Orquestra de Cambra Catalana

Born in Barcelona in 1993, this young director radiates enthusiasm and vitality in her performances. Studied violin, piano and orchestra conducting, trained in Barcelona, Rome, Madrid and Vienna. With Pascual Osa and Roberto Montenegro as mentors. 

She has conducted the National Symphony Orchestra in Paraguay, the Wiener Possymphonie Orchestra in Vienna, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Pontevedra.

Founder of the Barcelona Solidarity Symphony Orchestra, in 2015 she created the Mataró Orchestra of which she is the titular director. So are the Mataró Madrigalist Choir, the Batec Choir and Perla de l’Havana Choir.

Since 2024 she has been assistant conductor of the Catalan Chamber Orchestra

Originally from Mollerussa (Spain) he started his musical studies in his hometown. Afterwards he studied at the Municipal Conservatory of Barcelona and the Queen Sofia College of Music in Madrid. 

He was various awards in violin and chamber Music competitions. He was given many piano recitals and has travelled extensively with other chamber groups all over Spain and also in France, Belgium, Bulgaria, USA, Haiti, Palestine and South Africa.

He is a member of the Spanish National Orchestra where he is first violin soloist since 2018. Joan Espina is also a member of the contemporary music groups Plural Ensemble from Madrid and Zahir Ensemble from Sevilla.

Winner of the Callosa d’en Sàrria Competition and the Ciudad de Segorbe Award.

She has interpreted the following zarzuelas: Bohemios, Cançó d’amor i de guerra, La Dogaresa, Los Claveles, Don Gil de Alcalá, Katiuska and Los Gavilanes and has appeared as Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute, as Blonde in The abduction from the Seraglio, as Lucy in The Telephone, as Gilda in Rigoletto, among the other notable performances. 

She has sung as well religious and oratory pieces such as Coronation Mass and Requiem by Mozart, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Haendel’s Messiah or Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. She has performed in some of the most prestigious venue, mainly in Spain, Germany and Italy.

At the initiative of maestro Jordi Casas Bayer, the birth of the Càrmina Choir in 1972 was due to the impulse of a group of young musicians who were committed to musical quality.The choir has been conducted at different times by J. Pons, F. Guillén, J. Vila, A. Cañamero, M. Rios, F. Marina and G. Sierra. Since 2013 Daniel Mestre has been its conductor.

The choir has also worked with internationally renowned conductors such as Edmón Colomer, Laszlo Heltay, Christopher Hogwood, Antoni Ros Marbà and Ton Koopman among others. Its repertoire ranges from international polyphony to the discovery and commitment to Catalan composers that has been one of the hallmarks of the choir.

He has made various recordings, including Tosca, L’alta naixença del rei en Jaume by Gerhard, A vision of Ariel by Saminsky, Psalm 126 by Philip Glass, l’Stabat Mater by Brotons and El Llibre Vermell by X. Benguerel.

He has trained as a clarinetist in Catalonia with Antoni Sebastià and Juli Panyella and with Wolfgang Meyer at the Hochschule für Musik, Karlsruhe, Germany. He has studied History at the University of Barcelona.

Since 2001 he has shown his own musical creations in public: improvisation, musical action, poetry, performance, prepared clarinet, video.

He offered concerts in Germany, France, Portugal, Italy, Iceland, Korea and Israel. As a soloist he has collaborated with the Polnische Kammerphilarmonie, Bohuslav Martinu Zlin, Brno Chamber, Moscow Conservatory Chamber, Leos Janacek Ostrava Chamber, Sori Orchestral Ensemble (Seoul Arts Center) and Valencia Orchestra.

He’s part of the Catalan Chamber Orchestra, the Free't Collective, Pet-i-cop and the Castellón Musical Improvisation Collective.

Raquel Castro has a versatile career as a violinist and pedagogue. He studied with Mauricio Fuks at Indiana University in Blomington (USA), with Detlef Hahn at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and in Spain with Lev Chistiakov.

As a soloist he has performed at prestigious festivals in Spain, Croatia, Finland, Italy, Norway, Israel, China and Cuba.In 2015 he participated as a soloist in the celebration of the 30th Catalan Chamber Orchestra’s anniversary, performing, together with viola player Yuval Gotlibovich, Mozart's Simfonia Concertante at the Barcelona Auditorium. Also with Yuval and the OCC he recorded works by composer Ramón Paús for Naxos.

Raquel is a professor at the Higher School of Music of Catalonia and has also been a professor at Indiana University (USA) and at the Alfonso X el Sabio University in Madrid.

He studies horn in Barcelona and Stuttgart with teachers Rubén Chordà, Will Sanders and Christian Lambert. With the latter he studied for a higher degree and master's degree in interpretation at the Musikhochschule in Stuttgart.

He collaborates with orchestras such as Staatsoper Hamburg, Bayerische Staatsoper, Oper Frankfurt, Musiciens du Louvre, Mariinsky Orchester, Hessischer Rundfunk, WDR Sinfonieorchester, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande or the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and participates in the Delta Chamber Music Festival, Fermate Musik Festival and Brass Ensemble of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra.

He has obtained several national and international awards, he’s horn soloist of the Gran Teatro del Liceu Orchestra and professor of horn and chamber music at the Liceu Higher Conservatory.

Catalan soprano gets her formation with Mati Pinkas in Barcelona and she later perfects it with Renata Scotto at the Opera Studio of the Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome.

She won the Premio Internazionale di Santa Chiara in Naples and International Comptetition de Belcanto Vincenzo Bellini in Paris. She has performed with Opera Assotiation of Catalonia, Chamber Opera of Navarra, Paphos Afrodite Festival in Cyprus, Castell de Peralada’s International Festival, Maestranza’s Theater of Sevilla and València’s Reina Sofia Palace of the Arts.

In 2020 she made her Italian debut in the role of Maria in Donna di Veleni, by Marco Podda, at Teatro Coccia in Novara.