Phonos, 50 years of music and technology / Exhibitions / Visit us / Home

In 1974, Josep Maria Mestres Quadreny, Andrés Lewin-Richter and Lluís Callejo created the Phonos laboratory, an open space where composers and researchers who share an interest in music and technology come together.

The first years are dedicated to the design and construction of various electronic devices, a task that will later transform into a research in musical computing. On the other hand, Phonos has for many years covered the shortcomings of the official music education centers in the fields of electroacoustic composition, with the Chilean composer Gabriel Brnčić in charge of the training field. Several generations of composers with new concerns have passed through his classes and since 1976, Phonos has become a space for the promotion of that music that is difficult to fit into the most commercial circuits.

Phonos was installed in the spaces of the Miró Foundation in 1987 and from 1994 it moved to Pompeu Fabra University, where it works very closely with the Music Technology Research Group.

After 50 years, Phonos continues to develop a very active role in the cultural world of Barcelona with the same objective with which it was born: to promote the creation and diffusion of music and bring musical technologies closer to the cultural world and society.

The Biblioteca de Catalunya has in its collection works by the three founders and by composers such as Gabriel Brnčić, Jep Nuix, Albert Llanas, Mercè Capdevila, Anna Bofill and many others who passed through its facilities and whose works were broadcast at the Phonos concerts.