URV Choral Society

The URV Choral Society was created by Montserrat Rios as a URV music society during the 2006-07 academic year in response to the interest expressed by many people to sing in the URV Choir.

It was decided to create this new choral group in view of the musical and vocal levels demonstrated and the number of participants involved. Over time the project has evolved, and the URV Choral Society has succeeded in establishing its own space and achieving its own recognition distinct from those of the URV Choir, thereby enriching our university's range of musical societies.

In the last 16 years, the Choral Society has expanded its musical activities beyond the URV itself by participating in a range of inter-university musical projects, such as national and international festivals and other activities organized by different entities and associations. The Choral Society has performed, for example, at the Camp de Mart in Tarragona, the auditorium of Tarragona Provincial Council, the Teatre Tarragona, the Pau Casals Auditorium in El Vendrell, the Paranymph of the University of Barcelona, the Palau de la Música in Barcelona, and the Palace of Italian Institutions in Tangier.

The URV Choral Society is made up of members of the university community (students, lecturers, administration and services staff), alumni and individuals from outside the university community who enjoy singing. Past directors have been the Society's founder, Monserrat Rios, and Tomás Grau. Since academic year 2014-15, it has been directed by Núria Giménez.

The URV Choral Society has been a member of FCEC, the Catalan Federation of Choral Entities, since academic year 2016-17.

Photographer: Pep Alcañiz.

The URV Choral Society's repertoire comprises works from numerous eras and styles, including popular songs from around the world, as well as from standards and musicals. 

Featured performances by the Choral Society include:

• XIX International Music Festival "Musiquem Lleida" (October 2024).
• The International Choral Festival Nagham in Tangier (Morocco) (April 2018). At this first performance outside Spain, the Society shared stages with seven other choirs from Europe and Africa.
• The Thirteenth Musiquem Lleida International Music Festival! (October 2018). The URV Choral Society was selected from 60 candidates from around the world to perform as one of ten participants at this event organized by the Shalom Choral Society of Lleida.
• The First Binissalem (Majorca) Choral Contest (December 2019). The URV Choral Society was one of seven choirs chosen to participate in this event, which was organized by the municipality's 3×4 Choral Group and School of Music.
• The Tarragona International Theatre Festival (FITT) (August 2022). Twelve singers (six sopranos and six contraltos) of the URV Choral Society participated in the Festival's inaugural performance entitled "Titanas, el arte del encuentro", directed by the prestigious choreographer Sol Picó.

Collaborations:

The URV Choral Society has performed with renowned orchestras such as the Camera Musicae Orchestra and with university orchestras from the URV, the University of Barcelona (UB) and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). It has also collaborated with other university choral societies, such as the URV Choir, the UAB Choir and the UB's Faculty of Pharmacy Choir. Outside the university environment, the URV Choral Society joined other choirs from Tarragona to perform in the "El Musical: Grans Èxits" participatory musical, which was organized as a component of Tarragona Summer Festival by Obra Social de La Caixa and Stage Entertainment España with the collaboration of Tarragona City Council.

URV Choral Society in Lleida. Photography by Coral Shalom of Lleida.

It may interest you...

• Academic Recognized Activity

  Undergraduate URV students who participate actively in the Choral Society can obtain one credit per academic year as part of their optional subject Recognized University Activities by obtaining recognition for their activity.