In June 2022, the Granada International Festival of Music and Dance awarded Josep Pons its Medal of Honour, one of the institution’s highest distinctions, recognising an outstanding artistic career and a long-standing relationship with the festival.
The award honoured a collaboration spanning several decades between Josep Pons and one of Europe’s leading music festivals. Throughout this period, he has appeared regularly with ensembles including the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, the Spanish National Orchestra, the Gran Teatre del Liceu Symphony Orchestra and other guest orchestras, conducting repertoire ranging from the great classics to twentieth- and twenty-first-century music.
The Medal of Honour also recognised his contribution to the festival’s international reputation and his commitment to promoting the music of Manuel de Falla, whose legacy remains inseparable from both Granada and the festival itself. His artistic work has helped strengthen the prestige of an event that has become one of Europe’s foremost music festivals since its foundation in 1952.
The distinction held particular significance because of Josep Pons’s close relationship with Granada, where he served as Music Director of the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada from 1994 to 2004, a formative period in both his own career and the orchestra’s artistic development.