Josep Vicent

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Josep Vicent (born December 15, 1970 in Altea) is a Spanish musician, conductor and artistic director. His vision is nurtured by the exploration of intercultural mixes and eclecticism. This esthetic is reflected at scenic productions with orchestras and ensembles. He is currently Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of The World Orchestra of Jeunesses Musicales, (UNESCO-Artist for Peace) and Artistic Director and soloist of the Amsterdam Percussion Group.

Vicent is a versatile percussionist, with a very personal touch as to his interpretative concepts and programming, he offers a highly emotive content within an extensive repertoire which combines tradition and modernity. The international debut to his musical career was marked by receiving the prize known as Primer Premio de Interpretación de Juventudes Musicales de España and the prize known as Premio Oscar Esplá awarded by Alicante City Council. After periods working as a percussionist at the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam (1992-98), he embarked upon a fruitful period as a soloist and creator of musical/stage shows for festivals the world over. He has become an established interpreter of works by Iannis Xenakis, Steve Reich, John Cage, Ton de Leeuw, Rafael Reina, Ramón Ramos and Frederic Rzewski. Throughout his musical career, he has built up an extensive discography. Together with the internationally renowned Amsterdam percussion Group, he has undertaken fruitful promotional work of new musical genres or New Music that has resulted in a high number of world premieres and tours taking in 15 countries.

Conductor

Josep Vicent became Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of The World Orchestra in 2005. Since then, The World Orchestra (formed by 100 musicians from more than 40 countries) has toured China, Germany, Austria, Holland, Cyprus, and Spain. Next Summer 2008 The World Orchestra will tour Canada under the baton of Principal Conductor Josep Vicent and maestro Franz Paul Decker. Vicent is also Guest Conductor of Orquesta Sinfónica de Radio Televisión Española, Orquesta Sinfónica de Montevideo and regularly conducts Holland Symfonia, Joven Orquesta Nacional de España, Symphony Orchestra of Amman, National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine-Kiev, Melbourne Nacional Academy Ensemble, Orquestra de València, Netherlands Radio Metropol Orkest, The Contemporary Singers, Orquestra de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, The Interval Chamber, Orquestra de les Arts, Orquesta Sinfónica Ciudad de Oviedo, Orquesta de Cordoba, King Singers,…

Artistic director

Apart from his artistic work with Amstedam Percussion Group and The World Orchestra Josep Vicent was Guest Artistic Director at the Synergy Ensemble and at The Contemporary Singers in Sydney, Australia; He also was Artistic Director and founder of ‘Nits de la Mediterrània’ music festival and Artistic Director of Amsterdam’s Xenakis Festival.

Opera productions

His extensive stage and opera experience embraces scores by Adams, Poulenc, Stravinsky, Xenakis and Shostakovich. His expertise includes the directing of the European premiere of Piazzola’s opera "Maria de Buenos Aires" (La Haya, 2001), the Cologne premiere of the opera by Rafael Reina "A journey into Chaos". His repertoire includes "Viaggio a Reims" by Rossini and "El Gato con Botas" by Xavier Montsalvatge together with Emilio Sagi and Ágatha Ruiz de la Prada (Teatro Real, Madrid 2004, 2005, 2006-07). In the last season he premiered "The Gamelan Opera" by the Indonesian composer Cinta Wullur in Amsterdam, and the opera production "1714, Món de Guerres", with his own music for a libretto by D. Albert Mestres at the Perelada Festival. In that period he made his début at Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu and at the famed Berliner Philharmonie with Stravinsky’s "Rite of Spring".During the current year Josep Vicent has conducted "Le Portrait du Manon" by Massenet and "La Voix Humaine" by Poulenc in Barcelona’s Teatre del Liceu. Next September 2008 Vicent will conduct "La Voix Humaine" at the Leipzig Opera in Germany. Josep Vicent is now recording for Columna Música discography.

External links

* [http://www.josepvicent.com Josep Vicent, the official website] (in English, Spanish and Catalan)
* [http://www.myspace.com/josepvicent Josep Vicent's profile in Myspace]
* [http://www.theworldorchestra.org The World Orchestra, the official website] (in English and Spanish)
* [http://www.amsterdam-percussiongroup.com Amsterdam Percussion Group] (in English and Dutch)http://portal.unesco.org/fr/ev.php-URL_ID=8876&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html