Ramon Humet

Ramon Humet is a composer born in Barcelona (1968). He has received the Olivier Messiaen International Composition Prize, the XXIV Queen Sofia International Composition Prize, the Enderrock 2022 award, and a CHOC award from Classica for the CD "Llum" recorded with the Latvian Radio Choir conducted by Sigvards Klava.

Ramon Humet's works have been performed by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, the Latvian Radio Choir, the Spanish National Orchestra, and the Bühnen Halle Oper, among other ensembles. He studied composition with Josep Soler, improvisation with Gerry Weil, and piano with Harriet Serr and Miquel Farré. In 2000, he came into contact with British composer Jonathan Harvey, an encounter that deeply influenced his creative path.

In 2007, he was awarded the Olivier Messiaen International Composition Prize, which led to a commission from maestro Kent Nagano to compose the orchestral work "Wind Scenes" for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. The same year, he received the Queen Sofia International Composition Prize from the Ferrer Salat Foundation for his work "Bird Scenes." In 2014, he was named a guest composer at the Palau de la Música Catalana, and for the 2019-2020 season, he was a guest composer at the Auditori de Barcelona.

Ramon Humet's music reflects a love for nature, evident in symphonic works such as "Music of Non-Being" – premiered jointly by the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and National Orchestra of Catalonia, the National Youth Orchestra of Catalonia, and the Chamber Orchestra of the Zaragoza Auditorium Enigma Group –, "Time and the Bell" - premiered by the Spanish National Orchestra with pianist Yukiko Akagi as a soloist -, or "Bird Scenes" – an orchestral piece that has been repeatedly performed under the direction of Jean François Rivest, Adrian Leaper, Roberto Minczuk, Víctor Pablo Pérez, Edmon Colomer, or Rubén Gimeno.

In 2017, he composed the music for the reimagined Martha Graham choreography "Ekstasis" by Virginie Mécène, premiered by the Martha Graham Dance Company at the Joyce Theater in New York. This work has traveled to major venues around the world: Paris Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid, National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing, Granada Music and Dance Festival, Luxembourg, Germany, Canada, Turkey, etc., and is the soundtrack for the video "Breathing" by acclaimed Japanese artist Hiroshi Sugimoto, produced by the Paris Opera (www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1ZjEhNZgrk).

Often inspired by traditional Japanese music for shakuhachi, some of his most significant chamber music works have been recorded on a carefully designed compact disc, "Niwa," by the London Sinfonietta conducted by Nicholas Collon. In 2022, he was awarded the CHOC award from Classica and the Enderrock award for the best classical music album for the recording "Llum" performed by the Latvian Radio Choir conducted by Sigvards Klava and produced by Ondine Records, a work that premiered in the symphonic hall of the Auditori de Barcelona in March 2023.

Since 2009, he has been a professor of composition and orchestration at the Liceu Conservatory. Among his former students are some composers with brilliant professional careers: Joan Magrané, Miquel Oliu, Carles de Castellarnau, and Maria Camahort.

Picture: Marta Pich