The Orfeó Català is one of the country’s leading amateur choirs. The choir has over 130 years of history, and was founded in 1891 by Lluís Millet and Amadeu Vives to share choral repertoire from Catalonia and around the world, with the utmost artistic standards. Pablo Larraz is the current choir director, while Pau Casan is the choir pianist. Simon Halsey has a close relationship with the choir as the key guest conductor and ambassador for Palau choirs. The Orfeó Català is based at the Palau de la Música Catalana, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Orfeó Català has performed some of the most recognizable works in choral repertoire, giving the first-ever performances in Spain of important works such as Bach’s Mass in B minor and Haydn’s The Seasons. The choir has been led by a range of internationally renowned conductors: Richard Strauss, Pau Casals, Zubin Mehta, Mstislav Rostropovich, Lorin Maazel, Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel and Kirill Petrenko, to name just a few. The choir has given concerts at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Calouste Gulbenkian concert hall in Lisbon, and the Royal Festival Hall and Royal Albert Hall in London (for the BBC Proms). The Orfeó Català has toured in several countries: in China, at the invitation of the Shanghai International Art Festival; in Italy with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Daniele Gatti; in Paris with Gustavo Dudamel; in Luxembourg with Gustavo Gimeno; in Berlin with the Berliner Philharmoniker (April-May 2023), under the baton of Kirill Petrenko, (Berliner Philharmonie); in Barcelona (Sagrada Família) and Madrid (Teatro Real), with a programme dedicated to Mozart; and lastly with a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Orchestre National de Lyon, under conductor Nikolaj Znaider, at the L’Auditori in Barcelona and at the Auditorio in Madrid (November 2023).
The Orfeó Català also performed Brahms’ A German Requiem and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2, “Lobgesang”, alongside the Balthasar Neumann Chor & Orchester and conducted by Thomas Hengelbrock (February 2024), at both the Palau and in Hamburg: the Brahms at the Laeiszhalle, and the Mendelssohn at the Elbphilharmonie. Finally, the Orfeó Català will perform alongside other choirs from the Choral School in a concert featuring works by Ola Gjeilo, with the composer himself on the piano (July 2024).
Highlights from the 2024-25 season include a tour to perform Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Cor de Cambra, with conductor Daniel Harding, in concerts in Stockholm, at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona, and in Girona (April-May 2025). In addition, the choir will perform in the Spanish début of Rufus Wainwright’s Dream Requiem, together with the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, under the baton of Ludovic Morlot, at the Palau (January 2025).
The Orfeó Català is sponsored by mesoestetic®.
