EUROPE 1600 – A MUSICAL CORRESPONDENCE
W. Byrd, J. Bull, G. Frescobaldi, J. J. Froberger, L. Couperin

Currently the Conservator of the San Colombano Museum – Tagliavini Collection in Bologna, she has been recognized by the international press as one of the most interesting musicians in the field of early music.

Vicens is Professor-Ospitus of Harpsichord and Research at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels, and has been invited as Visiting Professor of Harpsichord at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, in the United States (2019), and to give masterclasses at the Juilliard School of Music New York, The Curtis Institute of Music Philadelphia, Longy School of Music in Cambridge and the Flint Collection of Early Harpsichords, in the United States; at the Horniman Museum and the University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom; at the St. Columban Museum and the University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom; and at the St. Columban Museum of Music in the United States. Andrews in the United Kingdom; at the University of the Arts in Berlin and the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen, Germany; at ESMUC in Barcelona and the Gothenburg International Organ Academy, Sweden. He also teaches at the Lunenburg Academy of Early Music in Canada, Musikkurswochen Arosa in Switzerland, the Early Music Course in Burg Fürsteneck, and in 2011 founded International Portative Organ Days in Germany.

Vicens has a dynamic and versatile activity as a soloist and as a member of early and contemporary music ensembles. He has produced and directed several musical performances in Europe and America. Her musical compositions have been included in film productions, museum exhibitions and documentaries. She has been invited as conductor and Artist in Residence at Vancouver Early Music Canada and as Creator at Concertgebouw Brugge. As founder and director of the ensemble and social project Servir Antico, she aims to shed light on the lesser-known repertoire and intellectual legacy of the humanistic period, with an exploration of music and texts ranging from the 13th to the 16th century, using the stage to share with listeners the voices of these visionary artists of the past and providing the platform to bring out social issues and amplify new voices.

Because of her specialization in performing on ancient instruments ranging from the 15th century to the early 19th century, she has been invited to play and record some of the oldest instruments in the world, such as the oldest surviving harpsichord still in use (Anonymous, Naples, c. 1525) at the National Music Museum in the United States (the recording of the performance, “The Harpsichord of Parthenope,” was later awarded the Diapason d’Or), the 15th-century Gothic organ at St. Andreas in Ostönnen, Germany (c. 1425), one of the best-preserved organs of the Late Middle Ages, and instruments from a considerable number of prestigious collections in the United Kingdom, Europe, Japan and the United States.

Vicens, has also been invited as a juror in several international competitions, such as the ‘Bruges MA Festival Harpsichord Competition,’ Jurow International Harpsichord Competition, Mechelen Harpsichord Competition, Dulwich Historical Keyboard Competition and the Wanda Landowska in memoriam Harpsichord Competition in Poznań, Nordem Early Music Competition, and since 2023 she has been president of the jury of the Paola Bernardi Harpsichord Competition in Bologna.

Catalina Vicens began her international career early. By the age of 20, she had graced the main stages of more than ten countries in North and South America, including the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, and the Teatro Municipal in São Paulo.

She has studied modern piano at the Institute of Music of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile; harpsichord at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, the Musikhochschule in Freiburg and the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (earning here for the first time ever a Master’s Degree in medieval keyboard instruments); and interpretation of contemporary music with historical instruments at the Hochschule für Musik of the Basel Music Academy. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, at the Orpheus Institute Ghent