The Pau Casals Chair, music and defence of peace and human rights, was born in 2022.

On January 25, an agreement was signed for the creation of the Pau Casals Chair, a joint project between the Pau Casals Foundation and the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC). The aim of this new chair is to promote contemporary research, dissemination and debate on the musical and humanistic dimension of Pablo Casals and his extraordinary legacy.

A chair to promote the commitment of culture and music to the major problems of today’s society, to bring people together, researchers and artists. A space for reflection and research on the role of music in intercultural dialogue and institutions that defend human rights and multilateralism for a better world.

Dr. Joan Fuster-Sobrepere, director of the UOC’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and Dr. Alfons Martinell Sempere, professor emeritus at the University of Girona (UdG), are the two directors of a chair that will also have two Advisory Councils, one dedicated to the field of music and the other to the humanities and the defence of peace and human rights.

On October 27th will be held “Culture and heritage at war“, the first event promoted by the Pau Casals Chair. A day to highlight the importance of the defence of human and cultural rights in current armed conflicts and recall the international conventions and agreements related to the deliberate destruction of culture as a weapon of war.

The Chair will soon present new projects and activities related to training, research, dissemination, knowledge exchange and international projection.

• Consult the program of the conference “Culture and heritage at war“.