The composer Hèctor Parra (Barcelona, 1976) has had a good start to 2009, a year that is going to confirm him as one of the most important Spanish composers on the international scene. On 19 January he received the Premio Tendencies for the outstanding, up-and-coming creator of the year in Catalonia, awarded by the Catalan edition of the newspaper El Mundo.

The composer was thrilled to win this prize, in particular because it represents recognition of his work in his home city, something that up till now has been more evident abroad. A good example of the interest this composer is arousing is the programming of his opera Hypermusic Prologue by the Teatre Liceo in Barcelona, undoubtedly his most ambitious work to date. This opera, with a libretto by the American physicist Lisa Randall, was commissioned by the Ensemble Intercontemporain in Paris, and will be premiered in that city before coming to the Barcelona theatre.

Madrid has also just recently been the venue for a concert with works by Hèctor Parra. As part of the programming of Musicadhoy the Ensemble Recherche played his works Abîme- Antigona IV, String Trio and Piano Trio nº1: Wortschatten. These works have been recorded by the same ensemble on a monographic CD produced by the Austrian label Kairos in conjunction with Caja Madrid.