Montserrat Torrent

Montserrat Torrent i Serra (17 April 1926) began studying the piano at the age of five under the guidance of her mother, Angela Serra, a pupil of Enrique Granados, and continued her studies at the Marshall Academy.

After an interruption caused by the Spanish Civil War, she resumed her piano studies, reaching a virtuoso level with Blay Net and Carlos Pellicer at the Conservatori Superior Municipal de Música of Barcelona, where she also completed studies in Harmony and Counterpoint.
At the same conservatory, she turned to the organ under the guidance of Paul Franck, obtaining the Premio de Honor and the Premio Extraordinario del Excelentísimo Ayuntamiento de Barcelona. She broadened her training in Paris with Noëlie Pierront and later in Siena with Ferdinando Germani and Helmut Rilling. Particularly drawn to Iberian music, she perfected her skills with Santiago Kastner, Luigi Ferdinando Tagliavini, and Fr. Gregorio Estrada.
Appointed, by competitive examination, to the Chair of Organ at the Conservatori Superior Municipal de Música of Barcelona, she began an intense career as a teacher and concert performer, appearing in Spain, Europe, North Africa, the USA, Canada, and Latin America. She collaborated with the Spanish National Orchestra and the City of Barcelona Orchestra. She made numerous recordings on historic organs; her recording devoted to Cabanilles received an award from the Académie Charles Cros in Paris.
She has given courses in Santiago de Compostela and other cities of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands, as well as masterclasses in various European countries, the USA, and Canada.
She has been awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi by the Government of Catalonia and the Premi Nacional de Música. The Ministry of Culture granted her the Medalla de Plata al Mérito Artístico en las Bellas Artes. She received the Premio Nacional de Música 2021 (performance category), the City of Barcelona’s Medalla de Oro al Mérito Artístico, and the Premi Ciutat de Barcelona de Música 2023. She holds an honorary doctorate from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and is a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Granada and the Reial Acadèmia Catalana de Belles Arts de Sant Jordi.