A Latin Grammy laureate in 2008, Juan J. Colomer (Alzira, Valencia, 1966) has built an exceptionally broad and diverse career as a composer of operas, ballets, symphonic, chamber and vocal works, performed by leading orchestras, ensembles and soloists across Europe and the United States — a reach rarely achieved by Spanish composers of his generation. His career began as a trumpet player; at sixteen he became a founding member of the JONDE (National Youth Orchestra of Spain). He soon took up composition studies with Amando Blanquer at the Valencia Conservatory and later at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he specialized in film scoring. This led him to Hollywood, where he completed around thirty film scores before gradually redirecting his career entirely toward concert music.
His works have been performed by ensembles including the San Francisco Symphony, Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, National Orchestra of Ecuador, Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Symphony Orchestra, Central Germany Broadcast Orchestra & Chorus (MDR), Los Angeles Children's Chorus, Monterrey Symphony Orchestra (Mexico), the Arena di Verona Orchestra & Chorus, and the Attacca Quartet; and in Spain by the Orquesta Nacional de España, Orquesta de la Comunitat Valenciana, Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, RTVE Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Galicia Symphony, Madrid Symphony, Community of Madrid Orchestra & Chorus, Castilla y León Symphony, Bilbao Symphony, Valencia Orchestra, Granada City Orchestra, Murcia Region Symphony, Cuarteto Bretón and Spanish Brass, among others.
Soloists who have performed his music include Christian Lindberg, Javier Bonet, Lluís González, Steven Mead, Daniel Rothmuller (Principal Cello, LA Philharmonic), Roberto Cani (Concertmaster, LA Opera) and Michele Zukovsky (Principal Clarinet, LA Philharmonic), among members of other distinguished orchestral and chamber institutions. His international presence spans prestigious venues including Carnegie Hall (New York), Tchaikovsky Concert Hall (Moscow), Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg), Teatro Real (Madrid), Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), Adrienne Arsht Center (Miami), Teatro Teresa Carreño (Caracas), Sendesaal Bremen and The Rady Shell at Jacobs Park (San Diego). In Spain he has appeared at all major venues: Auditorio Nacional, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Les Arts, Teatro de la Maestranza, Teatros del Canal and Teatro de La Zarzuela.
His most significant stage works include the ballet Sorolla, commissioned by the National Ballet of Spain and premiered in 2013 in Madrid; the opera El Pintor, with a libretto by Albert Boadella on the life of Picasso, commissioned by Teatro Real and Teatros del Canal and premiered in 2018 with the Teatro Real Orchestra and the Community of Madrid Chorus under Manuel Coves; and the chamber opera Dulcinea XL, premiered in 2019 at Zipper Hall (Los Angeles) by LA Grand Ensemble, conducted by Ignazio Terrasi.
His discography includes monographic recordings and collaborations with the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Community of Madrid Orchestra, Granada City Orchestra, Spanish Brass and the Cuarteto Bretón. These include Symphonic Genesis (IBS Classical), recorded by the RTVE Symphony Orchestra under Sergio Alapont, as well as earlier releases such as Sorolla, Human Nature, The Exile of Time and Brass Works.
His extensive catalogue of brass music deserves particular mention: these works have been recorded and performed internationally by some of the world's leading brass soloists and ensembles, including on European tours by the Simón Bolívar Brass, Jörgen van Rijen's (Concertgebouw) Japan tour, and multiple Spanish Brass international tours. Several have been selected as set or free-choice works for international competitions.
His awards and recognitions include nominations for the Euterpe Prize in 2003 and 2004 for Raíces; the Latin Grammy 2008 for Best Classical Album for his orchestrations on Plácido Domingo's Pasión Española; a Premio Max nomination for the ballet Sorolla; the Gold Insignia of the City of Alzira in 2013; and, in 2024, dual nominations from the Spanish Music Academy for Symphonic Genesis as Best Classical Album and Best Instrumental Album.
He has collaborated as composer, arranger and orchestrator with artists including Plácido Domingo, James Levine, José Carreras, Christian Lindberg and Mikhail Pletnev. His work in the operatic and symphonic world encompasses large-scale productions such as Christmas in Vienna, The Three Tenors, the Arena di Verona with sets by Franco Zeffirelli, Operalia, and various international recording and stage projects.
Beyond his creative output, Colomer has driven cultural outreach initiatives. In 2010 he founded the Valencia Cultural Point in Los Angeles — recognised by the Generalitat Valenciana as a centre for cultural exchange between Valencia and California. Within that framework he directed the Artistic Soirées, a concert and artistic collaboration series, and in 2012 founded the LA Grand Ensemble, dedicated to interdisciplinary projects integrating scenography, lighting, video and new technologies, with which he premiered several of his own works.
Across the full arc of his career, Juan J. Colomer stands as one of the Spanish composers with the most sustained presence in international creative circuits, with a body of work disseminated across Europe, Asia and the United States, and a repertoire spanning the symphonic, operatic, ballet and chamber music worlds.
