bio

The Catalan pianist and conductor Miquel Massana (La Selva del Camp, Spain, 1991) is one of the most versatile figures of his generation, combining commitments in the symphonic, operatic, and cobla worlds, along with a deep pedagogical and musical outreach vocation. 

Miquel Massana is currently chief conductor of “Rovira i Virgili” University Symphony Orchestra and Ponent Orchestra of Ponent. He has also been invited by as Vallès Symphony Orchestra, Camerata XXI Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Menorca or the Youth Orchestra of Valencia as well as cobla groups such as Cobla Sant Jordi-Ciutat de Barcelona, Marinada, Maricel, Reus Jove and Principal de Tarragona. Furthermore, he has also served as assistant conductor of Extremadura Youth Orchestra (2018-2021), Reus Concerts Association (2019-2021), Valencia Youth Orchestra (2021-2023) and from conductors such as Andrés Salado, Pablo González, Giacomo Sagripanti or Daniel Gil de Tejada. 

With the Opera Catalunya Foundation production of Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in 2022 he began his career in the operatic field that continues at the Barcelona Opera House, first as assistant conductor of La Cenerentola, by Gioachino Rossini, and later as musical director of the premiere of Azul como una naranja, by Guillem Palomar. He is also musical director of the Tarragona Opera Choir of the Friends of the Lyric Theater of Tarragona.

His interest in chamber music is evident in his founding of the Ensemble Enneàgon in 2022, of which he is the artistic and musical advisor. As a pianist, he has received various awards with Duo Venti, such as the 1st prize at the 17th Arjau Competition or being a finalist and audience prize winner at the 8th International Les Corts Competition. He has also commissioned and premiered works by Carlota Baldrís, Marc Migó, José Vicente Fuentes or Sergi Puig, and has performed with artists like Albert Guinovart, Laia Frigolé or Berenguer Montserrat. 

Pedagogy and outreach are also integral to his career. He has served as head of the Department of Music Theory at the Conservatory of Bellaterra El Musical and currently works as vocal coach at the Conservatory of Tarragona and a professor in the Art History department at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili. He is regularly invited to conduct young ensembles, notably serving annually as the conductor of the orchestras at the Musica Molto Summer Course in Godinne, Belgium. Furthermore, his strong commitment to musical outreach led him to host the radio program Visita Guiada on Cadena Ser since 2022. 

Massana received his education between Barcelona and Vienna, initially studying piano and chamber music at the Conservatori Superior del Liceu with Daniel Ligorio, Stanislav Pochekin and Guerassim Voronkov, and later at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya and the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, where he pursued orchestral conducting with Salvador Brotons and Johannes Wildner respectively. He has also received guidance from conductors such as Xavier Puig, Antoni Ros-Marbà, Benjamin Zander, Erwin Ortner, Miquel Ortega, Mark Leitner or Ingrun Fusseneger. During these years, he also studied organ with Juan de la Rubia and Josep M. Mas i Bonet.

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VÍDEO PORTRAIT WITH THE
JOVE ORQUESTA DE LA GENERALITAT VALENCIANA