The Palau de la Música Catalana faces a new stage with Joaquim Uriach Torelló (Barcelona, 1966) as president of the Orfeó Català. “The house is in an excellent moment, delicious”, affirmed the businessman yesterday after last Tuesday the assembly of members of the Orfeó recognized his position at the head of the institution. Uriach's was the only candidacy presented, so the elections called for June 20 were suspended.
The new board confesses itself as “continuists of the good work” of the previous one, headed by Mariona Carulla for the last thirteen years. Uriach confirmed that the moment the institution is going through is not the result of chance. "We have solid foundations because good management has been done," said the president.
However, the businessman and his team also see new horizons. "We want to give a new impetus to the entity and improve everything that we can". This means "adapting to new times and changes, transforming ourselves while respecting the legacy," continued Uriach, who has been a member of previous boards. The businessman stressed that it is a meeting "very diverse in terms of age, gender, professions and origins." But they all share their love for “the Catalan house, music and culture”.
Likewise, the new presidency of the Orfeó is aware that the biggest challenge it faces is the loss of audiences at the Palau after the pandemic. "We have recovered from Covid-19, but we have to solidify it," said the businessman. Consequently, the board will prepare a Strategic Plan 2023-2026 where its candidacy program will be concentrated, in which the support for the choirs of the Orfeó and the Escola Coral stands out to "continue with their level of excellence". This happens by placing the choir at the center of the institution and "reinforcing its cultural role as a first-line interlocutor".
Without forgetting the foundational values of the entity, historically characterized by its social commitment and Catalan character, the presidency has also proposed to bet on innovation. Thus, they will develop "a global digital strategy to improve access to music", also contemplating financial balance and sustainability as another of their management keys. On the other hand, the board aims to recover "unpublished and forgotten" Catalan music compositions, and edit and sing the work of the popular Catalan songbook.
For Uriach, the Palau case, starring Fèlix Millet and Jordi Montull and which had a major impact on the career of its predecessor, “is past history”. "Now we want to open a new stage," he determined. Along the same lines, the president acknowledged that the previous board "made the transition very well from a few moments that hurt us all a lot." As for her, after three mandates at the head of the Orfeó, Mariona Carulla feels satisfied and makes a positive assessment. “We made a great effort starting in 2009 to maintain trust, esteem and credibility in the Palau,” she said. Later, another crisis came, that of the pandemic and its consequent ERTE, which they tried to face “with the utmost care”.
