Hearing the voices of the Cor de Cambra of the Palau de la Música Catalana is exciting and the way they experience music is simply amazing. Thanks to its high level of artistry and professionalism, the choir crosses borders to become an international benchmark. 

The intention of the Cor de Cambra is to nurture international choral music, to foster the rediscovery of Catalan musical heritage and to encourage new work. A richness of style and performance ranging from Renaissance composers to world premieres by contemporary composers. From a cappella music to operatic productions and the great symphonic-choral repertoire, always with maximum versatility and no limits.

The Cor de Cambra of the Palau de la Música Catalana was founded in 1990 by the Orfeó Català and is currently supported by the Department of Culture and Media of the government of Catalonia and the Fundació Orfeo Català-Palau de la Música Catalana. It has won the Catalan government’s National Music Prize. It works with the most prestigious orchestras and national and international opera companies, and with the leading conductors of the 21st century. The choir has recorded for record labels, radio and television. 

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The chamber choir at the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Cor de Cambra, is one of the most prestigious professional choirs in Spain. The choir was founded by the Orfeó Català in 1990 with the goal of sharing universal choral music, helping to recover Catalan musical heritage and encouraging new compositions. Former choir directors include Jordi Casas i Bayer, Josep Vila i Casañas and Simon Halsey. Xavier Puig currently directs the choir, while Jordi Armengol is the choir pianist.

All the choir members are required to have excellent vocal and artistic skills, which means the group has the musical abilities of a truly great choir. It has been conducted by great masters, such as René Jacobs, Marc Minkowski, Kent Nagano, Simon Rattle, Gustavo Dudamel, Daniel Barenboim, Christophe Rousset, Vladimir Jurowski, Daniele Gatti, Simon Carrington and Fabio Biondi, and has collaborated with singers Philippe Jaroussky and Mark Padmore. The ensemble has been a member of The European Network for Professional Chamber Choirs (TENSO) since 2010.

Internationally, highlights include the choir’s 2017 début at the BBC Proms in London, a tour with Jean-Christophe Spinosi and the Ensemble Matheus in 2018, and the choir’s début at the MÜPA festival in Budapest in 2022, with a program of ensaladas and madrigals from the Catalan Renaissance. The St. John Passion by Bach, under the direction of Xavier Puig, the première of Reconnaissance by Kaija Saariaho and Invocation to the earth by Xavier Pagès Corella, under the direction of Simon Halsey, were the highlights of the 2022 season. The most notable projects from the 2022-23 season include performing works by Palau de la Música Catalana guest composers Caroline Shaw and Ferran Cruixent (directed by Júlia Sesé, chorus master); a concert to commemorate the centenary of the Obra del Cançoner Popular de Catalunya [Folk Songbook of Catalonia] which, with the goal of sharing professional choral music throughout Catalonia, toured a total of fifteen towns and cities; a second collaboration with Europa Galante and Fabio Biondi on Il ritorno d'Ulisse in patria by Monteverdi, and a new collaboration with Franco Fagioli and l’Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles, including two concerts in the French auditorium.

Highlights from the 2023-24 season include performances of The sacred veil by Eric Whitacre at both the Palau de la Música and Festival Vocal Saulus in Zaragoza, conducted by the composer himself; a performance of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea alongside The English Concert, conducted by Harry Bicket as part of the Palau Opera concert series; Die Fledermaus by Strauss, together with Les Musiciens du Louvre and under the baton of Mark Minkowski, performed at both the Teatro Real in Madrid and the Théâtre des Champs Élysées in Paris; and performances of Beethoven’s Fidelio alongside the LA Phil, under the direction of Gustavo Dudamel, in concerts at home in Barcelona and on tour in Paris, London and Los Angeles. Last but not least, this season the choir has also produced and performed in two of its own concerts: A song to nature. A cry to the earth and A Schubertiade.

The goal of the Cor de Cambra has been the same ever since it was set up: to cultivate and foster chamber choir practice while building up the standard of its members and raising its profile as high as possible.

The choir is made up of four sopranos, four contraltos, four tenors and four bass-baritones, who were admitted to the choir after successfully passing entrance tests. These tests assessed their knowledge of singing and reading music.

Once admitted to the choir, the singers must join in with a system of work and commitment which involves study, regular and special rehearsals, concerts and tours. In addition, every member of the choir is also a soloist and can sing both in the ensemble and in smaller groups.

The musical director, when the repertoire or other musical circumstances demand it, can split the choir or even increase the number of its members on an occasional basis.