2015 is the centennial of Catalan composer Carlos Suriñach’s birth, and the Foundation for Iberian Music is excited to begin planning celebrations of his life and work.

Suriñach studied composition at home in Barcelona and both composition and conducting at several academies in Germany (including a stint with Richard Strauss). After a few years conducting the Barcelona PO, he permanently emigrated to the United States in 1951, where he established himself as a popular figure in contemporary ballet. (His 1963 ballet The  Feast of Ashes, composed for the Joffrey Ballet, was performed more than 500 times that year alone!) He has particular ties to NYC as a composer for the illustrious  Martha Graham Dance Company.  For the Company, he wrote three works: Embattled Garden (1958), Acrobats of God (1960) and The Owl and the Pussycat (1978). Suriñach’s music demonstrates both his Catalan origins and his German training; his early works are more quintessentially Spanish (to borrow from our director, Antoni Piza’s, entry on Surinach for the New Grove Dictionary), but his mature works skillfully blend German neo-classicism with flamenco inspired sonorities and rhythms.

We hope that you will join us throughout the year as we finalize events!