El Taller de Músics school celebrates its 35th anniversary at the Palau de la Música

Barcelona (ACN).- One of Barcelona’s main cultural institutions celebrated its 35th anniversary last weekend. Barcelona’s contemporary music scene of the last 3 decades cannot be understood without El Taller de Músics school. For this reason, Santiago Auserón, la Mala Rodríguez & Refree, Cris Juanico, Miqui Puig, Andrea Motis & Joan Chamorro or the guitarist Biel Ballester are some the most prestigious artists who participated  in a tribute concert at the ‘Palau de la Música’ on Sunday. The most illustrious musical ensemble of El Taller de Músics, the Original Jazz Orquestra (OJO), played throughout the evening, in an event that was also a vindication of a cultural project in times of economic crisis. Founded in 1979, this institution is Barcelona’s most prestigious school for jazz, flamenco and fusion music. The school gives significant style freedom to its students and also organises numerous concerts.

With the motto Raise your voice. The continuity of a project, El Taller have designed this anniversary event according to “what we think and feel”, though expressed in the best way they can: through music. The Original Jazz Orquestra also opened the event under the direction of David Pastor in a concert designed for the enjoyment of fans of good music but also aimed at acknowledging the prestigious music school. “You have to sow before you can reap” said in a metaphorical tone Catalan composer and musician Cris Juanico, who had already collaborated twice with El Taller de Músics, in 2006 and 2008. On Sunday evening, he sang his own versions of ‘Fly me to the moon and’ and ‘I've Got You Under My Skin’ along with Vicens Martí’s orchestra.

The audience of this gala concert was not only treated to jazz but also to blues, pop or flamenco, with performances by Salao with Josemi Carmona and Ramón Ángel Rey.

35^th years of musical creativity

A group of professional musicians who were looking to become teachers, along with a few foreign artists living in Barcelona created in the autumn of 1979, during the political transition, ‘El Taller de Músics’ and its first teaching centre. Such years were marked by freedom of expression, after decades of Franco’s repression. However, with ‘La Movida Madrileña’ many music production studios moved from Barcelona to Madrid. El Taller de Músics was a direct reaction to this phenomenon.  

Two of the most distinctive features of ‘El Taller de Músics’ are the broad number of music styles it includes and a “natural tendency to freedom well understood”. A decisive factor for its creation was the International Seminar of Jazz (1980) of Banyoles, an event that attracted many music students from across Spain, which suggested that there was a space for invention and quality away from the rigidity of most music academies. Some of the illustrious names that have collaborated with the project throughout its history are Enrique Morente, Tete Montoliu, Mayte Martín, Miguel Poveda, Núria Feliu, Pau Riba, Marina Rosell, Lídia Pujol, Marc Parrot, Llibert Fortuny, Sílvia Pérez Cruz or Joan Albert Amargós.

‘El Taller de Músics’ has established a strong bond with the city of Barcelona. Firstly, in the old city centre, where it has installed its music school, its management centre and its cultural foundation. In addition, in the heart of ‘El Raval’ neighbourhood lies the JazzSí Club room, a small concert hall that has welcomed 36,000 musicians who performed in 7,200 concerts, attracting 642,000 attendees in its 20 years of history. Moreover, since 2012, ‘El Taller de Músics’ has also settled in the Sant Andreu district (North-eastern Barcelona), which hosts their Superior School of Music. In total, 750 students are currently enrolled in the school.