IGNACIO JIMÉNEZ URQUÍA

COMPOSER

Photography: www.irisyjosephotography.com

Listen to my music

This is me...

What can I say?... I love music

I have always been surrounded by music since I was born. As a child, I got used to listening to music thanks to my parents. There was always music at home and my mother spent many hours playing the piano.

My music is a reflection of what I like to listen to. Sometimes, it is complex and hard to decipher but other times is direct and simple. Without fear or shame, I like to use different techniques to create the emotional resonance that I want. That is the best thing about music nowadays, the massive volume of references that we have. Music by great compositors from the past and form the present, that showed us vast world possibilities.

BIO

At a very early age, I started to study piano and afterwards, in my adolescence, I began to be interested in composition and then it's when I composed my first short piano pieces. Thanks to the guidance of two composition teachers, Enrique Blanco and Armando Zanón, I began to know about composition techniques and to organise ideas, finishing the Professional Diploma of Music with Mention of Honor in Composition. At the same time, I met my mentor, Antonio Zamorano, who guided me for many years and taught me composition, counterpoint, orchestration...

During my years at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid, I studied with the teachers: Manuel Martínez Burgos, Daniel Vega or Alfonso Romero, among others. Also, I was able to attend seminars given by important Spanish composers such as Antón García Abril, Valentín Ruiz, José Luis Turina or José María Sánchez Verdú.

Thanks to the Erasmus Scholarship, I had the opportunity to study at the Konijkli Conservatorium of Brussels for a year. It was a really mind-opening experience that allowed me to discover that wonderful city, full of life and musical culture, and to learn from the composers Jan van Landeghem and Peter Swinen.

I worked as a music consultant for RTVE where I had the privilege of collaborating in the last stage of the program "El Conciertazo". But soon, I began to combine composition with another passion: teaching. I have had the pleasure of teaching music in schools such a the Conservatorio de música de Guadalajara or "Progreso Musical" (Higher Education Music School) where I taught composing, harmony, history and music analysis until 2015 when I moved to London.

At present, I teach music in London, where I live and got married. Of course, I am still composing but now inspired by London and all my new experiences, because composing is like life, a long journey full of exciting paths.