Elisenda Fábregas facts for kids

Elisenda Fábregas in 2021

Elisenda Fábregas (born in 1955 in Terrassa, Province of Barcelona, Spain) is a talented Spanish-American composer. She writes many different kinds of music. She is also a skilled pianist who has performed all over the world.

About Her Life

Elisenda Fábregas started her musical journey by studying piano at the Conservatory of Barcelona in Spain. She studied there until 1977. After that, she moved to the USA.

In the USA, she continued her piano studies at the famous Juilliard School of Music. She earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in piano performance in 1983. She even made her first big performance at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1983, which is a very important concert hall.

Elisenda also has advanced degrees in education from Columbia University Teachers College (1992) and in music composition from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University (2011).

As a pianist, she has performed in many countries. Besides Spain, she has played concerts in England, Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, and the United States.

From 2010 to 2021, she lived in Seoul, South Korea. There, she was a visiting professor of music and cultural studies at Kyung Hee University. Today, she lives in Catalunya, Spain, and focuses full-time on composing music. During the 2023-2024 season, she was the resident composer at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona. This means she was a special composer who worked closely with the famous concert hall.

Awards and Recognition

Elisenda Fábregas has received special awards for her music. In 2001, she won the Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year Award. She received this award at a big music convention in Washington D.C.

Her Musical Works

Elisenda Fábregas has composed more than fifty musical pieces. Her works are for many different types of performers. She writes for solo instruments, small groups of musicians (called chamber ensembles), singers, choirs, and even full orchestras.

She has also written several large piano pieces. Some of these include Mirage (1997), Portraits I (2000), Homenatge a Mompou (2006), Hommage for Mozart (2006), and Somnis radiants (2022).

Here are some examples of her many compositions:

• Five Songs (based on poems by Federico García Lorca) for a soprano singer and piano, 1986.
• Variaciones para Orquesta (Variations for Orchestra), 1990.
• Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano, 1994.
• Lyric scenes for the young for piano, 1999.
• Album for the Young for piano, which has three books with 33 pieces, 2002.
• Voces de mi tierra (Voices of my land) for flute, cello, and piano, 2003.
• Colores Andaluces (Andalusian Colors) for cello and piano, 2006.
• Voices of the Rainforest for flute, cello, and piano, 2007.
• Goyescas (inspired by the artist Goya) for flute and guitar, 2008.
• Terra Mater for Symphony Orchestra, 2011.
• Symphony No. 1 for Symphonic Band, 2014. This piece was commissioned by the Banda Simfònica de Barcelona. You can find a recording of it on Naxos Records.
• Triple Concerto for Piano Trio and Orchestra, 2015.
• Homenatge a Pau Casals (Homage to Pau Casals) for cello, 2015.
• Accents Catalans for orchestra, 2016. This piece was commissioned by the Bucheon Philharmonic Orchestra in Seoul and first performed in 2016.
• Danses de la terra (Dances of the Earth) for cello, 2020.
• Castell de Miravet for copla (a type of Spanish song) and percussion, 2022.
• Parlen les dones (Women Speak) for mezzo-soprano, choir, and orchestra, 2022. This piece uses poems by Catalan author Montserrat Abelló.
• Somnis radiants (Radiant Dreams) for piano, 2022. This piece was first performed by Canadian pianist Jaeden Izik-Dzurko at the Ruhr Piano Festival in Germany.
• Oda a la fortalesa (Ode to Fortitude) for soprano, alto, women's choir, and orchestra, 2024. This was commissioned by the Palau de la Musica Catalana.
• Fiery earth (Terra Encesa) for string quartet, 2024. This piece was commissioned by Cuarteto Casals and the Palau de la Musica Catalana. It will be performed for the first time on March 19, 2025.

See also

In Spanish: Elisenda Fábregas para niños