Residencies for musicians
A programme of excellence that offers a platform for young musical talents in our country so that they can show all their versatility, either alone or in collaboration with other musicians, and at the same time contribute to the projection of their career.
The resident performers of the 2019 - 2020 season
This season, the careful selection of the most talented young performers in the current Catalan scene has included both those who are linked to stable programmes in the country, as well as those who are living abroad, either completing their studies or already enrolled in the professional world, and also to the most important graduates of the ESMUC. Out of all, artistic talent was valued and the potential to pursue an outstanding career, both at home and abroad, and also especially the contribution that the Musical residentials programme can make to professional growth.
For the 2019-2020 season, 38 candidates have been evaluated, and among the 13 finalists, the residents chosen have been the pianist Albert Cano Smit, the clarinetist Miquel Ramos and the countertenor Víctor Jimenez, with many different training courses and current professionals.
The resident composer 2019 - 2020
In the context of growing the programme last season, the figure of the resident composer was incorporated with the aim of reaching all young musicians, not only the performers, but also those who put their creative talents at the service of others.
This impulse towards creation within contemporary classic music received a very positive evaluation on the part of the resident musicians who had the opportunity of working with one of the most important composers of the new generations. Likewise, the reception of the public and critics alters the continuity of the initiative because this proposal allows more artists to be discovered and to enjoy attractive concerts arising from the talents of the country.
The resident composer, a young man with already recognised talent and an ascending career, Raquel García-Tomás, is characterised by her versatility in composition for various instruments and vocals.
The commissioning of her residential will include the creation of three short pieces, one for each resident performer, which will be premiered throughout the season at concerts at La Pedrera’s auditorium.
Raquel García-Tomás, composer
Composer specialising in doctoral interdisciplinary creation at the Royal College of Music in London. Her most prominent projects include joint creations with the English National Ballet, the Royal British Society of Sculptors, the Royal Academy of Arts, and the Dresdener Musikfestspiele. During the 2015-16 season she was the guest composer of the Sampler Series of contemporary music festival at Barcelona’s Auditorium. In 2017, she was awarded the El Ojo Crítico de Música Clásica Award, awarded by RTVE, for "the originality of her approaches and the use and combination of compositional language with technological and audiovisual languages".
Throughout her career, her music has been premiered in L'Auditori, the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Teatre Lliure, the CCCB, the Tàpies Foundation, the Fabra and Coats, the Santa Mònica Arts Centre, the Palace of Music of Valencia, the Centre of the Carme, Es Baluard of Palma de Mallorca, the Auditorium of Zaragoza, the Galileo Theatre, the Casa Encendida and the Auditorium 400 of the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.
On an international level, her works have been performed in Berlin, Dresden, Stuttgart, Amsterdam, Luxemburg, Budapest, Viena, Orleans, Lyon, Basil, Lausanne, Porto, Edinburgh, Nagoya, Cairo, Rosario, Buenos Aires and especially in London (St. Martin in the Fields, Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, National Portrait Gallery, Royal British Society of Sculptors, Royal Academy of Arts and The Place).
Raquel has received commissions and has collaborated with ensembles such as the Oslo Sinfonietta, Phace Ensemble, Experimental Funktion Ensemble, CrossingLines Ensemble, Cosmos Quartet, Extreme Sound Ensemble, Cosmos Quartet, Barcelona Clarinet Players, BCN216, PluralEnsemble, Barcelona Reed Quintet Taller Atlántico Contemporáneo and Variable Geometry, among others.
Within the framework of operatic creation, she has worked at DIDO Reloaded, produced by Pocket Opera and New Creation, and has been awarded, thanks to the go, ÆNEAS, go !, project, with the Berliner Opernpreis'14 of the Neuköllner Oper in Berlin.
In 2015, she debuted disPLACE - History of a House at the Viennese Festival MusikTheaterTage Wien, an opera that, during the 2016/17 season, was re-performed at the Santa Mònica Arts Centre and as part of the Teatro Real de Madrid in the Sala Negra of the Canal Theatres.
In the 2017-18 TNC season, Raquel premiered the Blue Whale (text by Victoria Szpunberg) monodrama, for actress, orchestra, choir and electronics under the stage direction of Xavier Albertí and music direction by Edmon Colomer. She has recently premiered her new opera Je suis narcissiste (libretto by Helena Tornero) within the 2018/19 seasons of the Teatro Real de Madrid and the Teatre Lliure.
Albert Cano Smit, piano
Trained at the Montserrat School and Colburn Conservatory from Los Angeles, he won his first international piano competition at the age of 14 in 2011 at the International Chopin Festival in Mazovia (Poland) and the First Prize at the Walter W. International Piano Competition. Naumburg, 2017 at the age of 21, pianist Albert Cano Smit performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe and America.
In addition to his Carnegie Hall debut, he made outstanding appearances in the Wissembourg Music Festival, the Rheingau Musik Festival, a tour of different recitals across the Iberian Peninsula that include a premiere with preludes by Miquel Oliu, multiple collaborations with Will Hagen in Germany and the United States, collaborations with Anthony Trionfo as well as his piano recital debut at Barcelona’s Auditorium, the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris, and debuts as a soloist with the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, and the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra.
Regularly mentored by Jean-Yves Thibaudet, he has also received valuable artistic advice from Stephen Hough, Kevin Kenner, Ilya Itin, Christian Blackshaw, Sergei Babayan and Ferenc Rados. Previously, he studied with professors Graham Caskie and Marta Karbownicka at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester.
Acclaimed for his performances with critics such as “With the maturity of someone who is three times his age" (CBC Music), for his “Dazzling technical and emotional skills” and “Musicality” (DNA) and "An exceptional musician has spoken” (Le Devoir).
Awarded at the 2017 Montreal International Concours, he won first prizes in competitions such as the Eugenia Verdet International Piano Competition in Barcelona, the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe Junior Intercollegiate Competition and the Chopin Prize at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
Among others, he has performed at prestigious venues such as the Bozar Henry Le Boeuf Hall in Brussels, the La Maison Symphonique in Montreal, the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, the Royce Hall in Los Angeles, the Theatres of the Channel in Madrid, the Palace of Festivals of Santander, the Auditorium Enric Granados of Lleida and the Espai Ter of Torroella.
As a soloist he has performed with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, The Manchester Camerata, The Blackburn Symphony Orchestra, The Nottingham Youth Orchestra and The American Youth Symphony. He has collaborated with Andrej Bielow, Gary Hoffmann, Casals Quartet, Ebène Quartet, Szymanowski Quartet, Gerhard Quartet and Lev Sivkov.
Albert Cano Smit is currently studying with Robert McDonald at Juilliard School in New York. He is a student at the Verbier Festival Academy.
Miquel Ramos, clarinet
He began his musical studies at the Premià de Mar Municipal School of Music with Professor Francesc Navarro. Later he completed his studies at the Conservatory of Music in Badalona with Xavier Castillo. In 2007 he joined the ESMUC to carry out the Higher Grade with Josep Fuster. During this stage he received musical advice from musicians such as Lorenzo Coppola and the Casals Quartet.
He completed his education at the Lübeck Musikhochschule with the help of soloist Sabine Meyer, earning his honours at his final recital. During this period he enjoyed the JONDE / BBVA study grants and the Possehl Stipendium. He completed his education at the Lübeck Musikhochschule with the help of soloist Sabine Meyer, earning his honours registration in his final recital. During this period he enjoyed the study grants provided by the JONDE / BBVA and the Possehl Stipendium.
He began his orchestral training in the Orchestra of Music Schools of Catalonia, later participating in other training such as the Young National Orchestra of Catalonia and the Young National Orchestra of Spain. During his master's studies at Lübeck he became an academician of the Philharmonisches Orchester Lübeck.
Since 2012 he was made a member of the European music project Spira Mirabilis.
He regularly collaborates as a soloist with orchestras such as the Komische Oper Berlin, Festival Strings Luzern, Geneva Camerata, Cadaqués Orchestra, Liceu Grand Theatre Orchestra, and the Philharmonisches Orchester Lübeck.
In 2016 he debuted as a soloist performing Carl Nielsen's concert with the Camera Musicae Orchestra at the Palau de la Música Catalana.
He is currently a member of the Azahar Ensemble Wind Quintet (winner of the Munich ARD competition in 2014), which has performed in venues such as the Philharmonie Berlin, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Mozarteum in Salzburg, the Philharmonie in Essen, Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie and numerous festivals throughout Europe and Canada.
Víctor Jiménez, countertenor
He began his steps in music under the mezzosoprano Helena Escolano. He trained at the Higher Conservatory of Music of the Liceu of Barcelona and later, participating in prestigious International Courses of Singing and Performance, where he meets his masters: the Catalan mezzo-soprano Francesca Roig and the English pianist David Mason. However, over the years, he continues to receive advice from artists such as Miquel Ortega, Josep Ruíz, Carlos Chausson, Jordi Domènech, Montserrat Caballé or, more recently, Carlos Mena.
During 2012, he participated in the 1st International Antique Music Course in Ávila where he made first contact with the performance of the Renaissance and Baroque repertoire. There, the soloist part of the Muxra Jesu Nostri de Buxtehude will debut in the Auditorium of San Francisco, next to the festival orchestra and under the direction of Daniel de la Puente, thus initiating a specialisation that would become the backbone of his career.
He was a finalist in the International Singing Contest "Montserrat Caballé" (Zaragoza), Awarded by the International Music Competition of the Corts (Barcelona), Winner of the 6th International Singing Contest "Germans Plà" city of Balaguer (Lleida), the Concorso Internazionale by Giovani Cantanti Lirici "Riccardo Zandonai" (Italy), the "Hariclea Darclée" International Singing Competition (Romania) and the "Voix Sacrées" Talents Lyriques de Reims (France).
Outstanding as a specialist in music on horseback between the 17th and 18th centuries, his flexible and powerful instrument allowed him to cover a wide repertoire ranging from renaissance to contemporary music. After a growing career as a soloist, with successful collaborations throughout Europe, he also conducted musicological projects with the Ensemble Rigaudon, where his counterpart rescues virtuoso cantatas (some of them unknown to date), such as A Thousand Ways and No hay quien entienda el Amor.
In February 2018, he was selected by the international organisation TEDx as one of the "young artists the world should know", inviting him to offer a special performance during the TEDxMalagueta event in Malaga. One month later he performed at the Royal Theatre of the Corts in San Fernando (Cádiz), where they premiered with the Elcurarojo baroque orchestra, the Sancta Maria project. In the same month of February 2018, another debut would arrive, this time under the Euroclassics producer, who would take him to the recently opened Palacio de Congresos in Palma de Mallorca, where he sang the solo part of Carmina Burana by Carl Orff.
His strong artistic personality and stage presence, allows him to deliver to an audience through a powerful voice, shining bass and bronze bass, with flexibility, air control and technical mastery that allow him to offer a rigorous and accurate reading of the works he performs.