Elias, Joan

He was born in Barcelona in 1963. He pursued all his music studies at the Municipal Music School there, always being awarded the highest grades, and qualifying as a teacher of the piano, advanced music theory, accompaniment, advanced harmony, counterpoint, composition and orchestration.
In 1996 he qualified as a teacher of Music Education, and in the following year as senior teacher of Musicology.
In 1992 he won the prize in the advanced section of orchestration, and in 1993 the prize in the advanced section of composition.
In 1994 he won the second prize in the Autonomous Government of Catalonia's Tenth Competition for Young Composers.
He published '6 estudis per a tenora i tible' (six studies for the Catalan tenor shawm and descant shawm), which are now on the examination syllabus in the Liceo Music School in Barcelona. 
The first performance of his work 'Fantasia per a clarinet en Sib i piano' (Fantasy for B-flat clarinet and piano) was given in 1993 in Martorell.
In June 1996 his sardana (Catalan traditional dance) 'L'aplec de Taradell' was a finalist in the First Competition for Sardana Composition in the events held to mark the 50th Aplec de Taradell, and the Cobla Sant Jordi traditional band recorded it on a CD.
To commemorate the 150-year-long history of the tenora, Jordi Figaró and Jordi Vilaprinyó, on the tenora and the piano respectively, recorded the CD 'Passió per la tenora', which includes his work 'Perfils' (Profiles), a piece they perform in various concerts and one that the composer dedicated to them (the work was published by DINSIC Publicacions Musicals, SL in October 2000).
He has been teaching harmony, accompaniment and the language of music at Barcelona's Municipal School of Music since October 1992.