Trombones

Gerard Costes

In the orchestra since 2012

Born in Amposta (Spain) in 1980. At the age of ten began his musical studies at “La Lira Ampostina”. In 2001 moves to Barcelona to study at the High School of Music of Catalonia (ESMUC) with Professor Ricardo Casero, and baroque trombone with Daniel Lassalle.

Afterward in 2004 he got a scholarship to study at Royal College of Music London, where he studied with Professors Lindsay Shilling, Byron Fulcher and Graham Lee, graduated with the highest distinctions.

In 2006 he did postgraduate studies at the Hoschule für Musik Hannover with Professor Jonas Bylund.

During his student period he atended to masterclass with the professors Denis Wick, Christian Lindberg, Joseph Alessi, Jörgen Van Rijen, Stefan Schulz, Eric Crees and Chris Houlding.

From 1998 until 2002 he was member of the National Youth Orchestra of Catalonia.

He was winner of the the internacional competition of Joventuts Musicals Ciutat de Vinaròs, Spain (1999), Herbert Samuel memorial competition RCM London (2006), and Sitges international chamber music competition, Spain (2009).

He has collaborated with various orchestras and chamber music ensembles such as Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatro del Liceu, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, BCN 216 Contemporanean Music Ensemble , Klangforum Wien, RCM Symphony Orchestra of London, Orchestra de Cadaqués, RTV Orchestra from Spain, Orchestra Ciudad de Granada, Orquesta Sinfónica Ciudad de Oviedo, Orquestra Simfònica del Vallés, Orchestra of Teatre Lliure, Andorra National Chamber Orchestra, Spiramirabilis Orchestra, Barcelona Trombone Quartet, Trombone Ensemble of Hannover, MusicAeterna brass ensemble, Barcelona Brass ensemble and London Brass. Working with various conductors and artists like Teodor Currentzis, Barnard Haitink, Naville Marriner, Eji Oue, Jordi Savall, Fernando Corona (MURCOF), John Cale, among others.

He has participated in various music festivals like Salzburger Festspiele, BBC Proms, Lucerne Festival, Festival de Peralada, Festival Grec (Barcelona), Primavera Sound.

In 2013, he recorded the Hindemith Sonata for trombone and piano included in the CD “Sonatas for….” By the discography Harmonia mundi, with the prestigious pianist Alexander Melnikov.

In 2017 he was selected by the Maestro Christian Lindberg to attend as active participant to the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Meisterkurse.

As a soloist he has performed concerts in Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, England, and Russia.

And as a teacher has been giving Masterclass in Conservatory of Liceu de Barcelona, Russian National Youth Orchestra, Societat Musical La Lira Ampostina, Societat Musical Unió Filharmonica, Sociedad Musical La Artística de Buñol (Valencia).

Since 2012 he is principal trombone of MusicAeterna Orchestra, under conductor Maestro Teodor Currentzis.

HOW DID YOU COME TO BE A MUSICIAN?

In Amposta, where I come from, there is a big tradition of music, and it has many wind orchestras. As a child, I often listened to the orchestra marching on the streets. Therefore, music is something natural for me, I never thought about the possibility of choosing anything else. My older brother is a musician. I followed in his footsteps to play in the city orchestra together. I followed my passion, and this led me to study in different cities and universities across Europe: at the Royal College of Music in London and at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien in Hannover. At some point, I realized that I was already part of the professional music world.

WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO IN YOUR FREE TIME?

I'm a true music lover. Depending on my mood, I can listen to everything from Bach, Mahler, Debussy, Varese, Ligeti to Camarón de la Isla, Paco de Lucia, Chet Baker, Tommy Dorsey, Antonio Machín.... There's just too many to name!

WHAT DO YOU DO BESIDES MUSIC?

My hobby is learning new things. I exercise regularly, I like to walk a lot, see friends and visit art galleries. Sailing is the first in line from the list of new activities that I plan to master. All this enriches my spirit and liberates my mind.

WHAT IS YOUR DREAM?

I have more than one dream, and one of them is to create my own artistic projects. For example, I would like to start writing music for the trombone. It's interesting to look at music from the composer's point of view, not just from the performer's side. Thanks to many years of experience playing this instrument, I have acquired knowledge about the technical capabilities of the trombone and a broad repertoire for this instrument; however, I do not stop at this level. I would like to continue to deepen my knowledge and discover more and more new facets of the trombone sound. One of these unknown facets is the trombone in a theatrical production. I dream of playing the trombone in a dramatic play.