Joaquim Uriach: "We would like to contribute to improving the entire environment of the Palau de la Música"

Barcelona953,049 people visited the Palau de la Música in 2025, 93,000 more than in 2024. The 678 scheduled concerts had 555,750 spectators; the modernist building received 358,519 visitors, and 38,780 people attended different own and private acts and events. Joaquim Uriach (Barcelona, 1966), president of the Orfeó Català Association and the Orfeó Català Foundation - Palau de la Música Catalana, speaks about these record figures and the institution's present.

Is it easier to manage the Palau de la Música when these figures are reached?

— This data doesn't come out of nowhere. There is a very good team and very good work has been done. We have it very easy because the people who work here are very motivated and know that they are doing work that transcends a lot. Making music is also transforming people, and this is very noticeable here.

One of the objectives of the 2023-2026 strategic plan was to reach one million visitors. In 2022 there were 600,000 and by 2025 they had already reached 953,049.

— Yes, and we are very satisfied because in these four years we have maintained quality and excellence and at the same time we have been able to grow. We have also grown in economic resources, which we have to generate and seek ourselves, and it is not easy. And we have also grown in the number of members, which is sometimes forgotten that we are an association: now we have about 2,400.

What has been done to arrive at these visitor and spectator data?

— Circumstances and environment can help you more or less, but what is evident is that work must be done and managed, and here it has been managed very well. Behind it there is a lot of organizational work and robust management infrastructures. For example, we have created a specific department for visits. Before, the audiences, both those who visited the building and those who came to the concerts, were in a single department, mixed together. Following the strategic plan, they were separated to be dealt with specifically. Regarding artistic programming, it is true that artists love to come and play at the Palau de la Música. It is one of the most attractive concert halls, along with the Musikverein in Vienna and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, but the programming work done by the artistic department directed by Joan Oller and Mercedes Conde should be highlighted.

Regarding patronage, the objective was to reach 2.3 million euros annually.

— And precisely there are already 2.3 million, which is practically 10% of the budget. Companies have always responded very well. And individual benefactors too. And it's not just the economic contribution they make, but the connection and commitment that is created.

The reform of the Spanish patronage law has surely contributed to it, especially in individual patronage.

— In the business world there have also been changes in the law, but not the expected ones. However, people do not make their contributions to the Palau de la Música for fiscal reasons, which is very good and helps, but out of commitment to music and the choral world, or to what the Palau de la Música means, or to Catalan identity.

If we can put one but in the balance of 2025, it is the Palau's Gate on Via Laietana: it was to be inaugurated at the end of 2024 and this summer it is still under construction. What is the forecast?

— It is indeed a but, but it does not depend on us, but on the administrations, as is always the case when you start a project. We now have the licenses, and the forecast is to inaugurate it in the autumn. The Palau is a bit hidden, and having a space on Via Laietana will give it a lot of visibility. It will be the new entrance to the Palau: we will put the ticket offices there, a new shop, there will be an exhibition area and an immersive one, but not visual, rather auditory. We would like to contribute to improving the entire surroundings of the Palau. We are already doing so with Espai Palau, on Ortigosa street, which was a modernist factory and now houses the choir school.

Artistically, the trip of the Orfeó Català and the Chamber Choir to Los Angeles has been the great milestone of recent years. Since 2023, has there been anything else so special for the history of the Palau de la Música?

— All the tours that the Orfeó has done have been very special. Remember when it went to Berlin to perform with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Petrenko. That was wonderful, and we thought it was the peak. And then came the concerts in Hamburg, in Stockholm... The Orfeó has a very well-regarded artistic level. Daniele Gatti said the other day that he couldn't believe it was an amateur choir. We work to maintain this level. Reaching it is difficult, but maintaining it is even more so. But we will surely find other milestones. For example, next season we have concerts with Dudamel, who will make his first tour of Europe as principal conductor of the New York Philharmonic and has wanted the Orfeó to be present: from October 10 to 22, we will go with him to the Philharmonie de Paris, the Auditorio Nacional de Música (Madrid), the Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), and the Musikverein (Vienna), in addition to the concert at L’Auditori de Barcelona.

Satisfied with Xavier Puig as director of the Orfeó Català?

— Very satisfied, the truth is. He is a very, very valid person. It shows that he has conducted choirs, but also orchestras. He has a lot of judgment and is very brave. The singers are delighted with him, because, in addition, he has a very close way of transmitting. Xavier Puig trained in Germany. He speaks German very well and has many international contacts. He has been a great continuator of the internationalization that began with Simon Halsey. And at the same time, he is a great defender of Catalan musical heritage. He combines very well what we have here at the Palau, from Beethoven on one hand and Clavé on the other.

One of the new features of the 2026-2027 season is the creation of the figure of the guest heritage composer, who will be Father Antoni Soler, from the 18th century. When you take these types of actions, do you agree with L’Auditori, which as a public facility does have the foundational mandate to carry out heritage recovery?

— We do talk about it. There is a very good relationship between L'Auditori, the Liceu and the Palau.

Better than ever?

— Better than ever, yes. In fact, the European Concert Hall Organisation (ECHO) is surprised that there is such a good relationship between three cultural entities in Barcelona, because they say that outside it is not so common.

Is the relationship with the other modernist houses equally fluid?

— Yes, also. For example, one of the people we have on the advisory board is Marta Lacambra, from La Pedrera. We also have a very good relationship with the Sagrada Família and the Sant Pau Art Nouveau Site, with which we offer combined tours. All in all, it's great for Barcelona's cultural life.

The Palau de la Música is part of Barcelona's tourist attractions and is located in a neighborhood that is precisely suffering from the pressure of excessive tourism. How is this managed?

— We want there to be no mass tourism for leisure, but cultural tourism. In Barcelona there are three types of tourism: professional, leisure, and cultural. We opt for cultural tourism, which is not so massified. Many families and people with cultural sensitivity come here, contributing greatly to the improvement of the neighborhood. We want to further promote cultural tourism, so that people come to Barcelona for culture. There are already initiatives like Barcelona Obertura, and we are very committed to them and believe there is still a lot of room for growth in this cultural sense.