Biografía / Biography / Biographie

Daniel Mestre i Dalmau, one of the young Catalan leading conductors, was born in Igualada (Barcelona) in 1973 and started his musical studies in his city and then at the boys choir Escolania de Montserrat, with which he performed as soloist in concerts, recordings and tours around the world. He studied violin, singing and piano at the Conservatories of Badalona and Barcelona and he assisted at Choir Conducting courses with Manuel Cabero, Pierre Cao and Lászlo Heltay and Orchestra Conducting course with Antoni Ros-Marbà.

He received his degree in Art History at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and he was concertmaster of the Chamber Orquestra of Cervera and, as member of the World Youth Choir and the European Youth Choir, toured throughout Europe and America. He obtained his Degree in Conducting with distinction at the Conservatory of Vienna under Profs. Reinhard Schwarz and Georg Mark, conducting the Bratislava Symphonic Orchestra at the Wiener Konzerthaus. He was member and assistant conductor of the Arnold Schoenberg Chor and he was invited to conduct the European Youth Singers at the New Year’s Music Festival in Prague, the chamber orchestra Camerata Musica Wien in Austria and he founded and conducted the chamber orchestra Camerata Gaudí, taking part in several Summer Festivals in Catalonia.

He was appointed Chorus Master to Cape Town Opera (South Africa) in 2002 and he took part as assistant conductor in many operas like the historical performance of Fidelio at Mandela’s Prision on Robben Island. He made his opera conducting début with La Traviata and conducted several symphonic concerts with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra. He has been also invited to do conducting master courses and to take part as Jury member in choir and singing competitions in Cape Town, Pretoria and Durban.

In 2004 he came back to Barcelona, where he worked as assistant conductor at the Gran Teatre del Liceu with conductors like M. Barbacini, D. Callegari, M. Piollet or S. Weigle and singers like Montserrat Caballé, Carlos Álvarez, Rolando Villazón or Angela Georghiu and he was appointed chief conductor of the Youth Symphonic Orchestra Germinans, the chamber choir Fòrum Vocal and the Coro de la Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, with which he worked with the conductors J.Pons, J.- J. Kantorow, Ch. Hogwood, H. Christophers, Ph. Picket, Ch. Rousset, J. Judd, S. Mas, Michael Tilson Thomas or Christoph Eschenbach.

He has been Music Director of the Liceu Conservatory Opera School and he has conducted operas from Mozart, Salieri, Donizetti, Bizet, Toldrà, Menotti, Puccini or Rossini in front of the Liceu Conservatory Symphonic Orchestra. He has also conducted at the opera seasons of the Teatre Principal de Palma de Mallorca and Maó. He conducted several times at the Palau de la Música Catalana the Chamber Choir of the Palau -he was from 2006 to 2012 its Assistant Conductor-, the Andorra National Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra Terrassa 48 and at the Auditorio Manuel de Falla the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada. He conducted in Granada the first performance of Palacio’s Miserere and at the Palau de la Música Catalana de Barcelona the Spanish Prèmiere of Van Dijk’s San Gloria and Vaughan William’s Flos Campi with the violist Paul Cortese. He has been often invited to conduct other choirs and orchestras throught Spain.

He is since 2014 the chief conductor of the Coral Càrmina and he teaches ensemble conducting at the ESMUC –Music University of Catalonia-, where he conducts its Opera Atelier (operas from Mozart, Donizetti, Britten and Händel), and chamber music, choir and orchestra at the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu, where he conducted at the opening concert of its new building in front of the Queen Sofía.

He has been invited to conduct at the Europa Cantat Festival in Torino (Italy) and Pécs (Hungary) or in Buenos Aires (Argentina) and recently in Beijing (China).

Since 2020 he is head of the Technical Team of  the Catalan Federation on Choral Music (FCEC) and Artistic Advisor of the World Youth Choir.

Daniel Mestre made also several broadcast and CD recordings for the Austrian and Spanish National Radio, South African SABC, Catalunya Música and the label Columna Música.