Rafael Catalá Salvá was born in 2000 in Austria to a Spanish father and an Austrian mother. From 2013 to 2019, he studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz in the preparatory programme, with Prof. Dr. Kerstin Feltz. In 2019 he began his Bachelor's degree in Cello Performance with Johannes Krebs, and finished with distinction in 2023. He is currently continuing his studies with Gustav Rivinius at the music university Saar.

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Since January 2024, he plays in the academy of the German radio orchestra “Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken – Kaiserslautern (DRP)".

As a passionate orchestral musician, he gained experience playing both tutti and 1st cello in orchestras such as the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (GMJO), the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO), the International Orchestra Institute of the Vienna Philharmonic Attergau (IOIA), the Spanish youth orchestra (JONDE), and the Wiener Jeunesse Orchester among many others. He has performed in many famous venues such as Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Vienna Musikverein, Felsenreitschule Salzburg at the Salzburger Festspiele, Konzerthaus Berlin, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, Polytheatre Shanghai, Philharmonia Warsaw, Musiikkitalo Helsinki, Grafenegg and more.

 

As a Soloist, Catalá was awarded 1st prize in the “Ursula Grill” Cello Competition 2023 in Graz. In 2021, he was awarded 1st Prize in the International Chamber Music Competition “Luigi Zanuccoli” in Italy with his piano trio “Triade”, as well as several first prizes and a special prize in the Austrian music competition „Prima la Musica” in the categories Violoncello Solo and Chamber Music, with the string sextet of the “Young Masters” program for gifted students of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

In 2020 he was chosen as the “Young Festival Artist” of the Chamber Music Festival “Zwischentöne” in Engelberg (Switzerland), where he performed with renowned musicians such as Rafael Rosenfeld and Mary Ellen Woodside. He was also part of the Brussels Cello Festival 2022 of the Belgium Cello Society. He has participated in masterclasses with renowned artists such as Frans Helmerson, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Péter Somodari, Tamás Varga, and László Fenyö.