La Melanzana Ensemble
Who are we?
La Melanzana Ensemble is a group of eight talented young professional musicians. The idea of a group stemmed from the initiative of four students of the Masstricht Conservatorium who decided to play together in 2016, with the aim of bringing back to their home countries a bit of their expereince of students abroad. Soon the group grew so to included other students from other European Conservatoriums mostly from The Netherlands, England,Germany, Switzerland and Catalonia.
We are all from small local communities and from the beginning, we had at our heart our commuties: we really wanted to share with them the result of our studies and professional experience across Europe. Our goal put us immediately in contact with local represetativies of the local communities who were happy to offer us historical and culturally remarcable locations to offer our concerts all over the central Catalan territory.
La Melanzana Ensemble is made of a soprano, three violinists, one violist, one cellist, one bassoonist and one plucked string instrurmentist. We have created an original music style with a live and youthful character by adapting music from XVI to XVIII century to our times.
In March 2018 La Melanzana was awarded by Berguedà of the Artistic Innovation of Culture prize.
In the summer of 2019, the show "Les Veus d'Ibèria" premieres, a tour of the different traditions and languages of the Peninsula. With great success and good reception, they have offered it in different parts of Catalonia and Germany.
In 2020, during the pandemic, "La Patum" (a traditional catalan festivity) could not be celebrated, that's when the idea arose to group all this tradition in the form of a show. During the new year 2022 the ensemble plans to release "El Batec del Tabal" and make it available to all those who want to know its history, music and echo.
About us
Queralt Aymerich Torner - Soprano
From Berga, 1990. She began her musical studies at the music school in the same city. In 2008 she continued her singing studies at the Barcelona Conservatory, with M. Àngels Sarroca and Eulàlia Ara. In 2014 she studied at the Maastricht Conservatory, with Axel Everaert and Abigail Richards. During the 17-18 season she began her role as Tebaldo (opera Don Carlo, G. Verdi) with the Friends of the Sabadell Opera, in two roles. In 2018 she participated as a soloist in the Christmas concert (Messiah by G.F. Handel) with Camerata Sant Cugat at the Auditori de Sant Cugat.
Arnau Rovira Bascompte - Cello
From Sagàs, 1993. He began studying music in Berga and later at the Barcelona Municipal Conservatory. In 2013 he moved to Utrecht to study the bachelor degree with Timora Rosler. He currently resides in Cologne, where he has a master's degree in performing and chamber music with Maria Kliegel and Harold Schoneweg. He is a regular member of Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, Germany, and various chamber ensembles such as the Orelon Trio and the Oreneta Quartet.
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Marta Atcher Soler - Violí
From Manresa, 1994. She began her musical studies at the conservatory of Manresa. In 2013 she moved to the Netherlands, where she followed her bachelor studies at Maastricht Conservatory with Kyoko Yonemoto. She resides in Amsterdam, she has followed the training of Alexander Technique at the ATCA Center, where she is an assistant professor. She also studied baroque violin with Antoinette Lohmann, Kati Debretzeni and Emmanuel Resche. Marta participates in various chamber ensembles, early and folk music, in the Netherlands and Catalonia. Currently she teaches violin at the music school in Heemskerk (Netherlands).
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Marcel Ignacio Riera - Violí
From Sallent, 1994. He began studying violin in the same town and later at the Manresa Conservatory with Esther Blanch. Graduated in violin performance at the Conservatori Superior del Liceu in Barcelona with Kai Gleusteen. He is currently completing his Master’s in Performance at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva with Professor Sergey Ostrovsky. He regularly plays in the Biel-Solothurn Orchestra (Switzerland) and is a violin teacher at the Morteau School of Music.
Mònica Roca Lladó - Violí
From Gironella, 1992. She began her musical studies in Berga and completed her professional degree at the Barcelona Municipal Conservatory with Àlex García. Graduated in Pedagogy from the UB and in Violin Performance from the Maastricht Conservatory, with Robert Szreder and Piotr Jasiurkowski. She is currently a violin teacher at the Pyrenees Conservatory and participates in various pedagogical projects. She has taken baroque violin lessons with the violinist Alba Roca.
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Carles Blanch Guzmán - Corda pulsada
From Flix, 1993. He began his classical guitar studies at the EMMD in Móra d'Ebre and later studied with Àlex Garrobé and Laura Young. He later graduated from ESMUC with the specialty of Pulsed string instruments under the direction of Xavier Díaz Latorre. He collaborates with groups such as Accademia del Piacere (dir. Fahmi Alqhai), Vespres d’Arnadí (dir. Dani Espasa), Le Concert des Nations (dir. Jordi Savall), Jove Capella Reial de Catalunya (dir. Lluís Vilamajor). In 2017 he created the folk / songwriting group “Menut” with which he won the Youth Prize of the 18th edition of Sona9, later recording his first record, Terra d’argila (DiscMedi, 2019). He combines concert activity with teaching at the Vila-seca Municipal Conservatory of Music, where he teaches guitar and string instruments from the Renaissance and Baroque.
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Adrià Trulls Freixa - Viola
From Puig-reig, 1993. He started in music in the same town and later studied viola at the Conservatory of Manresa. He studied at the Reina Sofia School of Music in Madrid and later at the Royal Academy in London, where he graduated in 2017 with honors.
He studied for a master’s degree in acting at the Haute École de Musique in Geneva, under the tutelage of Mâté Szücs.
Finally, to finish his studies, he was selected to the Orchestra de la Suisse Romande to be part of it as an academic musician.
Adrià currently collaborates regularly with the Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, in Barcelona.
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Matthias Löffelman - Bassoon
From Regensburg (Germany), 1989. He began his musical studies with the prestigious choir of Regensburger Domspatzen. He graduated in bassoon with Professor Karsten Nagel at the Leopold Mozart Center in Augsburg. He studied acting with bassoonists Valentino Zucchiatti and Albrecht Holder at the Maastricht Conservatories and the Hochschule für Musik in Würzburg. He currently teaches bassoon and has studied education at Ludwig-Maximilian University in Würzburg.
Show "El Batec del Tabal"
NEW PRODUCTION!
The Melanzana Ensemble presents the show "El batec del tabal".
A musical walk along La Patum from Berga, which follows the thread of a fable narrated by a grandfather longing for Berga, his homeland, where he was born and raised and where he has not returned for years.
It is a story aimed especially at children, with a minimal scenery where music is the center of the show, supported by a projection that will captivate even more of its entire audience, with the color and dancing of the Patum troupes.
The musical part consists of the most emblematic pieces of the Patum. The ensemble members have arranged them adapting it to the instrumentation. The traditional air of the melodies is mixed with the baroque style of La Melanzana Ensemble.
The theatrical part is created from popular and familiar fables; it is a dialogue: between a grandfather and his granddaughter. The two protagonists tell us the mysterious and living story, from the past to the present itself.
Music, theater and excitement come to life making the Patum festivity a reality!
Show "Les Veus d'Ibèria"
La Melanzana Ensemble presents the show "Les veus d'Ibèria" ("The Iberian voices"). It is a journey through the Iberian Peninsula and its popular music songs. The repertoire consists of song books pieces from the 16th and 17th centuries, from instrumental and oral tradition; works by authors such as Joan Aranyés, Juan de Antxieta, Juan Hidalgo or Gaspar Sanz among others. Inspired by the Salvador Espriu poemari "Pell de brau", the concert is a journey through the different traditions and languages of the Peninsula, cheering loudly for brotherhood and respect for the Iberian cultural diversity.
PROJECTS
Catalan traditional music + Melodies of the XVII century
Concert divided in two parts:
Pieces and dances from composers of the XVII century, like Lully, Rameau, Caccini or Aranyés.
Second half part with a strong catalan personality, based on popular songs; "l'Hereu Riera, el Testament d'Amèlia, el Mariner" or sardanes (a musical genre typical of Catalan culture, danced in a circle).
PRESS
CONTACT
Do you want to get in touch with us?
+34686576898 / +34605841734
