksana Solovieva studies violin in the USA. with Zinadia Gilels at the Boston Conservatory and at the Longy School of Music, Cambridge with Joseph Silverstein, where she obtained the title of Graduate with Honors and the “Concerto Competition” Award. In 2003 she obtained his Master’s degree in Music at the University of Indiana, Bloomington, E.U.U. with Nelli Shkolnikova.

She has been a soloist and concertmaster at numerous international festivals, working under the baton of conductors such as M. Rostropovich, C. Eschenbach, Y. Temirkanov, C. von Dohnanyi, D. Sitkovetsky, J. Levine, K. Mazur, S. Ozawa, M. T. Thomas, P. Yarvi, and V. Gergiev.

Oksana Solovieva has extensive concert experience as a soloist and chamber musician, and since 2003 she has been a member of the Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu de Barcelona.

As a teacher of violin and chamber music, Oksana Solovieva has taught at the ESMUC and at the Conservatorio Superior del Liceu de Barcelona, ​​at the Conservatorio Superior de Zaragoza and gives extensive masterclasses for different levels, often specializing in orchestral pieces.

In 2017 with her thesis ¨Teaching the violin to higher level students: the analogy and the benefits of a vocal approach¨ Oksana Solovieva obtained the title of Doctor from the Rovira i Virgili University¨, Tarragona, Spain. Her special interest is pedagogy and its history and future.

Mateo Soto was born in Cartagena (Spain) in 1972. He studied Composition at “Manuel Massotti Littel” Conservatory of Murcia with Manuel Seco de Arpe (Franco Donatoni’s pupil), graduating with honours. He also expresses his gratitude to Salvador Brotons, Tomás Marco and Antón García Abril for their advice. He doesn’t want to forget about the great Alfred Schnittke who he almost studied with.

His works are distinguished by a plural and inclusive aesthetic and tend to find the immediacy of the creative impulse and the musical result, with the intention also of communicating more readily with audiences. He is looking for balance between past and present, combining contemporary techniques with emotional elements in a non-tonal context.

He has received composition awards such as “SGAE Award 1993” (Spanish Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers), “Frederic Mompou International Award 1996” (Joventuts Musicals of Barcelona) and “Tribuna de Jóvenes Compositores 1997” (Juan March Foundation, Madrid). He has been selected in some editions of “Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame” (USA), Isang Yun Centennial Project 2017 (USA), “250 Piano Pieces for Beethoven” (Germany), NETZWELLEN Social Media Piano Project 2017 (Germany),etc. He is winner of the Vonk Miniature Opera Project 2017 (Netherlands) and the “Sound-Magical-Space – S.M.S.” 2018 promoted by Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Camerata Bern (Switzerland).

His music has been performed by international players, ensembles and orchestras such as Leonel Morales, Albert Nieto, Diego Fernández Magdaleno, Gabriel Escudero Braquehais, Sussanne Kessel, Martin Tchiba, Eunmi Ko, Kristin Leitterman, Paolo Carlini, Frano Kakarigi, Trío Mompou, Trio Bacarisse, Quartetto Bernini, Quatuor Tana, Spanish Brass Luur Metalls, Concertus Novo, Grupo LIM, Vonk Ensemble, Columbus Ohio Discovery Ensemble, London Chamber Group, London Consorts of Winds, Incontro – Ensemble für Neue Musik, Orquesta Sinfónica de Cartagena, Orquesta de Jóvenes de la Región de Murcia, Orquesta de la Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, Orchestra Montecatini Terme, Camerata Antonio Soler, Camerata Bern, Moscow Symphony Orchestra, etc.

He has been at festivals and musical cycles such as the Contemporary Music Festival of the XX Century Music (Bilbao), Juan March Foundation Cycles, National Musseum and Arts Center Queen Sofia (Madrid), Spanish National Auditory of Madrid, CIMUCC, Conway Hall Cycles (London), Festival Musicale di Montecatini Terme (Italy), Boccherini Open (Italy), Festival Armonie della Sera, (Italy), Piano Stravaganza Festival (Bulgaria), Centre ArcA (Luxemburg), November Music (Netherlands), Willem II Concertzaal (Netherlands), Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Mannheim (Germany), Randfestspiele für Neue Musik (Germany), Moscow Conservatory (Russia), Australian National University, Boston Conservatory (USA), Manhattanville College (USA), Miami Dade College (USA), University of North Georgia (USA), Oklahoma State Univesity (USA), University of South Florida (USA), etc.

Most of his works have been recorded and broadcasted by RNE (Spanish National Radio), BNR (Bulgarian National Radio), SR 2 KulturRadio Saarbrücken (Germany). His works are published by Donemus (Netherlands) and Universal Edition (Austria).

He is member of SGAE (Spanish Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers) and CIMMA (Society of Composers and Music Researchers from Región de Murcia, Spain). He teaches Harmony, Musical Analysis and Fundamentals of Musical Composition at Cartagena’s Conservatory (Spain).

Francisco Tárrega Eixea

Spanish composer and guitarist born in Villarreal (Castellón) on November 21, 1852. An accident during his childhood damaged his eyes and his father, thinking he might lose his vision completely, moved to Castellón so he could attend classes of music and could make a life as a musician.

He entered the Conservatorio de Madrid in 1874, where he studied composition with Emilio Arrieta. By the end of 1870, he was already teaching guitar and giving concerts regularly. A virtuoso of his instrument, he was known as the “Sarasate of the guitar”. In 1880 he gave recitals in Paris and London.

He made several tours: Perpignan, Cadiz, Nice, Mallorca, Paris, Valencia, among others. In Valencia he met Conxa Martínez, a rich widow who would become his patron, providing him and his family with a house in Barcelona. That is where Tárrega composed most of his most famous works.

Returning from a trip to Granada, he wrote the tremolo Recuerdos de la Alhambra, and while in Algeria he was inspired to compose Danza Mora. There he met the composer Saint-Saens and later, in Seville, he wrote most of his Estudios, dedicating the beautiful composition Capricho Árabe to his valued friend and composer Bretón. He settled in Barcelona in 1885, and died there on December 15, 1909.

Apart from his original works for the guitar, he arranged pieces by other authors for this instrument, such as works by Beethoven, Chopin and Mendelssohn. He is considered the creator of the foundations of classical guitar technique in the 20th century and of the growing interest in the guitar as a recital instrument.

Víctor Trescolí Sanz is a pianist with a special interest in performing contemporary works alongside traditional repertoire.

After his studies in Spain he moved to the Netherlands to further his career by doing a Master’s in music at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CVA) and a Master’s at the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV). Among his teachers were Brenno Ambrosini, David Kuyken, Hakon Austbo and Ralph van Raat. At the same time he studied the harpsichord with Johan Hoffman and the pianoforte with Baart van Oort. His gained scholarships from the Jaques Vonk Foundation (The Netherlands) and the IVM (Instituto Valenciano de la Música) and the Spanish government to continue his studies, and gained first prize in a Chamber music competition (Academia Valenciana de la Música) with Art! Trio.

In addition to solo recitals, Víctor has collaborated with Avlitria ensemble, CVA-New muziek ensemble (Harry Sparnaay), Espai Sonor, Alart quartet, Sorolla ensemble, Amores grup de percussió, and has played in festivales like: Festival Punto de Encuentro, Nits d’Aielo i Art, Ensems, Off_Herzios, Pim Pam Pum, Mostra Sonora de Sueca, SoXXI, Festival de música contemporánea de Córdoba, Festival Bergerault, Academia Synergein, among others, he has a duo with cellist Josep Trescolí Sanz, percussionist Sisco Aparici (Synergein project), Imaginari Ensemble, and with pianist Xavier Torres and is founding member of ensemble Grup Mixtour as well.

Victor’s research covers a variety of studies, which include “Dies Irae in Rachmaninov”, an interpretation study of Mompou’s Música Callada (“SILENT MUSIC: Federico Mompou’s Música Callada”. CVA Research Symposium 2010, Holanda), “Toy piano, juguete e instrumento” (research about the history, interpretation and repertoire for Toy piano), today he is undertaking an UPV doctorate programme in contemporary music. He has published a release «Not  a Toy» in the Netlabel Audiotalaia, music for keyboard (piano & Toy piano) and electronics by Karlheinz Essl. In 2013 has published a new release with Toy piano music in Gadgad Music label, under the name Toy piano project: Sons Petits, in 2018 publishes States in Audiotalaia label,  in 2019 No Keys Electronics in Crystal Mine label, in 2020 releases Limbo and A: toy. In 2021 he released Drops, an intimate and minimalist album for solo piano, and in 2022 he returned to the toy piano with Spring Knots.

Víctor has premiered works by Alberto Bernal, Adrián Borredà, Carlos D. Perales and Karlheinz Essl, and has work with renamed composer like Karlheinz Essl, Vinko Globokar, Pierre Jodlowski, Thomas Meadowcroft.

He has been teacher at Conservatorio Superior de música de Castilla- La Mancha, Conservatorio Superior de música de Castellón de la Plana, and nowadays Víctor is professor at Conservatorio Superior de música de Valencia.

Gaetano Troccoli studied guitar with Maurizio Preda and graduated from the Conservatory “G. Verdi” in Milan. He also graduated in Paleography and Musical Philology at the University of Pavia.

He has been a teacher of music education for years, he started teaching classical guitar in 1994 at the Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali “Franco Vittadini” in Pavia and since 1997 he has also been a teacher at the Liceo Musicale “A. Cairoli” in Pavia.

He has offered numerous concerts, also being part of different chamber ensembles. With the guitar sextet Concordia Chordis he has made the following recordings: Live in Varese, Six Christmas Strings, Tacaa sul mur, Modest Moussorgsky – Pictures from an exhibition (with his own arrangement for guitar trio). He is also the author of several vocal works, compositions for solo guitar and for different ensembles (among which the Concert and Fantasia for guitar and orchestra stands out).

Many of his works have been published in Italy, Belgium, France, Spain and Germany.

Foto 1: FranzPelliza.it

Dan Turcanu was born in Chisinau, Moldova in 1985 and was repatriated to Bucharest, Romania in 1994. His studies at George Enescu National School of Music galvanized Dan’s development as a violinist and awoken the composer in him where harmony, melodic formation, melodic analysis and orchestral playing was instilled then on. Later, Dan went to the National University of Music in Bucharest where he studied composition under the watchful guidance of Nicolae Coman, an advocate for in-depth development and attentiveness for harmony subtleties. Other individuals who have influenced Dan’s progression as a composer are Dan Dediu with his lessons on form and structure of melodies and Dan Buciu who triggered Dan’s interest in the modes and harmonies of Romanian folk music.

Some of Dan’s chamber works were awarded at national competitions, this includes: “6 Pieces in Romanian Style” (Liviu Comes Composition Competition 2008 – IIIrd prize); “Fantasia for Violin solo” (Liviu Comes Composition Competition 2010 – Special prize); “Ballade for Violin and Piano” (Mihail Jora Composition Competition  2009 – 3rd prize); “5 songs for Voice and Piano” (Mihail Jora Composition Competition 2010 – 3rd prize); “Adagio” (National Competition for Choral Writing 2009 – 3rd prize).

Upon graduation, Dan received an internship at the National Historical Park in Sitka, Alaska, where he was tasked with remaking, completing and translating Orthodox Slavonic books and scores belonging to the Russian Missionary Church brought by the Russian Imperial colony of the 18th century.

Between 2012-2016, Dan lived and worked in the United Arab Emirates where he also formed the Al Ain Chamber Orchestra. It was in this period where Dan’s creativity and ingenuity in arrangements began to flourish. It was also during this time he was exposed to and enchanted by the mystical world of Arabic music.

Dan is primarily active in chamber music genres. He favors expressive virtuosity, always looking for unusual organic instrumentations, often challenging the capabilities of the performers.  The themes often found in his music are usually dreams, meditation, laughter and irony, anxiety and sorrow, a fascination with the human spirit, cultures and nature. Most of his music gravitates toward simpler melodies, neoclassical modes, harmonic experiments and with touches of dance-like and character spirit.

To date, he has arranged hundreds of pieces for students, amateurs, professionals, from solo pieces to orchestral pieces, from classical repertoires to traditional folk music from the east to the west. Dan is also actively composing new works.

(Silla, 1973)

07.08.1949 – 26.10.2017, Sofia – Bulgaria

Marin Valtschanov graduated from the State Academy of Music in 1973 majoring in bassoon under Prof. Hristo Proshkov. He studied composition under Prof. Pencho Stoyanov and Prof. Lazar Nikolov. In 1971 he joined the Bulgarian National Radio Symphony Orchestra as soloist-group leader. In 1974 he was prize winner at the 6th National Competition for Singers and Instrumentalists. In 1977 he joined the staff of the State Academy where he taught bassoon and in 1998 he was made a full professor. He has had an active concert agenda in Bulgaria and abroad as soloist and performer of chamber music. He also plays with the Academic Wind Quintet, which is formed by leading wind instrument professors of the State Academy of Music. The ensemble has a rich repertoire and several Bulgarian composers have dedicated works to it.

Marin Valtschanov has composed two chamber operas, orchestral music, chamber works, songs, film scores, and other works. His compositions and particularly the chamber instrumental works have been performed in Europe, Asia, the USA and Latin America. In 1988 he took part in the Decade of the Bulgarian Culture in Germany.

(*Benicarló, 1964)

Juanjo Villarroya Grau studied flute at the Conservatori Superior Municipal de Música i in Barcelona with Rafael Casasempere and was awarded the highest honors and a special prize on finishing his superior studies. He was then invited by William Bennett to do an Advanced Level course in flute at the Royal Academy of Music of London (1992 – 1993). He studied composition at the Conservatori Superior de Castelló.

As a performer, he won the first prize of the Premi del Concurs de Grups de Música de Cambra de Sant Joan de Vilatorrada in 1990, third prize at the Mostra de Joves Intèrprets de la Generalitat de Catalunya a Barcelona (1991), and he was finalist in the Concurs Paper de Música a Capellades (1999). In 1994, he was invited to the IV edition of the Concours International Jean-Pierre Rampal in Paris.

As a composer, in 2006 he was awarded the Matilde Salvador Composition Prize (Valencia) and the Ist Jaume Blanch Composition Prize for Traditional Music (Tortosa).

He has been a professor at the Conservatori de La Diputació de Tarragona and in different music schools in Castelló and Tarragona. He has conducted symphonic bands in Alcanar, Santa Magadalena and Rosseell, and during 1998-1999, he conducted the wind section of the Jove Orquestra dels Centres d’Ensenyament Musical de la Diputació de Tarragona. At present, he is a member of the Renaissance Flute Quartet Choristica Fistularum and of the Barroque ensemble Musica Figuraliter.

Ana Valero Lobato is a versatile musician who combines performance with her love of teaching. He lives music with a passion that does not leave anyone indifferent. Member of a family of musicians, she started playing at the age of six and felt the presence of art in his life. Literature, painting, and above all music, have shaped her personality, a personality that transforms when she plays the cello. The energy she puts into each note and her palette of colors force the viewer to be part of the musical discourse, with no possibility of evasion.

In her journey with the cello, Ana perfects her skills with world-class teachers, such as Amparo Lacruz and Michal Dmochowski, with whom she graduates from the Katarina Gurska Center with high qualifications.

Thanks to the inspiration of these great teachers, she began her career as a teacher in 2017, teaching classes in different educational centers. As a teacher, she is concerned about the isolation of young performers in an increasingly technological society and the lack of recognition for music students.

Her books “Pequeños Solistas” represent a first foray into the field of composition and adaptation. Less common instruments such as soloists, double bass, and cello, have the opportunity to demonstrate their sonorous and expressive possibilities. In addition, the intervention as soloists accompanied by an orchestra composed of their peers, promotes integration, develops self-esteem, and injects the necessary dose of illusion to continue with the study of the instrument.

Luis Yuste Martínez was born in Utiel in 1969. He studied at the CSM in Valencia and at the CNR in Bordeaux (France). He obtained the titles of Professor of Piano, Senior Professor of Solfeggio and Senior Professor of Composition. He received the Honor Award in the specialty of Harmony of the CSM of Valencia. He took advanced courses with professors Emmanuel Ferrer, Luis Blanes, Charles Rosen, Samuel Adler, Emilio Molina, Carl Schachter, Roy Howat, working more assiduously with the Catalan professor and composer Carles Guinovart. In 2002, he obtained the position of Professor of Composition Fundamentals by competitive examination. He has a doctorate in music from the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (2016). Some of his works appear in recordings dedicated to keyboard music, performed by the pianists Miguel Álvarez-Argudo (Compositors valencians del segle XX, Historia del pianismo valenciano, Compositors valencians del segle XXI) and Óscar Oliver (Album for children, vol. 1 , 2 and 3). He has worked at the CPM of Llíria, at the CPM and CSM of Valencia, and since 2012 he has been professor of Composition Fundamentals at the CPM “Jose Manuel Izquierdo” in Catarroja. He is also an external consultant for the International University of Valencia. In 2019 he published the book Final cerrado-Final abierto. La experimentación cadencial final en la literatura pianística del s. XIX [Closed end-Open end. The final cadential experimentation in the piano literature of the XIXth century]

Esperanza Zubieta Trives was born in Colindres (Cantabria) in 1963. She began her musical studies at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música “Jesús de Monasterio” in Santander, continuing at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música “Ataúlfo Argenta”. She moved to the Music Conservatory “Juan Crisóstomo Arriaga” in Bilbao, where she obtained the Higher Degree in music theory, music theory, transposition and accompaniment. She has finished her studies in Composition at the Conservatorio de Música de San Sebastián, obtaining the Higher Degree in harmony, counterpoint, composition and instrumentation.

She combines her academic training with work as a teacher of Musical Language, Complementary Piano, Harmony and Accompaniment at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música “Jesús de Monasterio”, from September 1991 to June 2004. Afterwards, she held the position of Head of the Department of Musical Language, during the academic years 2004/2005 and 2005/2006, at the Conservatorio Elemental de Torrelavega.

She has composed several works for piano, guitar, flute and piano, choir, chamber orchestra, band music, popular songs, Christmas carols, etc., some of which have already been premiered. She is the author of the prelude for guitar “…through a window”, premiered in 2009 within the musical Saturdays cycle, as well as and within the same cycle, two works for flute and piano: Recuerdos de viaje and Desolación y fantasía, in 2010. Composer of the Sinfonía cántabra; performed by various choirs from Cantabria and the Santander Municipal Band, at the Santander Sports Palace on August 10, 2010, on the X Anniversary of the Gala del Folklore Cántabro.

Author of Tres piezas para dos flautas y piano, premiered at VII Musical Saturdays, March 2011 and her first work published by Editorial B&M Llevant, Edicions Musicals SL, with whom she signs a contract for the edition, reproduction and distribution of her works in February 2011. Signing a second contract, later, with the Musicvall publishing house, Edicions Musicals CB, from Valencia and that has already published her first fantasy for cello and piano “…entre las aguas”.

Esperanza died on 25th of November, 2022.