17th August Concert – Festival de Pollença

CHARITY FAMILY CONCERT

Star Wars and other soundtracks for all generations

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA OF MALLORCA

Bernat QUETGLAS, conductor

Dear Sir or Madam. Today’s concert is postponed due to the weather forecast (storms), The concert will be held on Monday the 22nd at the same time (9:30 p.m.). You can use the same tickets. If for any reason you cannot attend, the amount will be refunded before monday 22th at the Festival office.

CHAMBER ORCHESTRA OF MALLORCA

The Chamber Orchestra of Mallorca (OCM by its initials in Catalan) has become one of the leading players on the music scene in the Balearic Islands since its foundation in 2016. Its operating principles are a commitment to quality, promoting island talent, and uprooting the music on offer on the island.

The OCM, based in Inca, has performed in more than twenty municipalities in Mallorca and has brought concerto music to areas where this type of music is not usually available. It has also taken to the stages at prestigious institutions such as the Teatre Principal de Palma and has expanded its activity beyond the island, as it has become known nationally and internationally with performances in venues such as the coveted Kursaal in Manresa and at the Symphonic Music Festival in Eljem, Tunisia. It has also organised the successful BTHVN Festival 2020 and the Mozart Festival 2021 in Pollença, which have brought together internationally renowned artists such as the Quartet Casals and the Quartet Quiroga to great public acclaim. Since the beginning of 2022, it has carried out its seasonal concert activity in the new Teatre Principal de Inca.

The orchestra has played with nationally and internationally renowned soloists such as Olivier Charlier, Aris Argiris, Iván Martín, Sandra Ferrández, Andreu Riera, Eduard Belmar, Catalina Sureda, and Christian Borrelli, as well as young emerging talents such as Magí Garcies, Zuzanna Sosnowska, Mario Marzo, Irene Mas, Marta Bauzà, etc. Also, it has performed with other well-known musicians from different genres such as flamenco, like Esperanza Fernández, and singer-songwriters like Biel Majoral or the group Marala.

BERNAT GERARD QUETGLAS TORELLÓ, conductor

At the age of four, he began studying violin under the tuition of maestro Bernat Pomar. Later, he enrolled at the Conservatori Professional de Mallorca, specialising in viola until 2011, before beginning advanced studies in Composition and Orchestra Conducting at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid, where he completed both specialisations with top marks in the 2014-2015 academic year. In 2018 he completed his master’s degree in Orchestral Conducting at the Universidad Alfonso X in Madrid with honours. Today he continues his training at the prestigious Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt in Weimar with Professor Nicolas Pasquet.

He has studied with composers such as Jörg Widmann, Enrique Rueda, Teresa Catalán, Alicia Díaz, David León and Zulema de la Cruz. In addition, he has received conducting lessons from Nicolás Pasquet, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Lothar Zagrosek, Joahannes Wildner, Gianluigi Gelmetti, Karel Mark Chichon, Antoni Ros-Marbà, Álvaro Albiach, Miguel Romea and Andrés Salado. In 2020 he was selected and awarded a scholarship to participate in the prestigious Masterclasses of the Accademia Chigiana in Siena with maestro Daniele Gatti.

He is currently the principal conductor of the Chamber Orchestra of Mallorca, and until 2021 he was assistant conductor of the ADDA Simfònica. He was the conductor of Suite Ensemble until 2015, one of the first ensembles focusing on contemporary repertoire in the Balearic Islands. Despite his youth, he has had the opportunity to conduct ensembles in different contexts, such as the Tonkünstler Orchester (Austria), Symphony Orchestra of the Balearic Islands, Philharmonic Orchestra of Gran Canaria, Orchestra of Extremadura, ADDA Simfònica, Spanish National Youth Orchestra (JONDE by its initials in Spanish), Orchestra Giovanile Italiana (OGI), Berlin Sinfonietta, Pazardjick Symphony Orchestra, the Bulgarian Classic Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the City of Ibiza, the Orchestra of the Conservatory of the Balearic Islands, the Symphony Orchestra of the Universidad Alfonso X, the Orchestral Meetings of the Balearic Islands and the Banda Municipal de Palma.

His compositions have been premièred all over Mallorca, as well as in the Zaragoza Auditorium, the Auditorio 400 del Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid, the Auditorio Manuel de Falla, the Real Academia de Bellas Artes in Madrid and in the festivals in Grafenegg (Austria), as well as the Cuenca International Chamber Music Festival, San Pedro de Rodas Festival, Vinaròs Youth Music Festival, Festival Radical dB in Zaragoza. Among the pieces in his catalogue are iDEA, finalist in the 1st FIDAH Composition Competition; Concerto for Orchestra, winner of the Ink Still Wet competition; Diàleg, finalist in the Old Hispanic Culture Composing Competition organised by the universities of Bristol and Oxford; Miniatures, finalist in the 2nd International Competition of the International Society for Contemporary Music of South Korea, and Llibre d’amic e amat, winner of the Golden Rose in the 2nd Castellitx Awards Music Composition Competition.