On 19 July 2025, the Gran Teatre del Liceu announced the appointment of Josep Pons as its Honorary Music Director, an exceptional distinction marking the conclusion of his fourteen-year tenure as Music Director of the theatre.
The appointment was approved by the Board of the Gran Teatre del Liceu Foundation in recognition of a period that profoundly transformed the institution’s artistic life. The title is reserved for figures whose contribution has left a lasting mark on the history of the Liceu and who will continue to maintain an official artistic relationship with the theatre.
Since taking up the position in 2012, Josep Pons has led the artistic development of the Gran Teatre del Liceu Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, significantly strengthening their musical standards and expanding their repertoire. Under his leadership, the resident ensembles have tackled some of the most demanding works in the operatic and symphonic repertoire, with particular attention to Richard Wagner, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, Claude Debussy, Alban Berg, Dmitri Shostakovich, Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi.
His tenure also strengthened the Liceu’s international profile through major co-productions, audiovisual recordings and a sustained commitment to contemporary creation and the promotion of Catalan and Spanish musical heritage.
The title of Honorary Music Director reflects the theatre’s wish to preserve this artistic relationship beyond the end of Josep Pons’s tenure. It recognises not only the achievements of those fourteen years, but also the lasting legacy he leaves in the orchestra, the chorus and the artistic identity of the Gran Teatre del Liceu.
The announcement was made following the final performance of Verdi’s Falstaff, which marked the end of Josep Pons’s operatic activity as Music Director, only a few days before his farewell concert conducting Mahler’s Symphony No. 8.
With this appointment, the Gran Teatre del Liceu acknowledged one of the most significant musical periods in its recent history while ensuring that Josep Pons’s artistic relationship with the institution will continue into the future.