Puértolas, Pere J.

Pere J. Puértolas was born in 1949. He attended the Conservatori de Música del Liceu, Where he studied for the violin under F. Guerin, chamber music under Maria Canela and took various courses to further hone his technique under the violinist Antoni Brossa and the pianist Rosa Sabater.
In 1969 he won a place as violinist in the Orquestra Simfònica del Gran Teatre del Liceu, as well as graduating in Hispanic Romance Philology and History of Art from the Universitat Central de Barcelona. In 1983 he was awarded the grade of Excellent by the University of Granada for his work in their postgraduate Contemporary Art courses. In 1978, he joined the Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona. Later he was appointed as violin teacher and, subsequently, worked as the orquestra’s Head of Press and Public Relations. Since 1990, he has dedicated his life exclusively to the tasks of musical composition and direction.
His first works were composed for the stage and screen, and were especially aimed at the younger audience: they include the musical comedies Supertot i Helena a l’illa de baró Zodiac, With lyrics by Josep M. Benet i Jornet, El Gran Claus i el Petit Claus, based on a tale by Hans Christian Andersen, Contes a la vora del foc, on Catalan folk tales, L’auca del marrec tossut, by Carme Barberà, and many other pieces for the theatre, the cinema and dance.
His output includes chamber pieces such as solos, duos, trios, quartets, etc. amongst witch we would highlight Pinewood Waltz, for drums, the Quartets de Corda (String Quartets) numbers 1 and 2, Sonatina and Drums and Woods, both for percussion quartets and the Sextet Opus 49, for flute, clarinet, bassoon, violin, viola and cello. He has also written orchestral pieces, such as the Suite Renard for a string orchestra, the symphonic work Concert per a Percussió i Orquestra Simfònica and Fanfara per a una Ciutat (Barcelona 2001), for a bras and percussion orchestra.
His works have been interpreted an numerous occasions in Spain and beyond, to great public and critical acclaim.