From Thursday 17 September until Sunday 20 September L’Auditori de Barcelona opened its doors to the International Barcelona Quartet Biennale, the inaugural project for the 2020 -2021 season.

With four days of morning and evening concerts, the Casals, Modigliani, Marmen, Cosmos, Diotima and Dalia quartets took their places on the stages of Hall 2, Oriol Martorell and Hall 4, Alicia de Larrocha to perform works by contemporary composers and composers through the ages. With the emphasis on Catalan composers, we were able to enjoy pieces by established figures such as Eduard Toldrà and Robert Gerhard. Quartets by five of our most prominent contemporary composers could also be heard at the Biennale Raquel García-Tomás and Jordi Cervelló, premiered works by Hèctor Parra, Josep Soler and Luis Codera Puzo.


The first edition of the festival focused on the figure of Franz Joseph Haydn, to whom the four morning concerts were dedicated, and also included performances of pieces by Ludwig van Beethoven, Claude Debussy and Dmitri Shostakovich.

The Barcelona Quartet Biennale was greatly appreciated by the public, with six of the eight concerts sold out and average occupancy of 91%. The four day event could also be followed via streaming free of charge on L’Auditori Digital, the new platform for the L’Auditori de Barcelona that allows you to watch the season live by subscription.

The next Barcelona Quartet Biennale will be in 2022. The Barcelona International Quartet Biennale is an initiative of the Cuarteto Casals, co-curated with L’Auditori de Barcelona and sponsored by the Department of Culture and Barcelona Provincial Council. Other collaborators include The Institut Ramon Llull and L’Atlàntida, Vic.