Xavier Puig
About this Artist
Born in Cervera, in the province of Lleida, Xavier Puig i Ortiz started his music studies at Cervera Municipal Conservatory of Music with the piano and violin. He went on to expand his musical knowledge further at the Badalona Professional Conservatory of Music, where he received the qualifications to teach harmony, counterpoint, composition and instrumentation, under the tutelage of M. A. Hurtado, M. Roger, B. Casablancas and J. Soler.
In parallel, he began studying choral conducting at the International Choral Conducting Course in Lleida, studying under maestros Josep Prats, Johan Duijck, Laszlo Heltay and Jordi Casas. Puig i Ortiz continued his training as a choral conductor at the European Conducting Course taught by Pierre Cao in Catalonia and at the Académie Intenationale de Pontarlier in France.
He was introduced to conducting by maestro Salvador Mas at the Barcelona Municipal Conservatory of Music, followed by studies at the Vienna Conservatory of Music. He was admitted to the University of Vienna in 1999, where he studied conducting under the tutelage of Leopold Hager.
In March 2002 he was awarded a permanent position to become assistant conductor for the Joven Orquesta Nacional de España (JONDE), and in July 2003 he also successfully became assistant conductor of the Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya (OBC), with which he has performed a number of different concerts.
He is resident conductor for the Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès (OSV), which he led between 2018 and 2025. Prior to this, he also had links to the orchestra through its Easter tour, which is dedicated to symphonic-choral repertoire. He has conducted the Cor de Cambra chamber choir at the Palau de la Música Catalana since 2018, and the chamber choir at the Orfeó Català since 2025, through which he has given a new energy to Catalan choral heritage, performing works by contemporary choral composers and creating a range of different choral projects on stage. He is also principal guest conductor for the Orquestra de Girona. Puig i Ortiz conducted the Cor de Cambra de l'Auditori Enric Granados de Lleida from 2002 to 2025, working on several projects featuring popular songs, in addition to classics from choral-orchestral repertoire. In terms of opera, he founded the Òpera de Tres Rals, dedicated to small-format opera, and has conducted a few different works for Òpera a Catalunya in Sabadell and Òpera Popular de Barcelona.
As guest conductor, he has conducted the Orquesta Nacional de España (ONE), Orquesta y Coro de RTVE, Orquesta Sinfónica de Navarra and the orchestras of Granada, Extremadura, Córdoba, and also the Orquestra Nacional Clàssica d’Andorra, Orquestra Barroca Catalana, the ensemble Kaleidoscop der Nationen de Viena, Orquestra Simfònica Julià Carbonell de les Terres de Lleida, Camerata XXI de Reus, Camerata Eduard Toldrà de Vilanova, Orquestra de Cambra de Granollers, Orquestra Camera Musicae, Lleidart Ensemble and Orquestra Terrassa 48.
Puig i Ortiz is a professor of orchestra and conducting at the Catalonia College of Music (ESMUC). He has acted as guest conductor for numerous youth orchestras and currently runs the Conducting Course for the Orquestra Terrassa 48.
He has recorded works by several Catalan composers, and has taken part in a number of educational programmes for TV3. He was artistic director for the first six years of the Festival de Pascua in Cervera, an event dedicated to Catalan classical music that he founded in 2011.