He was born in Barcelona in 1962, where he received his musical education at the Conservatorio Superior, studying conducting with Antoni Ros Marbà.

He began his conducting career 1985 with the formation of the “Barcelona 216” musical group, which specialised in the interpretation of contemporary chamber music. That same year, and until 1987, he also joined the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España (JONDE) [National Youth Orchestra of Spain], as assistant conductor.

In 1988, he was offered the position of assistant conductor to Jesús López Cobos in the Orquesta Nacional de España (ONE), and a year later, invited by Pierre Boulez, and thanks to a grant from the French Government, he moved to Paris to work as assistant conductor with the Ensemble InterContemporain.

Either as guest conductor, or with his own musical group, he has visited many cities, performing in such concert halls as the Théâtre Châtelet (Paris),  the Royal Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Teatro Colón (Buenos Aires), Queen Elisabeth Hall (London), Konzerthaus (Berlin), Konzerthaus and Musikverein (Vienna), amongst others. 

He has also conducted the most important Spanish orchestras and ensembles. Internationally, he has worked with such orchestras as the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal, Orchestra Comunale di Bologna, Wien Klangforum (Vienna), Beethoven Academie (Amberes), Orchestre National de Lille (France), Philharmonique de Radio France, Niederosterreische Tonkúnstler (Vienna), Ensemble Modern (Frankfurt), and  the Avanti Chamber Orchestra, amongst others.

He has recorded for many record labels, including Telarc, Harmonia Mundi, Colegno, Hyades Arts, Ircam, Stradivarius and Discmediand, and has been awarded the 1995 Ojo Crítico [Critical Eye], a prize awarded by the RNE Radio Station in the Classical Music section, the 2000 Premio Roland de Periodismo de Música Clásica de Cataluña [Catalonia’s Roland Journalism Prize for Classical Music], as well as the 2006 Latin Grammy, for an album dedicated to George Gershwin which he recorded with Michel Camilo. Since 2006, he has been a member of the Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi  [Catalan Saint George Royal Academy of  Fine Arts] .

He was Chief Conductor of the  Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona y Nacional de Catalunya (2002-2006), with which he continues collaborating as Principal Guest Conductor. Since 1997, he has held the position of Main Conductor and artistic director of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra “Pablo Sarasate”.

Outstanding among his engagements for the 2007-2008 season are the production of Kaija Saariaho’s opera Adriana Mater, with stage direction by Peter Sellars, at the Finnish National Opera House (Helsinki) and at the Santa Fe Opera Festival (USA), as well as his debut in Japan at the Osaka Festival, with the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra.

Last update: may 2008