Juan de la Rubia

Juan de la Rubia, titular organist at the Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, hails from Vall d'Uixó (Castellón). He began his training under the guidance of his father and Ricardo Pitarch. His artistic education developed in various European capitals under the mentorship Óscar Candendo, Wolfgang Seifen, Michel Bouvard, and Montserrat Torrent. He also received lessons from Olivier Latry and Ton Koopman. The extraordinary awards he received upon completing his studies and first prizes in the Permanent Competition of Juventudes Musicales de España and the Primer Palau prize significantly influenced the beginning of his career. His active work as a soloist has allowed him to perform in prominent venues in over thirty countries around the world, such as the Palau de la Música Catalana, Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Auditorium of the Maison de Radio France in Paris, Mariinsky Theatre, and Philharmonia in St. Petersburg. He has also performed in renowned cathedrals such as those in Cologne, Berlin, Westminster, Vienna, Geneva, Bogotá, Mexico City, Tunis, and in the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. De la Rubia has performed as a soloist and conductor with orchestras such as the National Orchestra of Spain, RTVE Orchestra, ORCAM, the Symphony Orchestras of Galicia, Bilbao, Principality of Asturias, Castilla y León, and the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra, among other distinguished ensembles. He has collaborated with conductors such as Andrew Grams, François-Xavier Roth, Salvador Mas, Simon Rattle, Roberto González Monjas, Pablo González, Pascal Rophé, and Thierry Fischer.
In the field of historically informed performance, he has worked with Les Siècles and the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Baroque Orchestra of Tenerife, and recently, he has driven the creation of his own orchestra: the Orquestra del Miracle, receiving excellent reception from both the public and critics in its debut in June 2023. Additionally, he has collaborated with soloists such as Matthias Goerne, Carolyn Sampson, Elena Obraztsova, Marta Mathéu, Philippe Jaroussky - with whom he recorded the CD "Sacred Cantatas" (Erato, 2016), nominated for a Grammy Award - or Marco Mezquida with whom he developed the improvisation project Bach&Forward. De la Rubia has also specialized in improvisation over silent films and his discography includes notable recordings dedicated to Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio de Cabezón - with the Hauslaib claviorgan (1590) from the Museu de la Música de Barcelona - and recently, a recording made on the organ of the Bogotá Cathedral. A member of the Reial Acadèmia de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi and Professor at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, he regularly teaches masterclasses in the cities of Budapest, Stuttgart, and Rome.
 
 
 Bach complete organ works 2026-2028
Bach’s sonic architecture has profoundly shaped Juan de la Rubia’s artistic identity: for him, Bach is a mother tongue from which he approaches both repertoire and improvisation. The recording of the album Bach at the Monastery of Poblet(2016) marked a particularly significant milestone along this path. At this stage of his career, Juan de la Rubia is embarking on a major personal project: the performance of J. S. Bach’s complete works for organ. It is the culmination of a process developed over many years, nourished by his engagement with the repertoire and by direct experience of a wide variety of instruments. Along this journey, his encounters with historic organs such as those in Freiberg, Naumburg and Arnstadt proved particularly significant. The project is now taking shape with the support of the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the Oratori de Sant Felip Neri and the Fundació Montserrat Torrent, together with the other venues, organs and institutions involved at each stage of the journey.

Programme:

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Constellations – Wandering Pieces, Apocrypha, and a Legendary Bach

This concert is part of Juan de la Rubia’s itinerant series of the complete organ works of Johann Sebastian Bach

Prelude and fugue in F minor, BWV App B 38

From the Neumeister collection (Neumeister-Sammlung):
Erhalt uns, Herr, bei deinem Wort, BWV 1103 Prelude in G major, BWV App B 41
Durch Adams Fall ist ganz verderbt, BWV App B 48
manualiter

From the Neumeister collection (Neumeister-Sammlung):
Der Tag, der ist so freudenreich / Ein Kindelein so löbelich, BWV 719 Ach Gott vom Himmel sieh darein, BWV 741
Fuga super Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr, BWV App A 10 Toccata [and fugue] in D minor, BWV 565
Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern, BWV 764
Fragment

Fuga in G minor, BWV 578 Befiehl du deine Wege, Emans 36
Fantasy and fugue in A minor, BWV App B 40