Ignasi Solé Piñas

Ignasi Solé Piñas (Born September 21 of 1991), is a Catalan-born cellist, pedagogue, and conductor. He plays a Paul Bysch cello made in 1953 in France
== Early Years and Education ==
Ignasi Solé Piñas was born in 1991 in Amposta, at the age of 3, started his cello and music studies at the private Music Academy Hiberus d'Amposta, with the disciple of, soon enough Ignasi showed great talent for music with easyness to play cello followed by a pitch-perfect ear. Although his early start in the cello scene, that did not stop Ignasi to have a normal childhood, aside from his musical studies, Ignasi played videogames and excelled in Sports, more precisely on the Sport of athletics, where he made it to twice to the Regional Final Cup in Reus and Tarragona.
Ignasi's first teacher was the disciple of Peter Thiemann, Nayade Martínez, a peripatetic cello teacher that provided individual cello lessons to several schools around the Province of Tarragona. Thanks to his teacher, during his youth Ignasi won several prizes for young musicians, such as CIM and other competitions in the province, enabling him to earn a position in the Summer Academy for young musicians of the Camerata S.XXI.	
At the age of 14, Ignasi was accepted at the Conservatori de Música de Tortosa, with Karen Martínez, the disciple of the famous cello pedagogue Iñaki Etxepare, and debuted as a soloist with the Student String Ensemble of the Conservatory playing the 1st Movement of the Cello Concerto of Joseph Haydn in C. 
Years later in 2011, Ignasi was accepted in the Conservatori el Liceu de Barcelona with the Principal Soloist of the Spanish National Symphony Orchestra, Angel Luís Quintana, who pushed Ignasi to his limits to help him unlock all the potential he had, granting him the position of Solo Cello in the Young Opera of Catalonia, with Maestro Juan Sebastián Acostaduring the 4 years that he studied in Barcelona.
In 2015 after finishing his Bachelor studies, Ignasi wins a position to course a Master's Degree in Cello Performance at Codarts, University for the Arts in Rotterdam, the Netherlands with the internationally famous cellist Herre-Jan Stegenga, a direct disciple of the french cellist Paul Tortelier.
== Career ==
=== The Barcelona Years ===
Ignasi made is Orchestral debut in 2011 when he was hired as a solo cello by the Young Opera of Catalonia, from 2011 to 2015 Ignasi performed some of the most important and iconic Operas in the repertoire like Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Madama Butterfly, Don Giovanni, Rigoletto, and l'Elisir d'Amore. in 2014 Ignasi made is solo debut with the Benicarló Concertband, where he premiered the Concerto for WindBand and Cello from Johan de Meij "Casanova". During his years in Barcelona, Ignasi also performed several recitals for solo cello, with his repertoire including mostly Bach Cello Suites for Cello solo by Johan Sebastian Bach in the Liceu Conservatory, and the City Council of Barcelona. 
=== The Netherlands Years ===
After 4 successful years in Barcelona, Ignasi moves to Rotterdam in 2015 to spend 2 years doing his Master's Degree in Cello Performance with cellist Herre-Jan Stegenga, where his abilities were first spotted by the current concertmaster of Opera Vlaanderen, Kristie Su, who paired Ignasi with her younger sister and violinist Karen Su and together with the pianist Sander Lekkerkerk, founded what it would be one of the best young Piano Trios in the Netherlands, the Solé Piano Trio. Mentored by Herre-Jan Stegenga and Igor Grupmann and Vesna Grupmann ( Who were the former students of Jascha Heifetz, and David Fiódorovich Óistraj), the Trio Solé participated in several Chamber Music Festivals throughout the Netherlands, including the cities of Zuthpen, Den Haag, Rotterdam and Leiden, where they were the artists in Residence of the Lunchbreak Concert Series. After successfully performing in the Rotterdam Chamber Competition, Prix d'Harmonie, Trio Solé was invited to perform the Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 in the Music Hall of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, de Doelen, where they performed before the famous Dutch Piano Trio Van Baerle and were offered master classes with them.
Ignasi's footprint in Rotterdam was not solely based in chamber music, but also as a soloist and orchestral player, for his abilities brought him to be part of the Valery Gergiev Summer Festival Orchestra in Rotterdam, in which he performed Sergei Prokofiev, Romeo and Juliet Ballet Suite, with the Orchestras of Codarts and the Royal Conservatory of Den Haag, under the Baton of Maestro Valery Gergiev. His fixation for orchestra brought him to be the principal cello of Camerata Rotterdam for 1 year and a half, and to earn the position of Academist at the Orchestral Academy of the Wroclaw Philharmonic Orchestraand to study with the cellists of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra for one year.
During 2016 and 2017, Ignasi was invited to be part of the Zuthpen Cello Quartet and its Cello Octet let by cellist Jeroen den Herder
, and learns Orchestra Conducting from Hans Leenders, a former assistant of Valery Gergiev.
=== The Scottish Years ===
In 2017, Ignasi heads to Aberdeen, Scotland to work for Sistema Scotland, as a strings specialist and musician. During his first months, Ignasi makes contact with the University of Aberdeen and becomes the Assistant Conductor of Chris Gray (Artistic Director of Scottish Opera), providing help to the Symphony Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra is known as the Marischal Chamber Orchestra. During his first year in Aberdeen, Ignasi meets Tobias Patrick Wolf, conductor of the King's Philharmonic Orchestra, and invites Ignasi to perform in his Orchestra and offers him to play as a soloist. In the audience was Mr. Alan Cooper, who wrote the following review about his playing:"In the first half, virtuoso cellist Ignasi Solé Piñas who also plays in the orchestra and is a Lower Strings Musician at Sistema Scotland performed two Sarabandes from J. S. Bach’s solo cello Suites, first from Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007 and then from Suite No. 5 in c minor, BWV 1011. My goodness, he certainly made his cello sing out beautifully in both. The minor Sarabande was emotionally powerful and passionate.
In 2018, Ignasi joins the Aberdeen Sinfonietta as a Cello Tutti, where he meets the Music Director of Opera North Garry Walker, and encourages Ignasi to keep pursuing a career as an Orchestra Conductor, for Garry Walker himself was also a cellist before becoming an orchestra conductor. 
In 2019, Ignasi is hired by Sound Scotland to the premier and perform a set of Operas for Children written and composed by Ruth Rose and Joe Stollery, called Flat Pack Opera, which they toured around 4 Primary Schools in Aberdeen and the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital gathering huge success. In the same year, Ignasi earns the position of Music Director of the University of Aberdeen Symphony Orchestra and the Marischal Chamber Orchestra, replacing its former Music Director Chris Gray, after 8 years at the front of the orchestras.
That same summer, Ignasi conducts the newly formed professional ensemble Camerata Big Noise Torry, at St. FIttick's Church in Aberdeen, a concert aimed for the community of Torry and the children of Big Noise, to delight them with a lunchbreak concert to make them come together. In this concert, Ignasi not only conducted but played as a soloist alongside his colleague Marina Sánchez Cabello, they both performed the Concerto in G minor for 2 Cellos, Strings and Basso continuo, RV 531 from Antonio Vivaldi. Mr. Alan Cooper, the music critic, and wrote this review for them:
"Conductor Ignasi Sole joined the ensemble as one of the soloists in Vivaldi’s ‘Double Cello Concerto’. The second of the cello soloists was Marina Sanchez-Cabello both originally from Spain. The precision of their duo playing was admirable as was their rich tone and strength of sound. Theirs was a truly extrovert performance. In the second slow movement, the two cellists are almost on their own, although not quite, because they were supported by an excellent continuo cellist Ulla-Riikka Kuisma, originally from Finland. She gave the music a marvelous steady background. In the two outer movements, the rest of the strings sounded delightfully clean and clear."
from Antonio Vivaldi in Torry St. Fittick's Church in Aberdeen
The success of Camerata Big Noise Torry would not only remain in Torry, for they would be invited to perform in the opening gala of the Art Gallery of Aberdeen, where they would perform the same repertoire in front of an audience that enjoyed the concert until the very last moment. 
In late 2019, Ignasi was invited to form part of the Jury Panel for the Grampian Young Orchestra Competition and gets invited to be the new member of the Board, alongside Dr. Roger Williams, and Aden Mazur. After his successes as a conductor and cellist, Ignasi becomes a scholar at Guildhall School of Music and Drama with maestro Scott Wilson. Ignasi uses this teaching to earn his 3rd Music Director position with Inverurie Orchestra in early 2020, which made him appear in the national newspapers.
In 2020 Ignasi premiers a new composition for Cello Solo written and dedicated to him, by his colleague and friend Tobias Patrick Wolf, called " Episodes in a Song for Violoncello Solo", performed so brilliantly, that Mr. Alan Cooper wrote this review about it:‘Episodes in a Song’ for Violoncello (2020) was dare I say the best performance of the evening. I have come across Ignasi Solé Piñas several times and have always been impressed since I noticed him for the first time playing in Aberdeen Sinfonietta. He is also one of the tutors of Big Noise Torry and he led one of their performances in the hall of St. Fittick’s Church last Summer. ‘Episodes in a Song’ had soaring cello melodies, some almost ‘cantor-like’ I thought. In addition, however, the cello became a percussion instrument. The body was struck leaving some of the strings ringing out. There were various sorts of pizzicato sometimes once again leaving the strings ringing. It was a fascinating performance which I will certainly remember. Well done Tobias and Ignasi!Currently Ignasi won the 1st edition of the Conducting Fellowship with Un Poco Artist Managementwhich awards him with rehearlsas and concerts with Brae Singers and Scotland and also with the ensemble German Winds, offering him to conduct them in the Nuremberg Castle.
== Discography ==
Year	Album
2016	Trio Solé- Mendelssohn Piano Trio in d minor
2019	Concerto in G minor for 2 Cellos, Strings and Basso continue, RV 531. Antonio Vivaldi
2020	Episodes in a Song for Violoncello Solo (2020) by Tobias Patrick Wolf
==In the media==
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==External links==
* Ignasi Solé Piñas on linkedin
* Ignasi Solé Piñas on twitter
* Musicians - Strings - Big Noise - Sistema Scotland
* Ignasi Solé Piñas on instagram
* Ignasi Solé Piñas on Vimeo
==References==
Category:1991 births
Category:Catalan cellists
Category:Catalan classical cellists
Category:Pedagogues
Category:Conductors (music)
Category:Bachelor's degrees
Category:Master's degrees
Category:Education in Rotterdam
Category:Performing arts education
Category:Catalan people