English biography
Josep Ollé i Sabaté (Tortosa, 1987) studied at the Conservatori de Tortosa music school where he received his first lessons in musical composition from Joan Vidal i Arasa. In 2005, he moved to Barcelona to study Music Pedagogy (2009) and Composition (2014) with professors Bernat Vivancos and Albert Guinovart at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (the Catalan Higher School of Music). He also obtained a Master’s degree in Education Research in 2013 at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Autonomous University of Barcelona). In 2012 he attended the European Composer’s Masterclass 2012 (Ochsenhausen), where he received advice from Bo Holten and Gunnar Eriksson.
Josep composes mainly for choirs with a special focus on Catalan poetry and sacred texts. His works have been performed by the Orpheus-Vokalensemble, the C.H.O.I.R. Chor, the Cor de Cambra Bach Zum Mitsingen, the Orfeó Català, the Pax Cor de Cambra, the Cor Infantil Sant Cugat, the Cor de Noies Exaudio, and the Cor de Noies de l’Arc among other choirs in different European countries. He is also interested in musical theatre and he composed the music of «L’esbudellador de Whitechapel», a musical performed on stage at the Teatre del Raval in Barcelona in 2014. He’s been awarded different composition prizes, such as the «Premis Catalunya de Composició Coral 2013» and the «24th City of Reus Children Choir Composition Prize 2015». He has received commissions from the Secretariat de Corals Infantils de Catalunya, the Corals Joves de Catalunya, the Landesakademie für die musizierende Jugend in Baden-Württemberg, and the 11th World Symposium on Choral Music – Barcelona 2017, among others.
He now lives in Barcelona and combines his composing with teaching through music at Joventuts Unides de La Sénia and the Escola Municipal de Música Can Ponsic in Barcelona.