Miquel Ortega
Piano
Born in Barcelona in 1963. He made his debut as a conductor in 1990. Assistant to the direction of the choir of the Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona from 1980 to 1989. Vocal coach of the opera season of the Teatro de la zarzuela from 1990 to 1993. Chief conductor of the Pablo Sarasate Orchestra of Pamplona (now Navarra Symphony) from 1994 to 1995. Principal Guest Conductor of the French Music Theater (Imperial Theater of Compiègne) from 2002 to 2006, Principal Guest Conductor of the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie Konstanz (Germany) in 2003 and Principal Guest Conductor of the Cordoba Orchestra in 2017 and 2018. His preparation as a vocal coach has made him one of the greatest connoisseurs of lyrical theater in Spain. In 1997 he was nominated for the MAX Awards for conducting L. Bernstein’s “West Side Story”.
He is a member of the reference and support committee for French music in recognition of his work in recovering classical and contemporary titles at the aforementioned Teatro de Compiègne. Opera singers like Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Jaume Aragall and Carlos Álvarez have requested him as a conductor for their recitals and recordings. As a composer, his work is being increasingly interpreted, and his opera “La casa de Bernarda Alba” premiered in 2007 under his own direction in Brasov (Romania) and in 2009 at the Santander and Perelada Festivals, performing at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid in 2018. In 2021 and 2022 this work was programmed in the opera seasons of the Cervantes theaters in Málaga, Villamarta de Jéréz and Auditorio de Tenerife. In 2010 his ballet “Bestiario”, was commissioned by the Teatro Real, and later his new opera “El Guardian de los Cuentos” with a libretto by Andrés Martorell, was commissioned by Ópera de Cámara de Navarra.
In June 2017 the Orquesta de Córdoba premiered his work “Suite de danzas iberoamericanas” under the baton of Lorenzo Ramos and in October of that same year the National Theater of Catalonia premiered its chamber opera “Après moi, le déluge” conducted from the piano by himself.
His extensive work for voice and piano is present in the repertoires of prominent singers and pianists from different countries.
He has conducted at the Colón in Buenos Aires, at the Lindbury Studio in Covent Garden in London, at the Capitole in Toulouse, at the Liceu in Barcelona, Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Real and La Zarzuela in Madrid, the Kennedy Center in Washington, Teatro Sao Carlos in Lisbon, Edinburgh Festival, Lausanne Opera, Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania, Teatro Regio in Turin, among others. Parallel to his work as conductor and composer, he has developed an important career as a pianist accompanying singers, having collaborated with names such as Montserrat Caballé, José Carreras, Juan Pons, Renata Scotto, Àngel Ódena and many more.