Jesus Torres
Jesus Torres was born in Zaragoza on 15 July 1965. He made his academic training at the Conservatorio Supeiror de Música de Madríd. At the same time, he attended several Musical Analysis courses with Luis de Pablo. Between 1986 and 1988, he studied Composition with Francisco Guerrero.
His catalogue comprises 143 compositions, including twenty orchestral works, among them seven concertos: for piano, accordion, violin, percussion and clarinet, harpsichord, as well as Transfiguración,double concerto for cello, accordion and string orchestra. He has also written chamber works for a wide variety of instrumental ensembles. One of his most prominent interests is the setting of texts to music, with his ongoing engagement with the poetry of Vicente Aleixandre standing out in particular—44 poems set to music—as well as works by authors such as San Juan de la Cruz, Jorge Manrique, Luis de Góngora, Lope de Vega, Francisco de Quevedo, Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Rubén Darío, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Antonio Machado, Miguel Hernández, Juan Eduardo Cirlot, Leopoldo Panero, Antonio Carvajal and Alejandro Duque Amusco.
His music has been performed at festivals and concert series in numerous countries, including the Venice Biennale, Musica 99 Strasbourg, Musikfestspiele Saar, Ars Musica in Brussels, Ibermúsica, Radio France’s Présences 2000, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the Kuhmo Festival, the ISCM Festival (Copenhagen and Bucharest), the Alicante Festival, and the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers (2001 and 2008).
Also at PRIX Italia, the Royal Academy in London, Prague Premieres 2008, the Puentes Festival in Mexico, the Latin American Music Festival of Caracas, Gare du Nord in Basel, Konzert Theater Bern, Wiener Konzerthaus, Ultraschall Berlin, the Sound Ways Festival in St. Petersburg, the Lucerne Festival, the Manuel Enríquez International New Music Forum, the Donostia Musical Fortnight, the Santander International Festival, the Granada International Festival of Music and Dance, the Transart Festival, the Marvão Festival, and the Schwetzingen Festival, among others.
He has received commissions from numerous public and private institutions, including INAEM, the Gaudeamus Foundation (Amsterdam), the SGAE Foundation, the Kaleidoscope Programme of the European Union, the Community of Madrid, the Colegio de España in Paris, The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, the Spanish National Orchestra, the Spanish National Youth Orchestra, FestClásica, the Barcelona Symphony and Catalonia National Orchestra, the Teatro de la Zarzuela, the Religious Music Week of Cuenca, the Hazen Hosseschrueders Foundation, the Program for Cultural Cooperation (University of Minnesota), the State Society for Cultural Commemorations (SECC), the Siglo Foundation, Siemens Stiftung, the BBVA Foundation, the Teatro Real Foundation, the Otoño Musical Soriano Festival, the Ibermúsica Foundation and the Staatskapelle Dresden, as well as a wide range of performers.
He has received numerous awards, including the SGAE Prize (Madrid, 1992), the Gaudeamus Prize (Amsterdam, 1995), the Valentino Bucchi Prize (Rome, 1997), the Reina Sofía Prize (Barcelona, 1999), the Millennium Chamber Players Prize (Chicago, 2008), and the National Music Prize (2012). He was composer-in-residence with the Spanish National Youth Orchestra during the 1998–1999 season. Since 2002, all of his works have been published by Tritó Edicions in Barcelona and are featured in numerous recordings released by labels such as Naxos, Kairos, IBS Classical, and Tritó.
Among his works: Sinfonía (2005), for the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Symphonic Orchestra of RTVE; Faust (2008), orchestral music for the screening of the silent film from 1926, F. W. Murnau, and premiered at the Teatro de la Zarzuela of Madrid; Evocación de Miguel Hernández (2010) for soprano, choir and orchestra, composed for the centenary of the birth of the poet, and that were interpreted for the first time in the Festival of Alicante; Apocalipsis (2011), for choir, gregorian, double choir and instrumental ensemble, with texts of Saint John, order of the L Religious Music Week in Cuenca; Libro de los secretos (2003/2011), commissioned by the Fundación Autor for the OBC and premiered at L’Auditori in Barcelona; Concierto para violín y orquesta (2011), commissioned by the BBVA Foundation and premiered at the Teatro Monumental in Madrid ; the large choral cycle Aleixandre-Coros iniciated in 2014; Sonetos (2014-2015), for choir and orchestra, commissioned by the Orquesta y Coro nacionales de España; Folías de España (2015), commissioned by the Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León; Dos poemas de Antonio Carvajal (2016), commissioned by the Festival Music South or Malagueña ausente, was commissioned by the Siemens Foundation to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Trio Arbós.
In 2015 he received one of the Becas Leonardo of the BBVA Foundation for the composition of two new orchestral works. In addition, he was awarded the VIII Award AEOS-BBVA Foundation for his orchestral work Tres pinturas velazqueñas. He was appointed composer-in-residence of the CNDM for the season 2017/2018. Magazine Sibila. Revista de Arte, Música y Literatura dedicated issue No. 52 (October 2017) to him, accompanied by the release of a monographic CD. In 2019, he was appointed composer-in-residence of the Zaragoza City Symphony Orchestra. The Teatro Real commissioned his first opera, Tránsito,based on the homonymous work of Max Aub, which premiered in the season 2020/2021 at the Theatre Royal.
The Symphony Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias, together with the Fundación SGAE, we commissioned a new orchestral work for the season 2021/2022: Final for voice and orchestra, based on poems by Alejandro Duque Amusco. Likewise, the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation and the BRANDNEU 2022 Organ Festival in Kassel commissioned his first work for organ, Introspección. The Spanish Society of the Guitar he was commissioned a new work for guitar, Himno a la tristeza, for publication in the magazine Roseta.
The Teatro Real of Madrid, he commissioned his second opera, Tejas verdes, premiered in 2025. That same year, they released five new vocal works: Coplas (on texts by Jorge Manrique), Oda (Vicente Aleixandre), Tres poemas de Tejas verdes (Miguel Hernández), Cantares de Machado and Eternidades (Juan Ramón Jiménez). His first opera, Tránsito,received in 2024 the Mejor Propuesta de Nueva Creación Lírica en la VII edición de los Premios Ópera XXI.
In 2025, has completed a new work for ensemble, Concertante, commissioned by the CNDM to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Manuel de Falla and 30th anniversary of the Trio Arbós. The work will be released in 2026 at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid. In December of 2026 will be represented Tránsito, within the season 2026/2027 of Ópera de Tenerife.
In 2026 has completed a new orchestral work, Memorial, commissioned by the Staatskapelle Dresden to commemorate the bicentenary of the death of Ludwig van Beethoven. Its premiere is scheduled for April 2027, in the framework of a tour that will visit Dresden (Semperoper), Vienna (Wiener Musikverein), Barcelona (Palau de la musica Catalana), Valencia (Palau de la Música) and Madrid (National Auditorium of Music). His last compositions are Incantatio, for alto saxophone and piano, commissioned by the INAEM for Ishmael Arrroyo; Lux in tenebris, duo accordions written for Iñaki Alberdi and Marko Sevarlic; and Silentefor voice, vibraphone, harp, and piano, based on a poem of Aleixandre.
Jesús Torres lives in Madrid and is represented by Ibermúsica Artists.