Xavier Díaz Latorre
Department of Early Music
Baix continu I, corda polsada
Baix continu II, corda polsada
Cambra
Instruments de corda polsada
Xavier Díaz Latorre, born in Barcelona in 1968, is a proud local from Terrassa. He pursued advanced guitar studies with Oscar Ghiglia at the Musikhochschule in Basel, where he graduated in 1993. Subsequently, his interest in early music led him to study the lute under the guidance of Hopkinson Smith at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He has also taken several courses in choral conducting and completed a postgraduate program in orchestral conducting.
He regularly participates in the most important international festivals across Europe, the United States, South America, and Asia. Since 1997, he has been a part of prestigious chamber groups and orchestras such as Hesperion XXI, the Capella Reial de Catalunya, and Le Concert des Nations (conducted by Jordi Savall). He is the founder and director of Laberintos Ingeniosos, a vocal-instrumental ensemble dedicated to the interpretation of Hispanic music from the Spanish Golden Age, and a founding member of La Terza Prattica, a chamber group focusing on the study and interpretation of Italian music from the 17th and 18th centuries.
From 1995 to 2010, he was heavily involved in the world of Baroque opera, collaborating with major specialized ensembles, and working with directors like René Jacobs or Jordi Savall, among others, in renowned theatres worldwide.
He has participated in more than 30 recordings for the record label Alia Vox, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Alpha, as well as numerous European, Asian, and American TV and radio stations.
As a soloist and conductor, the following recordings stand out:
- Sones de Palacio & Danças de Rasgueado, Gaspar Sanz. Laberintos Ingeniosos, Cantus Records
- Goyesca, Fernando Sor. Laberintos Ingeniosos, ZigZag Territoires
- Entre el cielo y el infierno, José Marín and Francisco Guerau. Laberintos Ingeniosos, ZigZag Territoires
- Obra completa per guitarra. Francisco Guerau.
- La Guitarra dels Lleons, various authors. Cantus Records
- Stolen Roses, Bach, Biber, Telemann, Westhoff, Weiss.
- Music pour le Théorbe et la Guitare, Robert de Visée.
- L’obra per viola de mà de Luys de Narváez. Passacaille.
- Il libro della Fortuna, Francesco da Milano. Cantus Records
He has created music for the unpublished works of Lope de Vega, such as "Mujeres y Criados", in a co-production of the Teatro Español with the Fundación Siglo de Oro - Pentación in 2015. In 2016, he worked on the music for William Shakespeare's "Trabajos de Amor Perdidos", in a co-production of the Fundación Siglo de Oro with the Globe Theater in London. In 2021, he also collaborated with the Globe Theater in London and the Fundación Siglo de Oro for the music in Lope de Vega's "El perro del hortelano". He is currently working on the music for Lope de Vega's "La dama boba" with the Fundación Siglo de Oro.
Xavier Díaz-Latorre carries out an intense pedagogical task, and besides his dedication to plucked string instruments, he frequently directs opera projects at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC), like John Blow's "Venus & Adonis", Claudio Monteverdi's "L'Orfeo", Sebastián Durón's "Selva encantada de amor", and Henry Purcell's "Dido & Aeneas", among others.
He is regularly invited to teach courses at prestigious international early music schools such as the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, and the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. He has been a guest professor at the Lute Society of America on multiple occasions, and at the Madison Early Music Festival at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin. Additionally, he has been a guest professor at the Amherst Early Music Summer School multiple times at Connecticut College in New London.
He currently serves as a professor of historical plucked string instruments, basso continuo, and chamber music at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) in Barcelona and at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels (KCB).