José María SÁNCHEZ-VERDÚ
Guest composer
Composer, conductor, and musicologist trained at the RCSMM, the Musikhochschule in Frankfurt, and in other European institutions. Bachelor of Laws (Complutense) and International Doctorate cum laude by the UAM.
He is currently an Honorary Professor of Composition at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf and Professor of Composition at the RCSMM in Madrid. He has been a professor invited to the Sibelius Academy, Mozarteum Salzburg, Musikhochschulen in Munich, Bremen, Nuremberg, Hanover, Dresden, Universität der Künste Berlin, Conservatorio della Svizzera Italian, Kunstuniversität Graz, Conservatorio Verdi de Milán, Universities of Bern, Basel, and Zurich, Internationale Ensemble Modern Academy Frankfurt, University of La Serena (Chile), Universidad Hanyang de Seúl, etc.
He is the author of a very large number of articles and studies on esthetics, art, interdisciplinarity, etc. published in various languages in publications international.
Among his awards as a composer stands out: 1st Prize from the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie (Frankfurt, 1999), 1st prize from the INAEM-School of Spain in Paris (1998), Irino Prize (Tokyo, 1998), Siemens Foundation's Förderpreis (Munich, 2000), Bergische Biennale Prize (Wuppertal, 2001), National Music Award (2003), Antara Award (Lima, 2007), Award from Culture Prize of the Bavarian Government (2015), Ibn Arabi Prize (2015), etc.
Sánchez-Verdú is the author of more than fifteen stage works (Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Berlin, Münchener Biennale, Salzburg Biennale, Teatro Real, the Venice Biennale, Lucerne Theater, Staatstheater Mainz, Schwetzinger Festspiele, Ultraschall Berlin, Colón de Buenos Aires, etc.), of more than forty orchestral works, a large number of chamber works (including 11 string quartets) and numerous interdisciplinary projects that make use of space, architecture, light and color, electronics and movement. He has worked alongside great of the Spanish language great authors such as Carlos Fuentes, Juan Goytisolo, Antonio Gamoneda, Chantal Maillard, or Alberto Conejero.
He has been a composer in residence at the Carinthischer Sommer Festival, the National Center for Musical Dissemination, the International Festival of Music and Dance of Granada, the Palau de la Música de Valencia, of the Schlossmediale Werdenberg Festival (Switzerland), of the Autumn Festival from Warsaw, from the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, etc.
His works are exclusively published by Breitkopf & Härtel (Germany).
Since 2024, he has been a full member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid.
Ariadna ALSINA TARRÉS
Guest composer
Ariadna studies violin, sonology and later she focuses on composition in Barcelona, Helsinki, Paris, and Geneva under J. M. Lopez-Lopez, H. Vaggione, M. Matalon, H. Parra, and Ch. Groult. In 2015–17, she completes the IRCAM composition course and enrolles in the Master’s program in Mixed Music Composition at the HEM in Geneva, studying with P. Dusapin, L. Naon, and M. Jarrell.
Her work focuses on the poetics and malleability of sound and timbre, she is also interested in the interaction between acoustic instruments and electroacoustic music. She holds a doctorate (University of Paris 8) on the writing of time in mixed music. In her projects she gets inspiration and influences from different fields like visual arts or social sciences. From her recent works, we can highlight the composition in 2023 of “Split Screen Vestiges” for the choir of Versailles Baroque Center, with viola da gamba and electronics. In 2025, she composes the Chamber Opera “Ikaria” (libreto by Ana Pazos and stage direction by Berta Prieto).
Her music is performed by ensembles such as Trio KDM, Contrechamps, Plural Ensemble, Ensemble Sillages, Chamber Orchestra of Geneve and soloists like Diego Tosi, Stéphane Sordet, or Yui Sakagoshi, at festivals including Archipel (Geneva), Mixtur (Barcelona), Ensemble(s), Manifeste (Paris), Oh!pera-Festival Grec, etc.
She receives commissions from IRCAM, Radio France, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical, Festival Lavaux Classique, among others.
In 2015, she receives a special mention from the jury of the Russolo Prize. In 2025, she is awarded the Pierre Wissmer-Pulsations contemporaines Prize by SACEM.
From 2019 to 2024, she works as an assistant teacher in the composition department at the HEM in Geneva. She currently teaches in the Master’s program in Composition and Technologies at ESMUC in Barcelona and conducts workshops, seminars and masterclasses as a visiting professor at various conservatories and universities.
She is an artist-in-residence at L’Auditori in Barcelona for the 2026–2027 season.
www.ariadnaalsinatarres.com