Josep Quer Agustí was born in Vilafant (Girona, Spain). High Level Teacher of violin, slide trombone and double bass, he reaches the Top Diploma in double bass with maestro Ferran Sala in 1974. After working in popular and dancing music (the most important period was between 1969 and 1977, with the International Spanish "Orquesta Maravella"), and after playing in most European countries, he began to work only in the classical field. Member of the Euzkadi Symphony Orchestra between 1982 and 1986, he plays now in the Symphony Orchestra of Great Theatre of Liceu in Barcelona. He took part of "Septimino de Euzkadi", he has played as double bass soloist with several symphony orchestras and chamber orchestras in Perpignan (France) and with the Empordà Chamber Orchestra. He played also with "Orquestra Ciutat de Barcelona" -now OBC- (always as guest double bassist), Montpellier Symphony Orchestra and Empordà-Languedoc-Roussillon Symphony Orchestra.

He has received master class from Yoan Goilav (Musik Akademie der Stadt Basel) and from great American virtuoso players Barry Green and, specially, Gary Karr. He played in many Festivals, like International Music Festival of Peralada. In June 1997 he was invited by International Society of Bassists to play in the Convention held in Houston (Texas, USA); he was also invited by ISB in 1999 to play in Iowa and, in 2001, to play in Indianapolis and Boston. In 2000, he was also an active member of the ‘Double Bass Master’ in Reding (England), and, in 2001, he was teacher in the Longy School of Cambridge (MA, United States), giving a course on Spanish double bass tradition and original music.

He works now with japanese organist Izumi Kando, with whom he is planning concerts all over the world. Josep Quer plays a double bass solo in the soundtrack of the film "Babaouo" (1997) -based upon a story written by Salvador Dalí-, directed by Manuel Cussó i Ferrer and with original music by Catalan jazzman and piano player Manuel Camp.

Josep Quer worked all along these years as a teacher in a lot of Spanish conservatoriums (specially in Euzkadi and, more recently, in Lleida -Catalonia-). He has recorded two CD’s on double bass music for a solo player: Contrabaix nostre (Alternativa, 1993) and El bruixot del contrabaix (The double bass wizard -dedicated to Catalan composer Josep Cervera i Bret-: Alternativa, 1996); now he is going to present his third CD: El Duende. Homenatge a Pere Valls i Duran (Picap, 2001). From 2001 on, he is working exclusively on compositions of Catalan composer Víctor García Acín.

Josep Quer was given the freedom of the city of Vilafant (Girona); he founded and, now, he is the director of the Cobla-Orquestra "La Principal de Vilafant", with whom he is now playing a lot of concerts on Catalan popular music, camera and symphony repertoire and even opera (recently, he produced a Puccini program with Spanish soprano Glòria López).

Matías López López.

Universitat de Lleida, 2001.

e-mail: josep_quer@hotmail.com