ELISENDA FABREGAS (*1955)
Elisenda Fábregas, is a composer, pianist and teacher. Born in Terrassa, Barcelona, she has been living in the U.S. since 1978, when a postdoctoral Fulbright grant brought her to The Juilliard School; she subsequently earned another doctorate in music at Columbia University.
Fábregas began composing at The Juilliard School in 1985, working with several dance companies and choreographers in New York City, including Jerome Robbins, Hector Zaraspe,Janet Soares and Anna Sokolow. In 1986, The Maria Benitez Spanish Dance Company commissioned her to write Reflexiones for solo piano, which was premiered at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. followed by the Joyce Theater in New York and by numerous performances throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe.
Her works have been commissioned by the Orchestra of Santa Fe, the San Antonio International Piano Competition, Texas Music Teachers Association, Dale Warland Singers, Maria Benitez Spanish Dance Co., and by numerous chamber groups and soloists. Fábregas's music has been heard in Mexico, Canada, Spain, Australia, Switzerland, France, Italy, The Czech Republic, Ireland, South Africa, Germany, Taiwan, Japan, China and the U.S. (including The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., Merkin Concert Hall and The Joyce Theater in New York City), The 1995 United Nations Conference in Beijing, China, 2003 and 2004 Bodensee International Music Festival in Germany, "Around New York", WQXR-FM "New York Spotlight", SWR (Germany), and the Voice of America.
In a concert of her vocal works in New York City, James Oestreich, critic for The New York Times stated that "[Fábregas] writes with an imaginatively colored tonal idiom".
In 2000, Elisenda received the Shepherd Distinguished Composer of the Year Award from the Music Teachers National Association in Washington D.C. Fábregas's music is published by Alphonse Leduc & Cie.,(flute) Southern Music Co.,(songs) and Hidden Oaks Music Company. Recordings of her music are available on the Eloquence label (ABC Classics) and Leonarda Productions. In 2005, Voces de mi tierra will be recorded by Meininger-Trio and released on the PROFIL EDITION Guenter Haenssler in Germany. Voces de mi tierra will also be published by Hofmeister MusikVerlag Leipzig in the spring of 2005. Future highlight performances of Voces de mi tierra by Meininger-Trio include the Bodensee International Music Festival in Bad Waldsee (May 9, 2004) and Sanssouci Musikfestpiele Potsdam (June 17, 2005) in Germany.
As a pianist, she has performed throughout the Spain, England, Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, and the United States, appearing in Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Concert Hall, Carnegie Recital Hall, and The Joyce Theater in New York City, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., The United Nations Conference in Beijing, The Place Theater in London, Palau de la Musica Catalana in Barcelona, and the Manuel de Falla International Festival in Granada, Spain.
In her New York debut in Carnegie Recital Hall she was praised by Tim Page of The New York Times as having "... fluid technique and a poet's command of musical shading." She has also performed live on WQXR-FM "New York Spotlight", WNYC-FM "Around New York", and the Voice of America.
Elisenda Fábregas says: „The Meininger-Trio is a very special ensemble for me and very near to my heart. All three players combine the best characteristics of a chamber group – they are musically intuitive and strive to discover and bring out the inner life of each work they perform; each one of the members is very creative and possesses an artistic voice of its own but are able to merge it back into the group sounding as one voice; they are empowered with all the technical means necessary to deliver whatever the music asks for; finally the ensemble makes the music they play sound exciting and alive. Christiane, the flutist, is highly imaginative, with a beautiful and dreamy golden sound imbued with extraordinary sensitivity. Françoise, the cellist, is endowed with a powerful and expressive wide-ranging sound that can tackle any type of music. Rainer, the pianist, is the one who brings together the strong personalities of the group with his great sense of rhythm and sense of structure, his precise, clear and crisp touch, and well-rounded musicianship.
I have worked with Christiane and the Meininger-Trio since 2002 when I wrote Voces de mi tierra for them. I can only say that it has been one of the most fruitful and satisfying musical relationships I have ever had with an ensemble and I hope to keep working with them for long time to come.“ Elisenda Fábregas, December 3, 2004.
>> Elisenda Fábregas over her new work "Voices of the Rainforest"
Currently, Elisenda Fábregas is the President of Hidden Oaks Music Co.
For more information look under www.efabregas.com