Coming from a non-musician family, I have always felt grateful for my parents giving me the opportunity to try different disciplines and modalities, opening a window of opportunities they never had in their childhood. The youngest of two brothers, I wanted to play the bassoon like my older brother, but a clarinet was given to me instead. When I heard its sound, I never had to be convinced again.
Coming from a non-musician family, I have always felt grateful for my parents giving me the opportunity to try different disciplines and modalities, opening a window of opportunities they never had in their childhood. The youngest of two brothers, I wanted to play the bassoon like my older brother, but a clarinet was given to me instead. When I heard its sound, I never had to be convinced again.
When I finish high school and decided I wanted to make a living from music, I decided to move to Barcelona, where I discovered an incredible teacher and an inspiring city. Financially helped by the Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation, I studied my bachelor’s degree there, and I also started to have some orchestra and chamber music experience playing with the Gran Teatre del Liceu’s orchestra, and I decided that was what I truly loved.
However, when my years in Barcelona finished, I still wanted to keep learning and getting inspired, so I moved to Den Haag to follow a Master’s programe with Prof. Olivier Patey (Principal clarinet in the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra). His unique way of approaching music linked to the research I did on mental focusing of musicians, and this helped me develop into the musician I am today, and also helped me earn some great honours such as the Yamaha Music Europe Foundation scholarship.
On the pursuit of an orchestral career, I was an academist member of the prestigious Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and I am also a member of the Verbier Festival Orchestra and the Spanish National Young Orchestra. Furthermore, I am lucky enough to regularly collaborate with professional orchestras such as the Gran Teatre del Liceu’s Opera or the Luxembourg Kammerorchester.
When coming to chamber music, I love the intimacy you can get between the musicians and the audience. Being a passionate of the chamber music, I have been invited to play to international festivals such as Davos Festival (Switzerland), Festival de Musique de Chambre de Prades (France), Música-Musika (Spain) or Blaricum Festival (The Netherlands) among others.
Being able to combine both, orchestral and chamber music making, has always been a dream for me, and I hope I can keep doing this for a very long time.
Apart from music, and as it helps me keep a balance in both mind and body, I am passionate about sports, being specially involved in basketball, tennis and pádel. I also speak fluent Basque, Spanish, Catalan, English, French, Italian and German.
EDUCATION
Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag
The Hague, Netherlands
Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu
Barcelona, Spain
QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS
Where’s your favourite place to listen to music and why?
I love listening to music while I am cooking, for a simple reason: I love cooking and I love listening to music. If I can have both of them together, the day cannot get much better than that.
What’s your most memorable moment as a musician?
Playing for a full-house Liceu Opera in Barcelona, with the great Anna Netrebko as the guest-star, and my family being able to watch that performance live. It still gives me goosebumps when I think about that.
Living away from my family and home some of the most important years of my life, was not easy for me but neither for my family. So after many years, to have the opportunity to perform in one of the most famous and beautiful Opera houses in Europe, in front of my parents and brother, with Anna Netrebko in the casting, and a full-house Liceu Opera with a ten minutes long standing ovation… it is definitely a moment I will never forget.
