The Organists
Born in Barcelona in 1996 to a Minorcan family, Joan Seguí Mercadal began his musical studies at the age of five with the piano. In 2005 he joined the Escolania de Montserrat, where he commenced his organ studies in addition to violin and choral singing. During his years at the Escolania, he accompanied the choir as organist both at Montserrat and throughout Europe.
Since 2018, he has been a graduate of the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya, awarded with highest honours (where he studied with Óscar Candendo and Juan de la Rubia), and completed studies in collaboration with the Universität der Künste Berlin (where he was a pupil of Paolo Crivellaro). In 2021, he obtained his Master’s degree in Organ with the highest distinction at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart under Dr. Ludger Lohmann. Alongside his training as an organist, he has specialised as a continuo player under the guidance of teachers such as Luca Guglielmi, Mara Galassi, Arno Schneider and Jörg-Hannes Hahn.
He has further refined his studies in organ, basso continuo and improvisation through masterclasses with Montserrat Torrent, Jürgen Essl, Jürgen Kursawa, Naji Hakim, Daniel Roth, Monica Melcova, Roberto Fresco, Michel Bouvard and Luca Scandali, among others.
He is Titular Organist of the historic organ of the Basílica de Santa Maria del Mar, where he promotes the revival of the Music Chapel of Santa Maria del Mar. He also serves as Assistant Organist at the Sagrada Família, accompanying the Francesc Valls Choir.
In the field of pedagogy, he has served as Professor of Organ at the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón.
He has given solo organ recitals in Spain, Great Britain, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey and Germany. He is a member of the early music ensemble The Ministers of Pastime and regularly collaborates as harpsichordist and organist with orchestras, choirs and consorts such as the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC), the Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Orquestra Nacional Clàssica d’Andorra (ONCA), the Chamber Choir of the Palau de la Música Catalana, the Orfeó Català and Cantoría, among others.
In October 2018, he was awarded First Prize at the “El Primer Palau” Competition and the Catalunya Música Prize for his performance of Fantasy and Fugue on the Chorale “Ad nos, ad salutarem undam” by Franz Liszt at the Palau de la Música Catalana. In October 2020, he won First Prize at the II National Organ Competition “Francisco Salinas” in Burgos.
Other distinctions include First Prize at the III National Competition for Young Organists “Ioannes Baptista Cabanilles” (2016), the International Prize “Andrés Segovia – José Miguel Ruiz Morales” (2016), Second Prize at the Joseph Gabler Wettbewerb during the 2017 International Summer Academy of Music (Ochsenhausen, Germany), and the “Young Musical Talents” scholarship awarded by the Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation (2013).
In 2021, he released his first solo recording, BachGround, produced in collaboration with Catalunya Música and the record label Ficta, recorded at the Monastery of Poblet, and acclaimed by critics as one of the finest recordings of the year.
