Last year, Josep Pons finished his 14-year tenure at Barcelona Opera House, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and this season he will return to conduct a new production of Mozart’s Magic Flute. Recent performances at the Liceu include Manon Lescaut, Falstaff and The Cunning Little Vixen. Other recent performances include Eugene Onegin, Carmen, The Messiah, Bluebeard’s Castleand The Rite of Spring with Ballet Sasha Waltz & Guests. In previous seasons, he conducted Don Pasquale, Macbeth and Parsifal, Ariadne auf Naxos, Oedipus Rex, Pelléas et Mélisande and Wozzeck, a concert performance of Bluebeard’s Castle at the Opéra Bastille, as well as Don Giovanni, Lessons in Love and Violence, Káťa Kabanová, Rodelinda, Roméo et Juliette, Elektra and the world premiere of Casablancas’ opera L’Enigma de Lea.

Pons also holds the position of Honorary Conductor of Orquesta Nacional de España, having previously served as their Artistic Director for nine years during which he substantially raised their international profile. He is also Honorary Conductor of Orquesta Ciudad de Granada. Alongside his work with Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, he continues to return regularly to orchestras with which he maintains longstanding artistic relationships, including the Spanish National and Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse.

Josep Pons’ discography of more than 50 CDs and DVDs, mostly released by Harmonia Mundi and Deutsche Grammophon, includes recordings of Falla and French repertoire regarded as benchmark interpretations and earning numerous awards. His recording of Noches en los jardines de España with Javier Perianes won a Choc de la Musique, Melancolía with Patricia Petibon received a Gramophone Editor’s Choice, and his collaboration with Tomatito earned him a Latin GRAMMY. His recording of Berio’s Sinfonia and Mahler/Berio’s 10 Frühe Lieder with BBC Symphony Orchestra and Matthias Goerne won the BBC Music Award, Choc de la Musique, ECHO Klassik Awards and Télérama Ffff awards. His latest release on Harmonia Mundi is the live recording of Granados’ opera Goyescas with BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Josep Pons began his musical training at the prestigious Escolanía de Montserrat. The secular tradition and intense study of both polyphony and contemporary music at this centre marked his later development both musically and intellectually. In 1999, he received the Spanish National Music Prize for his outstanding work on twentieth-century music. In 2019, Pons was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and also received the Gold Medal for Merit in the Fine Arts, awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture.