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URV

Joan Guinjoan i Gispert

Date of investiture:
19 October 1999
Sponsor:
Mercè Jordà
Area of knowledge:
Music

The musician and composer Joan Guinjoan was made an Honorary Doctor in a ceremony which took place on 29 October 1999. Mercè Jordà, who at the time was director of the Department of History and Geography of the URV, was his sponsor. During the ceremony Mercè Jordà's work Magic was performed.

Despite having enjoyed other prizes and commendations, this was the first time that he had been invested as an Honorary Doctor. In his speech Guinjoan, who was born in Riudoms (Baix Camp), said how happy he was to receive such an award from his local university. He also said that he wanted his example to help contemporary music to become established at the university, "in the way it did while I was a resident lecturer at the University of California, in Santa Barbara".

Amongst many other prizes, he has been awarded the Spanish National Prize for Music and the National Prize for Music of the Catalan Government. He is also a Chevalier des Arts et Lettres and Officier des Arts et Lettres of France, and was a finalist for the International Record Critics' Award (New York).