BIOGRAPHY
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Juan Durán (stage name Juan Pedro Durán Alonso), was born in Vigo (Pontevedra) in 1960.
After studying at the Academies of Music of A Coruña and Vigo, where he qualified as a high ranking professor. There amongst his teachers Rogelio Groba´s presence stood out in subjects such as counterpoint, analysis etc. He attended training courses with various speakers, conferences, etc.
He developed a particular activity like instrumentalist of the piano, in the field of accompaniment and chamber music. During this period his collaboration between the years 1983 and 1988 with the violinist Lito Iglesias (current professor at the Conservatorio de Música in Barcelona) with whom he participated numerous concerts really stood out.
Resident professor of the Superior Academy of music in A Coruña from 1987 to 1997, he was also head of studios and principal
In1987 he founded, along with composers like Paulino Pereiro, Xavier de Paz and Juan Vara, the Galician association of composers, with the aim of helping to raise knowledge on Galician symphonic music.
In1991 he earned a place by taking an exam into the Body for professors of music and performing arts.
In 1997 he was named technical adviser of music and performing arts of the council for Education and University Planning for the local government of Galicia.
In 2005 he joined the Body of Education Inspectors, specialising in Artistic teaching.
With regards to his work as teacher he has had many posts such as Head of special teaching services or assistant manager of special teaching and continuous training.
As a result of his path to being a teacher, he took part in court cases, committees, development curriculum’s, expert reports, diverse publications etc
Focusing exclusively his activity as a composer, resulted in a review of his commitment to Galician music which showed fundamentally in the constant reporting of lack of standardisation of which he is accused in the society he lives in. The naming of him as President of the Association of Galician Composers in the year 2000 boosted this attitude, trying to contribute during his term of office to the improvement by official recognition of Galician music and its best diffusion.
Along this line, to emphasize his work as recovery of historic heritage, such as orchestration of works by Juan Montes (at the request of prestigious musicologist José López Calo), Juan José Castro “Chané” (his songs about texts by Curros Enríquez are frequently interpreted, being the most recent this year at the international book festival, organized by the Cuban Ministry of Culture) or Marcial del Adalid, who reconstructed along with the outstanding expert Margarita Viso, her Opera Inés e Bianca, commissioned by the Galician Institute of Performing Arts and Musicals (Council for Culture and Social Communication for the local government of Galicia).
In the year 2000 he earned the Composition prize from Madrid’s Carlos III University for his work Álbum para Orquesta.
In his production of composing the presence of chamber and Lied music stood out. In relation to chamber music it is geared towards all types of instrumental combinations: duos for different types of instruments like the piano, trios, quartet’s quintets, etc. Referring to the Lied, his work presents a great variety of poets and styles, with songs in Spanish, Galician, Portuguese, Italian and French. Likewise, he dedicated special attention as much to the transcription of pieces of various copyright, (in particular brass bands) as he did to variation, having written works on themes of Pablo Sorozábal, Andrés Gaos, etc.
He was also in charge of producing classes with various works orientated towards matters of Musical Style such as instrumental works. Amongst the latest ones the following stand out: Álbum de Orquesta, El Jardín de Margarita, Juguetes, O Señor Biscuit, etc.
He received assignments from the council of Culture for the local government of Galicia (Longa noite de pedra), Ferrol town hall (Juegos tímbricos), The Symphonic Orchestra of Galicia (Cantiga Finisterrae para múltiples voces de luz), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Galicia (Divertimento), Mozart Festival (felizcumpleañosmozart.com) or the el Via Stellae Festival (Cuarteto de cuerda).
In 2001, his Cantiga Finisterrae para múltiples voces de luz, sung by a soprano, baritone, choir and orchestra shows an important moment in his professional path to success reaching the public and his critics. Proof of this is the repetition in 2008 of the same work for the closing season along with Beethoven’s IX Symphony, together with the Symphonic Orchestra of Galicia, their choirs and that of the Catalonian Palau de la Música, the soprano Lola Casariego, baritone José Antonio López and under the new management of Víctor Pablo.
In 2008 the Opera Festival of A Coruña took place, the premiere of his opera O arame, texts on Manuel Lourenzo, under the musical management of Maximino Zumalave.
He won in 2008 the first prize in the composition competition organised by the Galician Federation for Popular Musical bands with his symphonic assignment O soño de Breogán,
In 2009 he became a critic prize winner for his musical development culminating with the premiere of his opera O arame.
His chamber and vocal work is regularly interpreted especially in the auditoriums of Galicia, of which take place in important concert hall events such as the Juan March Foundation, the Cervantes institute of New York, series of Chamber and polyphonic Music from the Orchestra of Radiotelevisión Española, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, the National Auditorium of Madrid, the Palau de la Música of Valencia, etc.
Some of the soloists who interpreted his music are Antonio Arias, Albert Nieto, Alejandro Zabala, Laura Alonso, Joaquín Pixán, Diego Fernández Magdaleno, Emmanuel Ferrer, Carlos Casado, etc and music directors such as Víctor Pablo, Juanjo Mena, Antoni Ros Marbá, Edmon Colomer and Maximino Zumalave.
He maintains an easy relationship with “Grupo Instrumental Siglo XX” (appointed from the first music stands of the Symphonic Orchestra of Galicia), from the first audition of some of his most important assignments. Its director, the Albanian violinist Florian Vlashi, has shown himself to be a sensitive musician to the defence and popularising of Galician musical heritage, he frequently collaborates with the Galician Association of Composers.
Almost all his productions are edited in “VISO Editorial”, “Dinsic” “Real Musical”, “Arte Tripharia”, etc. There are recordings of his music in RNE, Radio galega and in various Cds and DVD’s.
Brother of Carmen Durán, soprano, who studied at La Scala di Milano working there with Strehler and Abbado, Arena, Kuhn, opposite celebrities like Taddei, Cernov and so on. After winning the International Singing Competition Toti dal Monte in Treviso and appearing in italian opera houses she went to Germany where she still lives and works as a soloist. Both maintain all these years a wide musical collaboration. She performed first many of his songs, composed for her. So the first songs (poems by F. Pessoa), 1985, in Heidelberg. 2008 came the world premiere of the opera “O arame” in A Coruña. “Sete Cancións Populares Galegas” will be presented in 2010.