Blai Soler

Born in Barcelona in 1977, Blai Soler studied music at Barcelona's Conservatoire, where he specialized in violin. In 1996 he moved to London to continue his violin training with Felix Andrievsky at the Royal College of Music. Subsequently he studied composition at King's College London, where he completed a Master's degree under George Benjamin and later his PhD - supervised by George Benjamin and Silvina Milstein.

In 2006 Blai Soler's Cantus Firmus was premiered at the Wigmore Hall by clarinettist Cristo Barrios, who, together with the Arditti Quartet, also gave the first performance of Blai's Clarinet Quintet in 2008. That year The Oboe Band (a baroque double reed ensemble) premiered Oboes, a piece commissioned by The Oboe Band with funds provided by the Performing Rights Society (PRS). In November 2008 Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne gave a performance of his In das schwarze Grün at Liverpool's Cornerstone Festival

He participated in the 2009 International Ensemble Modern Composition Seminar, for which he wrote d'amor i mort, premiered by the Ensemble Modern in Frankfurt and later played in Munich. Earlier in 2009 his piano trio, Tankas, was given the first performance at the Festival Nous Sons in Barcelona, performed by the Trío Arbós.

In June 2011 the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Clement Power, premiered Blai's Plain-Chant at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall. The work was very well received, prompting the London Philharmonic Orchestra to commission yet another work from him, A Walpurgis Night, for large ensemble, which was given its first performance at the Royal Festival Hall in September 2011 by the LPO's Foyle Future Firsts, conducted by Nicholas Collon. Plain-Chant received a further performance in September 2011 at the opening concert of the Klangspuren Festival in Austria, by the Tiroler Symphonieorchester Innsbruck, conducted by Franck Ollu. That September Blai's music also featured at the Festival Musica in Strasbourg.

In January 2012 Tankas was given its US premiere in New York City by the Glass Farm Ensemble.

Blai Soler's works have been broadcast by the BBC-Radio 3, the Austrian ORF, the Spanish Radio Nacional de España and Catalunya Música as well as the German HR2-Kultur. Part of his output is published by Editorial Boileau.

As a violinist he had been awarded prizes at international competitions (Júlio Cardona (1997), Pablo Sarasate (2001), etc.) and had performed as a soloist in the UK and continental Europe as well as South America.

Blai Soler is also a conductor. He was the founder and director of the Blyth Ensemble (2004-2007) with whom he conducted pieces by contemporary Spanish composers. He has also conducted his own music (In das schwarze Grün and Tumults, Visions) and that of prominent 20th century composers, such as Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire and Kammersymphonie, op. 9.