Leading International Composers: Francisco Coll

Composer-conductor Francisco Coll has found advocates in the world’s leading orchestras and ensembles, including the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, LA Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, and Ensemble Modern. His music has been heard at festivals from Aldeburgh, Aix and Aspen to the BBC Proms, Verbier and Tanglewood; his work is performed by leading instrumentalists, including Kirill Gerstein, Javier Perianes, Pekka Kuusisto, Sol Gabetta, Augustin Hadelich, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Sean Shibe, and Cuarteto Casals.

Born in Valencia in 1985, Coll studied at the Valencia and Madrid Conservatoires before moving to London to work privately with Thomas Adès (as his only pupil to-date) and with Richard Baker at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Coll’s concert opener Hidd’n Blue was premiered in 2012 by the London Symphony Orchestra and has since been taken up by the SWR Sinfonieorchester, Münchner Philharmoniker, and the Cincinnati Symphony. His 2014 chamber opera Café Kafka, to a text by Meredith Oakes, was premiered to great acclaim by Aldeburgh Music, Opera North and the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, and has since been produced at Valencia’s Palau de les Arts; it receives its Czech premiere in a concert staging from NeoKlasik Orchestra in September 2024 at Prague's Café Louvre. 

In 2016 Coll made his BBC Proms debut with the Four Iberian Miniatures for violin and chamber orchestra, conducted by Thomas Adès. The same year Mural was premiered by the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg conducted by Gustavo Gimeno, who has become one of Coll’s strongest supporters. Turia, a concerto for guitar and seven players was premiered in 2017 by Jacob Kellerman and Norrbotten NEO conducted by Christian Karlsen; a version for guitar and chamber orchestra received its first performance in 2021 at the Uppsala International Guitar Festival.

In 2018-19 Coll was Composer-in-Residence with Camerata Bern, a position that culminated in the premiere of the Double Concerto Les Plaisirs Illuminés with Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Sol Gabetta as soloists and the composer himself conducting. A Violin Concerto for Kopatchinskaja, commissioned by the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, London Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, the NTR ZaterdagMatinee and Bamberger Symphoniker, was premiered in February 2020. His Cello Concerto premiered with Sol Gabetta in 2022 with the Philharmonie de Paris, conducted by the composer, and recieved its UK premiere at the 2024 BBC Proms with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Tianyi Lu. 

Plaisirs Illuminés, released on Alpha in 2021, features his double concerto for Kopatchinskaja and Gabetta, with Coll conducting Camerata Bern – in 2022 it won the BBC Music Magazine concerto prize. A portrait disc of his orchestral works, with Gustavo Gimeno conducting, was released on Pentatone in 2021.

In 2019 he became the first composer to receive an International Classical Music Award (ICMA). In 2022 he was awarded two more: the Orchestra award and the Contemporary Music prize for the orchestral portrait disc. Coll conducted his own music at the ICMA awards ceremony that year.

From 2018-2020 Coll was Composer-in-Residence with the Orquesta de València. In 2022 he conducted them in his new 11-minute orchestral work Lilith; 2022 also saw the Toronto Symphony Orchestra give the premiere of his latest orchestral work Elysian, and the premiere of Coll’s Piano Trio for Trio Isimsiz. Coll’s Cello Concerto for Sol Gabetta premiered with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France in November 2022, conducted by the composer. In 2024 the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Gustavo Gimeno  premiered Ciudad sin sueño¸ a new work for piano and orchestra for Javier Perianes, which made its North American debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. 

2024 sees Coll continue his multi-season role as Artistic Partner to the Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, as both composer and conductor, which began in autumn 2022. The 24/25 season also sees Kirill Gerstein premiere and tour Coll's Two Waltzes Towards Civilization, as well as the Spanish premiere of Ciudad sin sueño. Coll's next stage work is based on Ibsen's An Enemy of the People. 

Winners of the 2025 Naumburg Chamber Music Competition and recent prizewinners at the 2025 Bordeaux and Wigmore Hall International Quartet Competitions, the Terra String Quartet is a vibrant young international ensemble based in New York City. They are composed of graduates of The Juilliard School, The New England Conservatory, Harvard University, and the Curtis Institute of Music. Known for their sincere storytelling, commitment to artistic excellence, and versatile approach to repertoire, TSQ strives to foster conversation and genuine human connection through their performances and pedagogy.

TSQ is the 2024-26 Fellowship Ensemble-in-Residence at the Yale School of Music, where they coach undergraduate chamber music ensembles. They were also the 2024–25 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts, where they embarked on a project to curate unique programs centered around Benjamin Britten’s string quartets, including a commission by composer Juri Seo. TSQ is also invested in education and community work, having been the ‘23-24 Project Music Heals Us Arts Leadership Ensemble. Their mentors and coaches include the members of the Brentano Quartet, Ara Gregorian, and Marcy Rosen. 

TSQ has also won top prizes at the 2023 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, the 2023 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition, and the 2022 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition. In their spare time, they enjoy playing Mahjong together and learning about instruments and bows.

Praised for his “excellent technical skills and singing tone” (American Record Guide) and for his “exuberant and decisive interpretations” (Dagens Nyheter), Jacob Kellermann has established himself as one of Scandinavia's most visible and versatile guitarists, with a varied repertoire of concertos, solo works and chamber music. Born in Stockholm, he began his guitar studies at the age of eight.

Regularly performing in major Swedish venues, he has appeared internationally in venues including Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Prinzregententheater and Gasteig Munich, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Seoul Art Center and Brucknerhaus Linz. He has partaken in festivals such as Enescu Festival (Romania), Festival Dag in de Branding (the Netherlands) and the El Jem Festival (Tunisia). As a soloist, he has worked with orchestras such as London Philharmonic Orchestra (UK), the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gävle Symphony Orchestra (Sweden), Tallin Chamber Orchestra (Estonia), Querétaro Philharmonic Orchestra (Mexiko) and Incheon Philharmonic Orchestra (South Korea). Upcoming soloist engagements for 2022-23 include BBC Philharmonic, Spanish National Orchestra, Bielefelder Philharmoniker and Orquesta de Valencia.   

In 2020 Jacob performed at the official award ceremony of the Nobel Prize, an honor bestowed to a selected few Swedish musicians.

Jacob Kellermann has recorded three Albums on the label BIS records: S. Gubaidulina “Repentance” – 2014, Schubert Sonatas – 2018 and  “Rodrigo, Harden & Coll – Guitar works 2020”. His third album, focusing on Spanish guitar concertos, was released in December  2020 and was awarded a Swedish Grammy for best classical album of the year as well as being chosen as #1 Record of the year by Swedens largest daily newspaper Dagens Nyheter. The Times (UK) called it a “distinctive release”,  and the NRC Handelsblad (the Netherlands) described “transparent, tight orchestral sound and excellent interpretation of the guitar part”. It was also listed as Diapason d’or of June 2021. 

Equally in demand as a chamber musician, he regularly performs with string players and singers all over Europe and have made critically acclaimed appearances and tours in Germany, France, The Netherlands, Czech Republic, China, Japan and South Korea.

With an extensive repertoire that often features his own transcriptions, he constantly searches for new expressive possibilities for the guitar. Close collaborations with numerous composers including Sofia Gubaidulina, Toshio Hosokawa, Jose M. Sanchez-Verdu, Francisco Coll, Jesper Nordin, Lisa Streich and Benjamin Staern has resulted in numerous works and concertos written directly for him. He has premiered new guitar concertos with major Scandinavian new music ensembles BIT20 Bergen and Norrbotten NEO.

He is also the co-founder of The Netherlands based group New European Ensemble, performing the 20th and 21th century repertoire in conducted and unconducted chamber settings - from Schönberg, Boulez and Henze to world premieres by composer of the next generation. 

Jacob Kellermann has studied in Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands and Germany. He received his "Meisterklasse Diplom" under prof. Franz Halasz at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich in 2011. He plays on an instrument by the German luthier Matthias Dammann.