Montserrat Torras, composer

Montserrat Torras was born in Barcelona (Spain) and earned her B.M. degree from the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu there where she studied composition with Spanish composers Moises Bertran and Merce Capdevila and piano with French concert pianist Jean-Pierre Dupuy. She holds an M.M in Composition from the New England Conservatory where she is currently pursuing a Doctoral of Musical Arts as a student of Michael Gandolfi. She has also studied music with Lee Hyla, John Heiss, and Robert Cogan. Ms. Torras has been invited to several summer festivals in Spain and the United States, where she has attended master classes with such composers as George Benjamin, Osvaldo Golijov, Augusta Read Thomas, Robert Beaser, and Julio Estrada.

Her work has been performed at Jordan Hall by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project conducted by Gil Rose and by the NEC Honors Orchestra conducted by Sergio Monterisi. It has also been heard at the Tuesday Night New Music Series at Williams Hall and at the Chamber Music Concert Series at the Tanglewood Music Center, where she was a member of the 2003 Fellowship Program in Composition. She has written for theater and dance companies in Spain where her music has been performed extensively by herself and other musicians.

Recent works include La Jornada, commissioned by Frank Battisti and performed by the Boston University Tanglewood Institute at Ozawa Hall; String Quartet in One Movement, performed by the Fromm players at Ozawa Hall and the Jupiter String Quartet at Jordan Hall; Three Movements for Sarah, commissioned by Sarah Tiedemann and performed on several occasions in the Boston area; and Textures for alto saxophone and violin commissioned by Harry Cherrin and performed in Jordan Hall.

Her work for chamber orchestra, Abans, was selected as the winner of the 5th Annual BMOP/NEC Composition Contest, and her String Quartet in One Movement was the winner of the NEC Honors Ensemble Competition. She is also the recipient of a grant from Fundación Autor (a foundation for the creative arts) in Madrid, Spain and received NEC’s Tourjée Alumni Award for the year 2003-2004.