Jordi Roch, the voice of the Schubertíada, has died.

BarcelonaThere are characters you think will never die. Simply because you've seen them your whole life. This is the case with... Jordi RochDr. Roch, who died this Monday at the age of 94, is remembered from the very first concerts I attended as a child. I knew who he was from seeing his picture in newspapers and magazines. Dr. Roch (he was a medical doctor and practiced until his retirement) always made his presence known. Not out of vanity or to show off, but because his presence as a spectator revealed a contagious passion for music. Later, I came to know and befriend a witty, intelligent, and inquisitive man, an excellent conversationalist who was always eager to discover or rediscover things that greatly interested him, and who shared them with the affability and generosity that always characterized him.

Jordi Roch was no ordinary spectator: he was a facilitator, a manager, an organizer... and a motivator. He convinced young international performers to make room in their busy schedules to perform during the second half of August in a small village in the Alt Empordà region. It was the setting for Schubertiades, which for many were true rituals where words, music, and silence formed a unique ceremony that, from Vilabertran, heralded the coming autumn to the rhythm of beautiful miller's songs. In many cases, Jordi Roch detected innate talent among those young pianists and singers at the beginning of a tentative career that, in the long run, would become glorious and internationally acclaimed. But all this happened after Jordi Roch had already discovered them and spoke with pride and conviction: Matthias Goerne and Juliane Banse are two such examples.

But Jordi Roch had been a driving force and leader behind many other initiatives, both within and outside of Jeunesses Musicales: in 1963, he contributed to the founding—along with Manuel Capdevila—of the Barcelona International Music Festival, which brought so much joy to a city that was not yet a cultural or musical hub. To this must be added Roch's ability to promote young artists, encourage new compositions from established musicians in Spain, and present concerts, operas, and recitals in diverse cultural venues, from the Palau de la Música to the Casal del Metge, as well as auditoriums throughout the country.

Despite his age, Jordi Roch never missed a single one. And, attentive to the signs of the times, he knew how to embrace new media and new channels of dissemination, including the internet and social networks as essential promoters and platforms for the dissemination of musical events.

Jordi Roch has now begun his own personal WinterreiseFortunately, the voice of the Schubertiad that he spurred on will continue to sing the finest of melodies, with the enduring memory of a great man of culture.