componist

Casablancas, Benet

Widely regarded as one of the leading Spanish composers of his generation, Benet Casablancas studied in Barcelona and Vienna (with Friedrich Cerha and Karl-Heinz Füssl), and he graduated in Philosophy in the University of Barcelona, winning a PhD in musicology. He has been teaching at the universities Pompeu Fabra and Alcalá de Henares. In 2002 he assumed the direction of the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu (Barcelona), a post he now combines with his work in composition and research. His wide-ranging oeuvre, covering the most diverse genres and formats, is marked by a quest for radical personal and aesthetic independence. His music, firmly rooted in the great modernist tradition, is notable for its great individuality, structural complexity and extraordinary richness of textural detail. In the 1990s he became more concerned with harmony, timbral differentiation and instrumental virtuosism. Critics highlight his concern for balancing constructional rigour and expressive strength, lyricism, dramatic character and whimsical register. His works are performed regularly around Europe, Canada, US, Japan, Latin America and Egypt for such orchestras and ensembles as London Philharmonic, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, BBC Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Malmö Symfoniorkester, Orquesta Nacional de España, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Müncher Kammerorkester, Belgium, Catalonia, NJO of The Netherlands and Belarus National Orchestras, Colorado Springs, London Sinfonietta, Perspectives Ensemble, Seattle Chamber Players, Tokyo and Osaka Sinfoniettas, BCMG Birmingham, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble 10/10 of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Encuentros de Buenos Aires, Ensemble 88 Maastricht, Casals, Diotima, Arditti and Leipziger quartets, and maestros such as V. Jurowski, O. Knussen, J. Pons, V. Petrenko, D. Slobodeniouk, D. Afkham, L. Foster, E. Krivine, C. Rundell, A. Gil-Ordóñez or K. Ono, including several Composers Portraits at the Miller Theater in New York and the Musikverein in Vienna. His works have been presented in the most prestigious halls and Festivals: Berlin Philharmonie, Barbican and Wigmore Hall in London, Bozar Bruxelles, Vatroslav Lisinski Zagreb, Takemitsu Hall and Bunka Haikan in Tokyo, Izumi Hall in Osaka, De Doelen Rotterdam, Carnegie Hall, Morgan Library, MoMA, Spectrum, Le Poisson Rouge and CUNY in New York, Holland, Klangspuren, ISCM Festivals...). He was appointed composer in residence by the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra (2013-15), the Instituto Cervantes in Bremen (2017-18), the CNDM in Madrid (2022-23) and Teatre Principal de Sabadell (2023-26). He has been awarded the most prestigious composition prizes in Spain: City of Barcelona (1992), National Prize of the Generalitat of Catalonia (1984, 2007) and the National Music Prize granted by the Spanish Ministry of Culture (2013), and he has been finalist on two ocassions for the Prix Prince Pierre de Monaco (2007, 2013). His works have been widely recorded by such labels as Naxos (9), Sony, Stradivarius, Columna Música (6), Orlando and Alia Vox. He is the author of the books El Humor en la Música and Paisajes del Romanticismo (Galaxia Gutenberg, 2014; 2020) and in year 2017 the collective volume Arquitecturas de la emoción. The Music of Benet Casablancas was dedicated to him, coinciding with his 60th anniversary. In February 2019 his first opera, L'enigma di Lea (text: Rafael Argullol), commissioned by the Gran Teatre del Liceu, was premiered with great success in Barcelona.