Joan

Joan Tolosa Noguera

Juan

Barcelona , 1818
Barcelona , 1890

Composer i Performer

Composer, violinist and conductor. He studied composition and violin with Francesco Berini in Barcelona, who urged him to move to Paris. There, he studied with H. Colet and was a member of the Orchestra of the Opéra Comique for fifteen years. In addition, he became familiar the Wilhem method (which he translated) and with the founders of the modern choral societies. After his return to Barcelona, along with his brother Pedro, he founded the dramatic-musical institutions Euterpe and Talia, the Concierto Barcelonés Society (1848) and the Orfeó Barcelonès (1853) –considered the first of society for this kind in Spain. Orfeó Barcelonès had a strong rivalry with the choral societies of J. A. Clavé, as reflected in the magazine El Orfeón Español. He composed several choral works such as El cant a la patria (text by Víctor Balaguer) or Himne a l’Excel·lentíssim Ajuntament de Barcelona (text by Prósper de Bofarull).