We suggest a spectacular combination which we ensure that will surprise you, not only in its sound power, but also in its huge versatility and wealth of shades. The union of both musical instruments comes from the will to explore, with imagination, ambition and rigour new paths for this formation in order to consolidate our own musical repertoire.
This formation is inspired by the roots and the tradition of both instruments: the gralla, a musical instrument that is the main figure in the festive and street music and is nurtured by the popular tradition, faces a new technical and interpretative challenge beside the organ. The organ, which is linked to the learned and liturgical tradition, encouraged by the gralla shows its most popular side.
We started this project in 2010 and, since then, we have offered concerts all around Catalonia: in the cathedrals of Barcelona, Tarragona and La Seu d’Urgell, as well as in the Festival Internacional d’Orgue in Igualada, the Festival Tradicionàrius in Santa Maria de Gràcia, and the abbeys of Montserrat, Girona or El Vendrell, among others, in which we have released numerous compositions for gralla and organ by various current Catalan authors.
Performers
They have been working together as a duo since 2010, when they started their own repertoire thanks to the outcome of the 1st contest of composition for gralla and organ held by Coordinadora de Grallers de Vilafranca in 2008. Since then, they have carried on the selection and promotion of new musical materials and, at the same time, the fruit of their work has been reflected in various concerts:
- – Cicle L’Orgue de la Catedral de Barcelona
- -Catedral de Tarragona. Joventuts Musicals de Tarragona
- -Casa de la Cultura de Girona. Diputació de Girona
- -Festival d’orgue de Capellades
- -Festival d’orgue de les Terres de Ponent i Pirineus. Catedral de la Seu d’Urgell
- -Cicle d’orgue. Església de Sant Feliu de Sabadell
- -Església de Sant Pere Apòstol de Montbrió del Camp
- -Concert de Festa Major. Església de Sant Andreu de la Selva del Camp
- -Concert de la Diada Nacional. El Pla de Santa Maria
- -Dia del Graller. Basílica de Santa Maria de Vilafranca del Penedès
- -Basílica del Monestir de Montserrat
- -Festival Tradicionàrius. Església de Santa Maria de Gràcia
- -Festival Internacional d’orgue d’Igualada. Basílica de Santa Maria
- -Festival Internacional d’orgue d’Andorra. Escaldes-Engordany
- -Cicle d’orgue. Església de Santa Maria del Remei de Les Corts
- -Concert de Festa Major. Església de Santa Margarida i Els Monjos
- -Cicle d’orgue. Església de Barberà del Vallès
- -Cicle d’orgue. Església de Sant Salvador del Vendrell
- -Concert de Festa Major. Monestir de Sant Cugat del Vallès
Jonatan Carbó Casanellas
vstudied organ in Conservatori Superior Municipal de Música de Barcelona with the professor Maria Nacy, where he obtained a Superior Degree in Organ. He has also completed his training by realizing different courses with the professors Michael Radulescu, Daniel Roth, Matteo Imbruno, Andreas Liebig, Bernard Winsemius and Cristina García Banegas, among others.
Ha ampliat la seva formació en nombrosos cursos amb els professors Michael Radulescu, Daniel Roth, Matteo Imbruno, Andreas Liebig, Bernard Winsemius i Cristina García Banegas, entre d’altres.
He has offered solo recitals all around Catalonia, The Balearic Islands, Spain and France, and we may especially mention the organs of Palau de la Música Catalana, the Cathedral of Barcelona, the Abbey of Monserrat, the Cathedral of Perpinyà, the Basilica of Santa Maria in Maó and the Church of Los Venerables in Sevilla, among others.
In some occasions, he has been recorded by Catalunya Música, and he has also released a CD with the composition “L’orgue de Santa Maria de Vilafranca del Penedès” by Josep Soler Sardà. In addition, he has collaborated with vocal and instrumental ensembles like Cor Liedercàmera, Cor Vivaldi, Orquestra Terrassa 48 and Orquestra de Cambra del Garraf.
He has worked as an organ teacher in Escola Municipal de Música in Vilafranca del Penedès. Currently, he continues teaching in Conservatori de Grau Mitjà “Mestre Joan Just i Bertran” in Igualada, and in Escola Municipal de Música “Pau Casals” in El Vendrell.
Jordi Mestres Qué
was born in 1986 in Vilafranca del Penedès, place where he has carried out his musical career in gralla. Simultaneously, he has studied flute. Although these two musical instruments seem opposed, he tried to obtain good influences in both traditional and classical fields, fact that allowed him to obtain a characteristic way to interpret. He is a member of the groups Els Vinardells and Deriva Errand, and he has collaborated with numerous formations and projects within the country.
In 2010, he concluded his higher studies of gralla in Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMuC), where he got an outstanding mark for his final project “La Gralla Contemporània”. Currently, he combines the teaching of the gralla, the chalmeye and the flute in Escola Municipal de Música del Penedès, Escola Municipal de Música Maria Dolors Calvet in Vilafranca and Escola Municipal de Música in El Morell, with the constant development of new musical projects, not only of traditional music, but also of ancient music, classical music, contemporary music or jazz. He has collaborated in projects, like a prolific concert of Gralla i Orgue, and he has also encouraged new concerts in which the gralla is the main figure. With his main instrument, the gralla, he is trying to look for new horizons, improving and dignifying it.