The Grup instrumental de València made its public debut in 1991. Directed by Joan Cerveró since 1994, it maintains a fluid roster of musicians and its goal lies in the performance of 20th- and 21st century chamber music of the, with special emphasis on the recovery works of the Spanish musical heritage. During its history, Grup Instrumental de València has tackled classic pieces of the contemporary repertoire by authors such as Stockhausen, Webern, Donatoni, Boulez, Takemitsu, Ligeti, Xenakis, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, de Pablo, Halffter and Marco, among others. In addition to its regular musical director Joan Cerveró, Grup Instrumental de València has been conducted by Jean Pierre Dupuy, Francisco Perales, José Ramón Encinar, Carles Santos, Mikel Toms and Manuel Galduf, among others.
The Grup Instrumental?s participations in stage and ballets productions with major Spanish companies (El Retablo de Maese Pedro by Manuel de Falla, y La miel es más dulce que la sangre, dedicated to the life of Federico García Lorca) has led to the group to perform at new music forums throughout Spain, Italy, France, Mexico, Cuba, Argentina and Venezuela. It has also organised individual concerts to commemorate important figures of Valencia culture and has produced, together with the Espai Moma Theatre and Institut Valencià de la Música, a chamber music version of the opera Cosí fan tutte by W.A. Mozart, an experience that was repeated in 2004 with Don Giovanni. Additionally, the group accompanied Irvine Arditti in his performance of Concierto para violín by Ligeti in 2003. The Grup maintains a level of constant activity directed at facilitating the premiere and commission of new pieces that are often incorporated into its repertoire.
The Grup serves as the mainstay of Ensems Festival and participates regularly in the chamber music programs held at Valencia?s Palau de la Música. El Grup has performed at almost all of the editions of the Alicante International Contemporary Music Festival and, in 1996, was designated resident festival group. It has performed in various national festivals and at international events in Mexico, Rumania, France, Italy, Argentina, Cuba and Venezuela.
Joan Cerveró
Born in Manises (Valencia) in 1961, Cerveró studied at the Valencia and Madrid Conservatories (where he specialised in percussion) before going on to study conducting at Barcelona?s Conservatorio Superior de Música del Liceo and London?s Guildhall College of Music.
Following an intensive career as a musician and soloist, Cerveró shifted his focus to composition and conducting, in the latter field maintaining a special emphasis on 20th century music. He was a founding member of the Amores percussion group and, as a composer, was awarded the Theatre Prize for Best Original Composition by the Generalitat Valenciana and the 1996 Daniel Montorio National Prize for Best Composition for the Stage by SGAE. In 1998, he received The Critic?s Award for Best Composition and Musical Conducting for the production of La miel es más dulce que la sangre. In 1988, Cerveró directed the Spanish stage premiere Tom Johnson?s ?The Four Note Opera?, a work he conducted once again in 2002 as part of an IVM production. He recently conducted chamber music versions of Così fan tutte and Don Giovanni, by W. A. Mozart, and the spoken opera Oedipus Rex, by Stravinsky. He has been a collaborator with, and later assistant director of, various productions staged by Carles Santos, Nuria Espert, Irene Papas, José Luis Gómez, Darío Fo and La Fura dels Baus, as well as those of practically every Valencian director and has held the post the artistic director of Grup Instrumental de València since 1994. He took over as director Festival Internacional de Música Contemporánea Ensems in 1996 and as conductor of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Valencia in 1997.
