Dr. Salvador Brotons was born in Barcelona into a family of musicians. He studied flute with his father and continued his studies at the Barcelona Conservatory of Music, obtaining superior titles in flute, composition and orchestra conducting.
His professors include, among others, Antoni Ros-Marbà (conducting), Xavier Montsalvatge (composition) and Manuel Oltra (instrumentation). In 1985 he was awarded with a Fullbright scholarship and moved to the United States where he obtained his Doctorate in Music from the Florida State University.
He has written more than 100 works, mainly for orchestra and chamber ensembles. He has received fifteen composition awards including the Spanish National Orchestra Award (1977) for his Four Pieces for Strings, the Golden Youth Award (1980), and the City of Barcelona Award (in 1983) for his First Symphony and in 1986 for Absences for narrator and orchestra), the Southeastern Composers League Award for his Sinfonietta da Camera (1986), The Madison University Flute Choir Composition Award (1987) for his Flute Suite, and the Queen Sofia Prize (1991) for his Virtus for orchestra.
Brotons has received many commissions, among which are his opera in two acts Reverend Everyman (the Florida State University, 1989), Sonata da Concerto for trumpet and band (University of Wyoming, 1992), Commemorativa for orchestra (RTVE Orchestra, Spain) Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (Conferenza dil Mediterraneo, Sicily-Italy, 1997), the musical in two acts Before Silence (Generalitat de Catalunya, 1998), Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra (Cervantes Foundation of Warsaw, Poland-1999), the Woodwind Quintet Essentiae Vitae (University of Arizona, 2000), the septet Prada 1950 (Pau Casals Summer Music Festival, France, 2000), the children’s opera The Merchant of Dreams (UNICEF, 2001), the Cello Concerto (Eurocongres, 2003), the Requiem Trio (Nova York, 2004), Concert for Double Percussion and Strings (Raanana Synphonette, 2005), Concerto for viola and strings (Festival Música Española, 2006), Intrèpida for orchestra (Siemens, 2007), Missa Brevis (Cor Vivaldi, 2008). Several of his pieces have been published and recorded in CDs in Europe and the USA under labels such as EMI, Auvidis, Albany Records, Naxos, Claves, RNE, etc.
Salvador Brotons was Assistant Conductor of the Florida State University Symphony Orchestra (1986-1987), and Music Director and Conductor of the Oregon Sinfonietta (1990-1993), the Mittleman Jewish Community Orchestra (1989-91), and the Portland State University Symphony Orhestra (1987-1997). He also taught counterpoint, orchestra conducting, music history and music literature at Portland State University.
He has been the Conductor and Music Director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (WA) since 1991. He has also been the Conductor and Music Director of the Vallès Symphony Orchestra (1997-2002) in his native Barcelona and the Balearic Islands Symphony Orchestra in Palma de Mallorca (1998-2001; 2009--). He is on the faculty of the Escola Superior de Música de Barcelona, where he teaches orchestra conducting and composition. In 2002, he received the “Florida State University Alumni Award” for his professional achievements.
Currently he is combining an intense schedule as orchestra conductor with composition commissions. From September of 2009, he will become the Music Director of the Orquestra Simfònica de Balears Ciutat de Palma. . User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
