This event has already taken place.
We invite you to explore the current schedule.
Akhnaten', Philip Glass’s hypnotic opera about power, faith, and change in ancient Egypt.
Egyptian Museum of Barcelona
Thursday, October 16
From 7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
Free activity
The Gran Teatre del Liceu is staging the opera Akhnaten from October 16 to November 3. As part of this opera, the Liceu, the Egyptian Museum of Barcelona, and COLPIS are organizing a three-way discussion with experts in music, archaeology, and sociology to explore the figure of Akhenaten—a pharaoh who challenged the political foundations, religious beliefs, and artistic practices of his time.
Born in Reus in 1988, Joan Magrané began composing under the guidance of Ramon Humet. He later refined his skills at the ESMUC in Barcelona with Agustí Charles, in Graz with Beat Furrer, and at the Paris Conservatory with Stefano Gervasoni. He has been a laureate of the Villa Medici in Rome, a member of the Casa de Velázquez in Madrid, composer-in-residence at La Pedrera (2018/2019), the Palau de la Música Catalana (2019/2020), and the Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical in Madrid (2020/2021). During the 2021-2022 season, he was composer-in-residence at L’Auditori de Barcelona.
He has received several awards, notably the XXXI Reina Sofía Prize for Musical Composition, Fundación de Música Ferrer-Salat. His works are published by Éditions Durand and Ficta.
Dr. Mar Griera is a professor in the Department of Sociology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). Her research explores the intersection of religious diversity, identity, heritage, and politics in contemporary Europe, examining how modern societies construct meaning through spiritual imaginaries, rituals, and practices related to well-being and morality. She has been a visiting researcher at institutions such as the École Pratique des Hautes Études and the University of Lausanne, and has received honors including the “la Caixa” Social Sciences Award and the ICREA Academia Fellowship (2021–2026). She currently chairs the RC22 Committee on Sociology of Religion of the International Sociological Association and is a member of several European advisory boards.
Luis Manuel Gonzálvez Ortega (Badalona, 1963) is an archaeologist and Egyptologist. Since 1994, he has been the curator of the Egyptian Museum of Barcelona and head of studies at the School of Egyptology of the Clos Archaeological Foundation. He has curated more than a dozen exhibitions at the Egyptian Museum, including Tutankhamun, History of a Discovery, Gods of Egypt, Osiris, the God Who Remains Perfect, and Sacred Animals of Ancient Egypt. Author of numerous scientific and popular publications, he has participated in archaeological projects in Egypt and Sudan. Since 2006, he has co-directed the Archaeological Mission of the Clos Archaeological Foundation in Sharuna (Middle Egypt).