Josep Planells Schiaffino Wins the XLII Reina Sofía Prize for Musical Composition
The jury of the XLII Reina Sofía Prize for Musical Composition, composed of Mario Carro, Raquel García-Tomás, Fabià Santcovsky, and Jesús Rueda, and chaired by Philippe Manoury, has awarded this edition’s prize to Metalepsis by Josep Planells Schiaffino. The decision was made after two days of deliberation, during which nearly 80 submitted scores were analyzed.
Organized annually since 1982 by the Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation, the Reina Sofía Prize for Musical Composition aims to promote the creation of symphonic music and ensure the viability of composers’ work by encouraging their pieces to be performed and heard. With great international prestige, it is the best-endowed prize in its category in Europe, with an award of €100,000.
The premiere of Metalepsis will take place on Friday, October 17, 2025, at the Teatro Monumental in Madrid. The Spanish Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra will perform the piece for the first time, in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Sofía and the president of the Ferrer-Salat Music Foundation, Sergi Ferrer-Salat.
Additionally, the piece will become part of the repertoire of the Spanish National Youth Orchestra (JONDE), which will perform it during its 2025-2026 tour. As part of the prize, the composer will also be designated as an artist of the Xarxa de Músiques a Catalunya (JMCAT), which includes a commission for two chamber music pieces for different ensembles.
About Josep Planells Schiaffino
A composer and conductor, Josep Planells Schiaffino (Valencia, 1988) began his training at the “Joaquín Rodrigo” Conservatory of Music in Valencia, where he obtained a Higher Degree in Clarinet under the guidance of José Cerveró. In 2010, he moved to Berlin to study composition at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler,” completing his master’s degree in 2016. Simultaneously, he furthered his orchestral conducting studies with Fred Buttkewitz in Berlin, Peter Eötvös in Munich and Budapest, Peter Rundel in Porto, and Matthias Pintscher and Heinz Holliger at the Conducting Fellowship of the Lucerne Festival.
In 2023, he earned his doctorate at the University of Cambridge with the support of a Vice-Chancellor’s Award and a Pigott Doctoral Studentship. His career has been recognized with numerous awards, and he has received commissions from prestigious institutions such as the Spanish National Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, and the Beethoven-Haus in Bonn.
Recently, he completed his residency as a composer with the Youth Orchestra of the Generalitat Valenciana, with whom he has recorded a monographic CD set to be released in 2025. As a conductor, he has worked with the Basel Sinfonietta, Bayerisches Landesjugendorchester, the Balearic Islands Symphony Orchestra, the Valencia Orchestra, the Bilbao Orkestra Sinfonikoa, the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, and the Ensemble Modern. His upcoming projects include a commission from the ENSEMS Festival for pianist Juan Pérez Floristán, his debut with the Real Filharmonía de Galicia and Fundació Òpera Catalunya, as well as a new invitation from the Spanish National Orchestra and Choir (OCNE).
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