CANTAGRAN: TOTEMS

L’Auditori — Canta Gran! “Tòtems” is a participatory cantata for senior choirs with texts by Pilar Cabot and music by me, premiered at L’Auditori de Barcelona. Scored for choir, two soloists and a small ensemble, it presents different everyday “totems” through a narrator and an artist.

Due to an unforeseen last-minute production, I received the commission with only three weeks before the first rehearsals. I had the true pleasure of working with first-rate musicians, soloists and conductors, and I created the score under the musical guidance and expertise of Montse Meneses, choral director and one of the project’s founders.

“Tòtems,” unfortunately, was also the final work by Pilar Cabot, who passed away a few months after the premiere (May 2017), a fact that gives the project a special resonance for me

Across Catalonia, the production ultimately brought together around 3,000 singers in 30 concerts between 2016 and 2017.