The Choir

A total of 59 singers aged between 16 and 25, most of them coming from the children’s choirs in the Escola, form the heart of the Cor Jove de l'Orfeó Català. Their training continues to be structured around singing classes and weekly rehearsals, culminating in a concert programme involving some twenty performances a year. The Cor Jove is part of the Palau de la Música Catalana programme and of festivals all over Catalonia, and carries on exchange activities with other national and international choirs and orchestras, with the aim of enriching their musical education and fostering the young singers’ personal development.

Booking the choir

Alba Albert
Tel.: +34 681 28 99 66
[email protected]

Biography

Cor Jove, the youth choir of the Orfeó Català, is made of sixty singers aged between 16 and 25. Founded in 1986, the choir is currently co-conducted by Pablo Larraz and Oriol Castanyer, with Paul Perera as pianist.

The choir has collaborated with orchestras such as the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès, the London Symphony Orchestra, Lisbon’s Orquestra Gulbenkian, the Pygmalion Ensemble, the Orquesta Nacional Clàssica d’Andorra and the Orquestra de Cambra Terrassa 48 and The Tallis Scholars, among other ensembles. The Cor Jove has also worked with conductors including Harry Christophers, Raphaël Pichon, Gianandrea Noseda, Simon Rattle, Simon Halsey and Peter Phillips.

In Catalonia, the choir has performed in Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona, Cervera and Sabadell, while in Spain the ensemble has performed in Seville, Granada and Las Palmas. Further afield, the Cor Jove has given concerts in Poland, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The choir has recorded several albums: Aigües de primavera (2010); Requiems (2013) by Mozart and Fauré, for Columna Música; and Musicals! (2017, Palau Records) by Albert Guinovart.

The choir gave the first-ever performance of Requiem by Albert Guinovart, and the ensemble gave a concert of John Adams’ work Harmonium as part of the Palau 100 concert series, alongside the Orfeó Català, Palau Cor de Cambra and the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, conducted by the composer himself. The Cor Jove also gave their voices to a stage production of the opera Dido & Aeneas by Henry Purcell, with stage direction by Marc Rosich and musical direction by Esteve Nabona.

Last season (2023-24), highlights included concerts with the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, directed by Marta Gardolińska, performing The Creation by Haydn. The choir performed alongside the Cobla Marinada, tackling excerpts from Atlántida by Falla transcribed for cobla, among other works. Lastly, the choir took part in the concert version of the musical Sweneey Tood by Sondheim, directed by Andreu Gallén.

This 2024-25 season, highlights include concerts with the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya and Cor de Cambra del Palau, directed by Stephanie Childress, performing Stabat Mater by Poulenc, and the perform of The veil of the temple by John Taverner with the Orfeó Català and choirs of the Choral School of the Orfeó Català. Also highlights include the concert with the Bach Lutheran Masses program, alongside Bach Collegium Barcelona and soloists from the Salvat Beca Bach, directed by Pablo Larraz and Oriol Castanyer; the program Westerns Music with Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès, directed by Rubén Gimeno, and the perform of Requiem by Mozart with the Orchestra of the University of Valencia, directed by Hilari García Gàrquez.

The Cor Jove is part of the Choral School at the Orfeó Català, which is sponsored by the Banco Santander Foundation.