Chano Montes There are 3 products.

CHANO MONTES, composer and musical producer

Chano Montes was born in a family of mixed nationalities – his mother was Mexican, and his father was Spanish. He started studying music at Barcelona’s Conservatorio Superior de Música. Aged 14 he premiered his first compositions and aged 20 he received awards at several music festivals, such as Benidorm, Mediterráneo, Andorra and Viña del Mar (Chile).

Very early on the versatility of his creations and initiatives characterised him and made him stand out. He wrote music for theatre plays, both classical and modern, and was asked to compose the music to accompany “LOS ENTREMESES DE CERVANTES”, which was premiered at Barcelona’s Teatro Griego (Greek Theatre) by the Luis Prendes and Emilia Aliaga Company. He was commissioned to compose the theme for the comedy “CLEMENTINA”, which the Josefina Güell Company premiered at the Romea Theatre in Barcelona, and the main musical piece for the experimental theatre play “SOLO DE VIOLIN”, directed by Antonio Chic, which premiered at the Candilejas Theatre, also in Barcelona.



Chano Montes (*1944, Barcelona)

Composer, musical producer

At present, he lives in Barcelona



He was artistic director and sole composer for the radio programme and lyrics writing competition “Festival de la Canción de Fortuna”, in which numerous lyricists took part through some of the main local radio stations, including Radio Barcelona, Radio Peninsular and Radio Miramar. The creative singularity of the programme was that Chano Montes wrote the music to the 128 lyrics chosen from all the submitted entries, directing and premiering two songs every week during four seasons. This deserved to be put forward for the Guiness Records, but the record was never formalised for reasons alien to the composer.

From then on, Chano Montes’ versatility catapulted him forward not only as a composer but also as a music promoter, entrepreneur and public speaker, always true to his principles of identity and testimony, which he expresses as follows: “To me, IDENTITY is who we are and how we feel, and TESTIMONY is the pride to proclaim it”.

In chamber music, he formed TRIO BARTOK as a promoter, an original trio of violin/viola (Pere Serra), clarinet (Miquel Gaspà) and piano (Maria Carme Poch). Performing pieces by Milhaud, Turina, Debussy, Mozart, Schumann, Beethoven, Stravinsky, Berg, Toldrá and Homs, they played throughout the whole of Spain and other European countries and were the only Spanish musicians to take part in Budapest’s Bela Bartok International Festival, brilliantly performing Bartok’s “CONTRASTS” at the Festival’s closing session. (Please see link to TRIO BARTOK.)

As an entrepreneur, he opened the night club “LA COVA DEL DRAC”, which vindicated Catalan identity holding musical and cultural events and was the springboard for many singer songwriters such as Joan Manuel Serrat and Maria del Mar Bonet.

He has made numerous musical contributions to cartoon productions and short films for TV in Mexico and Peru.

He was commissioned by the Government of Catalonia to compose the ANTHEM FOR CATALAN SPORT as a symbol of national identity inspired by world-class Catalan sportspeople with international profiles. It was premiered at the Palau de la Generalitat, seat of the Catalan government, and performed by the choir Coral Polifónica de Puig-reig, conducted by Ramón Noguera, before Jordi Pujol, president of the Generalitat at the time, and top political and sporting authorities.

This debut brought Chano Montes to the attention of numerous social and sporting bodies throughout Spain, which commissioned him to compose their corporate identity anthems. This encouraged him to create his own producing company, MUSICAL SPORT, to meet the demand for this type of composition.

As a public speaker, Chano Montes was invited by the Mexican Secretary of State for Education to give a series of talks on “THE LIFE AND WORK OF JUAN MIRÓ” during the Miró Year (1993). He has also given talks on Mexican young people’s training and education.

Mexico is very close to Chano Montes’s heart. Aware of Mexico’s historical and religious values, he wrote “JUAN DIEGO DEL TEPEYAC”, the first literary and musical work which poetically depicts the experiences of the indigenous man Juan Diego and the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe. This work was worthy of recognition from Mexico City’s Cardinal Primate, from the Centre of Guadalupan Studies and from renowned experts in the wider Guadalupan community.

The Catalan Government’s Department of Culture organised EXPOCULTURA, an exhibition of Catalan culture and crafts, and commissioned Chano Montes to create the EXPOCULTURA ANTHEM as the exhibition’s identity song.

As a result, several city councils became interested in having their own corporate anthems. Chano Montes created MUSICULTUR, a production company which creates and produces identity pieces for towns and villages wishing to enhance and celebrate their distinctive values in their local events and festivities.

Chano Montes is captivated by the historical importance of the Toltec civilization, which preceded the Maya and the Aztec civilizations. Inspired by the Toltec, he is currently working on the cantata “PIRÁMIDE”, an epic on the emergence of the Mexican people, for soloist singers, choir, orchestra and offstage narration.

Chano Montes’s creative work has granted him audiences with and praise from H. M. King Juan Carlos I, the Director-General of UNESCO, Mexico’s Cardinal Primate, the President of the Mexican Republic, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, the President of the International Olympic Committee, the internationally acclaimed soprano Montserrat Caballé, and other dignitaries and organisations from the cultural, musical and sporting arenas.

Aiming to bring music closer to music lovers, Chano Montes created in September 2005 his EUROPEAN PERSONALISED METHOD, which he applies in his INTRODUCTION TO PIANO AND HARMONY SEMINAR. The seminar’s innovative and attractive teaching style has rapidly won numerous enthusiastic students of all ages and occupations.

Chano Montes enjoys yoga and Eastern philosophy and poetry by Swami Vivekananda y Kalil Gibran.