Now in his 33rd season leading the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as Music Director and Conductor, musicians and classical music enthusiasts still delight in having Dr. Brotons lead them.
Salvador Brotons was born in Barcelona into a family of musicians. He studied flute with his father and continued his musical studies at the Barcelona Music Conservatory where he earned advanced degrees in flute, composition and conducting. In 1985, he won a Fulbright scholarship and moved to the U.S. where he obtained a doctorate in music from Florida State University.
As a composer, he has written more than 130 pieces, mostly orchestral and chamber works and has won major composition awards, including the Premio Orquesta Nacional de España (1977), for his Cuatro Piezas para Cuerdas, the Jove d’Or prize (1980), the Premio Ciutat de Barcelona (in 1983 for his first symphony and in 1986 for his piece Absències (for narrator and orchestra), Southeastern Composers League Award for his Sinfonietta da Camera (1986), the Madison University Flute Choir Composition Award (1987) for his Flute Suite and the Premio Reina Sofia de Composición (1991) for his piece Virtus for Orchestra. He has also received many commissions.
Many of his works have been published and recorded in several CDs in Europe and in the U.S. for labels such as Naxos, EMI, Auvidis, Naxos, Albany Records, Keys, Harmonia Mundi and RNE.
Currently, he combines a busy schedule as a conductor and composer of a number of commissions of various genres. Since 2001 he has been a Professor of Composition and Orchestra Conducting at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC).
In Spain, he has been the Music Director and Conductor of the Orquestra Sinfónica de las Islas Baleares Ciudad de Palma (1997-2001, 2009-2013), the Orquestra Sinfónica del Vallés (1997-2002) and is presently the Conductor of the Barcelona Symphonic Band. In 2005, he received the “Arts Council” award by Clark County and the City of Vancouver and the Kiwanis Rose Award.
He has guest-conducted orchestras internationally in countries such as the U.S., Israel, France, Germany, China, Poland, South Korea, Mexico, Uruguay, Colombia, as well as the most prestigious Spanish orchestras.
Dr. Brotons resides in Barcelona with his wife, Dr. Melissa Brotons, renowned Music Therapist and Director of the inter-university master’s in music therapy in Barcelona. Their daughter, Clara, is a graduate of New York University.