Josep Maria Ruera Pinart was born in Barcelona on 2 August 1900. He moved to Granollers, where he lived until his death on 31 May 1988.     After a period as student at the Escola Municipal de Música of Barcelona and at Conservatori del Liceu, Granollers' town council granted him a scolarship, that was useful for him to start composition studies with Enric Morera and the orchestra's ones with Joan Bta. Lambert and Joan Lamote de Grignon, who was considerated as Josep Maria's "father" ( talking about music terms ) ,because of their closed relationship inside music's world.     He was viola in Pau Casals' orchestra, during the period of spring concerts in Gran Teatre del Liceu in 1923. And he directed some instrumental and choral bands, like Orquestra Selecció, Orquestra de corda of Granollers ( before known as Quartet Clàssic ) and Orfeó Femení of Granollers, where he was de director of Granollers' Municipal Music School and organist in Sant Esteve parish church.     During his long career as compositor, he obteined a lot of important awards, just like: Joventut Hotelera de Barcelona's first prize in 1930 because of the Catalan folk dance known as La verge Catalana, Pau Casals' award in Joc Florals de la Llengua Catalana celebrated in Paris in 1959, because of the work called Festival ( fourth movement of Empúries ). And Ciutat de Barcelona's awards in 1970 and 1971 ( the first one for the Catalan folk dance known as Tríptic Laietà and the second was for Empúries ). Ruera has obteined a lot of prizes during his long career, especially with his Catalan folk dances, in which there is a mixture between tradition and innovation.     In his catalogue anyone can find works of different musical genres and compositions for different instruments and also for vocals ( some of them are recorded and published). Two things were very important for his musical profession: The first time he appeared performing Tres moviments simfònics during the XIVth Societat Internacional Festival ( SIMC ) celebrated in Barcelona in 1936 ( thanks to his teacher and friend Joan Lamote ) and on the other hand the performance and record of his four symphonic poems which are from Empúries.    His work is divided in two stages ( before and after the Civil War ), where explains the story of a "Generación del 27" compositor. This one, was known as one of the called "minors", obviously talking about the quantity and not quality of his compositions. Afterwards there is an influence of his work, with his own style, as a consequence of his admiration for Catalan folklore and with clearly nationalistic elements.

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Information by Anna Piera, music Granollers school