Director, composer and pedagogue.
Josep Vila i Casañas
Department of Classical and Contemporary Music
He began his musical studies at the Municipal Conservatory of Music in Sabadell, where he pursued piano studies with Glòria Peig i Sabater. Later, he continued his studies in harmony, counterpoint, fugue, and composition with Benet Casablancas and Josep Soler, and orchestral conducting with Salvador Mas, at the conservatories of Badalona and Barcelona, respectively.
He has received training in choral conducting from masters such as Manuel Cabero, Lluís Vila, Pierre Cao, Laszlo Heltay, Josep Prats, Johan Duijck, and especially, Eric Ericson, in Sweden, during the 1995-1996 academic year.
He is the author of an extensive catalogue of vocal and instrumental music.
Among his most celebrated and widely performed compositions worldwide are:
- Songs for children's choir written between 1983 and 1996.
- Sanctus-Benedictus (1992).
- Salve Regina (2001).
- Te Deum (2002), for mezzo-soprano, choir, and orchestra.
- The choral-orchestral fantasy El mirador (2003).
- The suite for cobla, Trencant el gel (2006).
- The oratorio Veni Creator Spiritus, for four soloists, choir, and orchestra, premiered at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona in 2016.
- The cantata El motí (2008).
- The work composed in 2018 for voice and piano based on Basque folklore: Lau Haizetara (“Als quatre vents”).
- Missa Sagrada Família (2019), which earned him the Clavé Award from the Clavé Choral Federation for the best choral composition of the year in Catalonia.
Josep Vila i Casañas, currently Chief Conductor of the MDR Rundfunkchor (Leipzig Radio Choir), is one of the most distinguished choral conductors in Catalonia and Spain. He specializes in the a cappella choral repertoire as well as choral-orchestral literature spanning all periods.
He is a regular guest conductor of the Radio France Choir and has served as Chief Conductor of Cor Lieder Càmera (1990–2006 and 2017–2022), Coral Càrmina de Barcelona (1991–1995), the Orfeó Català (1998–2016), the Chamber Choir of the Palau de la Música Catalana (2011–2016), the RTVE Choir (2007–2010), and the Choir of the Community of Madrid (2022–2025). He has made recordings for the labels Ficta, Columna Música, La Mà de Guido, Ars Harmonica, Anacrusi, TVC Disc, and RTVE.
As a chorus master, he has collaborated with many of the world's leading conductors, including Daniel Barenboim, Daniele Gatti, Sir Simon Rattle, Charles Dutoit, Markus Poschner, Ivan Repušić, Andris Nelsons, Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Oren, Cristian Măcelaru, Mikko Franck, Marc Minkowski, Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Andreas Spering, René Jacobs, Lorin Maazel, Franz Welser-Möst, Helmuth Rilling, and Frans Brüggen, among others.
As a guest conductor, he has led ensembles including the Swedish Radio Choir, the National Choir of Spain, the World Youth Choir (2010 and 2019), the Japan Federation of Choral Organizations Youth Choir, the Franz Liszt Academy Choir of Budapest, the Simón Bolívar National Youth Choir of Venezuela, the MDR Symphony Orchestra, the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Community of Madrid, the Orquestra Barroca Catalana, Vespres d'Arnadí, the Orquestra Camerata Musicae, the Vallès Symphony Orchestra, the National Chamber Orchestra of Andorra, and the Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra.
As a composer, he focuses primarily on vocal and vocal-orchestral music and has written an extensive catalogue of works for choir and for choir and orchestra. Among his most frequently performed compositions worldwide are Sanctus-Benedictus (1992), Salve Regina (2001), and El Mirador (2003). More recent works include the Missa Sagrada Família (2019), which received the Clavé Award for Best Choral Composition of the Year in Catalonia; the symphonic poem De dalt del cingle (2020), commissioned by the Cor Canta project to a text by Miquel Desclot; Vesperae Tarraconensis (2022), premiered at Tarragona Cathedral as the closing event of the Santa Tecla Festival; and the psalm Lauda Jerusalem for choir and organ (2023), premiered at the Palau de la Música Catalana.
Since 2005, he has been Professor of Choral Conducting at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC). He also gives workshops, seminars, and masterclasses on a regular basis in various European cities.