Núria Sempere: "Esmuc is built on different pillars than the rest of the European centers"

BarcelonaThe Catalonia College of Music (Esmuc) is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a wide-ranging program of activities throughout the academic year. One such event is the concert by the Esmuc Early Music Ensemble, conducted by Jordi Savall, at L'Auditori this Tuesday at 7 p.m. Esmuc's Director General, Núria Sempre, welcomed ARA to her office to discuss the anniversary, milestones, challenges, and ongoing efforts. A teacher at heart, she couldn't resist using a whiteboard to organize data, such as the 1,129 students enrolled in the 2024-2025 academic year, distributed among undergraduate (660), master's (403), continuing education (48), and Esmuc Junior (18) programs. Fifty-one percent of the students are from Catalonia, 29% from Spain, 7% from the European Union, and 12% from outside the EU.

Of everything you've planned to celebrate the 25th anniversary, what are you most excited about?

— Jordi Savall had never conducted any of the Esmuc's major ensembles before, and we're thrilled he's coming, because early music has always been very important at the school, especially in the beginning. However, what excites me most is that we haven't put together a program designed from the top down, but rather one that's very collaborative and involves a huge amount of activity.

Six years ago I was on the ARA A number of shortcomings, some affecting the building, others related to the renewal of instruments... What has been resolved and what remains an outstanding issue?

— We've been doing a lot as much as we've been able. We've had two budget extensions. Now we're operating on the 2023 budget. So, we've had very little investment capacity, but we have accomplished things. For example, our pianos are 25 years old, and in the last five years we've begun a very well-planned renovation process. Keep in mind that these pianos are played 14 hours a day. We're restoring two pianos every year. We've also updated the school's sound system.

There was a problem with the roof.

— Yes, when I arrived in 2019, I found that a piece of the ceiling had fallen down. This was repaired. Now we've just installed another one to create immersive sound. In other words, we're adapting the school to the contemporary world. It's true that there's a budget constraint, but it doesn't only affect Esmuc. These extensions affect everyone.

And it's a good thing that the Generalitat's latest budgets were expansionary.

— They grew, but not to the extent they should have, in our case. The Department of Education has many urgent matters that don't need explaining.

Why does Esmuc, being a higher education center, continue to depend on the Department of Education and Vocational Training and not on the Department of Research and Universities?

— The situation in Spain is highly unusual within the European context, where in almost every country music conservatories are based on universities. Since the establishment of the European Higher Education Area in 2010, most European countries have transformed their higher music schools into music universities or universities of the arts. In Germany, this process is nearly complete. In the Nordic and Eastern European countries, it is already finished. Only three countries still maintain their higher conservatories outside the university system.

France, Italy and Spain.

— That's right. The Paris National Conservatory of Music and Dance is under the Ministry of Culture. Italian conservatories are each under their own jurisdiction. And in Spain, they fall under the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training, and Sports, in terms of the regulations governing them, and in our case, also under the Department of Education of the Generalitat (Catalan government). The Basque Country has it under Research and Universities, but the other regions under Education. This has created many inequalities for students. The 2025-2026 academic year is the first year that tuition scholarships are available for students pursuing higher artistic studies. Until now, there was only a basic scholarship of 300 euros. This inequality has been addressed, but many others remain. There is a scholarship from the Department of Research and Universities for students who live far from Barcelona, ​​such as in the Pyrenees, but if they come to the Esmuc (Catalan School of Music), they are not eligible for this scholarship. Other issues include the fact that universities have the authority to decide on and propose their programs of study. We do not.

It also cannot train doctoral students, which harms the research that could be done at Esmuc.

— This is awful. And we're encountering it a lot. Many of our faculty members do research, but there are many difficulties in artistic research. You feel like you're constantly rowing against the wind. In this sense, one of the great things that has been achieved in the last two years is our integration into a European university alliance. Esmuc is the only Spanish non-university center that is part of a European university alliance. Moreover, it's like being in the Champions League, because we're with the Norwegian Academy of Music; the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna; the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki; the Paris Conservatoire; the National University of Music in Bucharest; the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague; and the Faculty of Music of the Belgrade University of Arts.

How has the profile of the Esmuc student changed?

— He is becoming increasingly versatile and has a phenomenal research profile.

Are there more instrumentalist-performers than theorists or composers in higher education institutions?

— There are more of us numerically, but that's because society needs more musicians to play. Each year we have 60 classical students, 23 jazz students, 11 early music students, 4 copla students, 4 traditional music students, 3 flamenco students, 23 pedagogy students, 9 composition students, 9 musicology students, 5 production and management students, and 4 sound engineering students. Sometimes people get angry with me. In years when many cellists haven't finished their studies, we enroll fewer cellists, and we're always working to ensure the orchestral ensembles function properly.

Pep Moliner explained that there was a problem with the teaching of copla.He said that the job market probably doesn't justify a higher education.

— Pep has that idea, yes. It happens that many copla musicians are already working with professional degrees, and since there's so much job insecurity in the copla sector, why pursue higher education? But the truth is, we fill all the places. I mean, there are only four, but they fill up. There have been years when things have happened, like when three flabiol players applied and none for other instruments. We took them, and the following year I didn't hold any flute classes. I had a real row... "The director of the Esmuc hates copla." The truth is, we had taken three.

Is there a problem with job prospects?

— There's an issue that affects three areas: traditional music, flamenco, and copla: how do we introduce the instruments from these genres into municipal music schools? If we could do that, there would also be more job opportunities afterward. It would be a virtuous cycle, and perhaps it's something we still need to address.

How can teachers be retained in an ecosystem as competitive as the European one?

— A professor who worked at a prestigious Spanish higher education institution left because he didn't feel it was a school. We, on the other hand, have a strong sense of belonging, a feeling that everything is unfinished, which might be awful for some, but also makes you feel like you're contributing to building the school. Esmuc is one of the few schools in Europe truly built on pillars different from the rest, seriously, and these origins should be applauded. Europe has two pivotal moments in higher education: in 1088, the founding of the University of Bologna, the Alma Mater Studiorum, and in 1795, the creation of the Paris Conservatory, which began as a kind of vocational training program to prepare musicians and singers for the Republic's celebrations. There were also the courts and the Church, but these are the public institutions. The Paris Conservatory, born as a vocational training center, became the model followed to build musical education in Europe. Esmuc, and indeed all European conservatories, face the challenge of reconciling two perspectives: the French one, focused on training musicians, and the university perspective, the heart of musical study. Esmuc has been conceived this way since its inception. We are sometimes criticized for including too many theoretical subjects, and this is precisely the essence of what I'm telling you. We want students to play exceptionally well, but not only that: our studies must be relevant to our times, and we must be able to transcend the inertia caused by this "play, play, play" mentality and by the logic of teachers who wield absolute power over their students, and of students who allow themselves to be molded because they know that one day they will be teachers themselves.

One source of pride is the musicians who have passed through Esmuc, from Silvia Pérez Cruz to Joan Magrané, and from Rosalía (who previously studied at the Taller de Músics) to Raquel García-Tomás. Which ones stand out in the last five years?

— There are many. The Vivancos Quartet and Atenea, saxophonist Aina López (who is now in the United States), Marçal Perramon, Rita Payés, Lucía Fumero, Jofre Bardolet, the Tarta Relena sisters, conductor Maria Mauri, Mar Vilaseca (who is at Juilliard), composer Lucia Alta Virginia Tato, soprano Clara Renom (who has performed Sea and sky), Alberto Espinosa (who has taken over the Cor del Liceu)... And Adrián Rincón, who is the first blind graduate in conducting in all of Spain. And, of course, Maria Isidoro, who, besides being a singer, has studied medicine and is now doing her medical residency exam. From sonology, Jana Blanco, who is highly specialized in acoustics and also plays in the ska band Les Testarudes.

Is it possible to train musicians by isolating ourselves from politics, from the job market...?

— No, but we talk about it a lot. All these students have a core subject called professional development, which I used to teach, and I invited all the unions to explain things to them. They're not isolated at all. In fact, they're very active. We have a student association and a very active feminist group.

Since becoming CEO, what job are you most satisfied with?

— The alliance with other European centers is fantastic. It's a step towards internationalization, but also a message to all those who don't want us in this university sphere. The Spanish Ministry of Universities gives €130,000 to each university that's part of a European alliance, but Esmuc doesn't receive any funding. I should mention that the Ministry of Education has promised me we'll receive this funding next year. We'll see if it's true. The Esmuc Jazz Project is also fantastic, and now we're doing the European Jazz Project using the same model. I'm also proud of the scholarships: for several years now, we've dedicated €50,000 annually to helping students who are truly struggling.

And what are you least satisfied with?

— We haven't achieved full parity for our staff. That is, for Esmuc students to be on equal footing with university students, and for faculty to be on equal footing with university faculty in terms of salary, teaching, incentives... These two issues are my battle.