Born in Amposta, Spain, in 1980, Gerard Costes began studying music at ten at La Lira Ampostina. He later studied at the High School of Music of Catalonia (ESMUC) with Ricardo Casero and studied baroque trombone with Daniel Lassalle.
In 2004, he received a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied with Lindsay Shilling, Byron Fulcher and Graham Lee, graduating with the highest distinctions. In 2006, he pursued postgraduate studies at the Hochschule für Musik Hannover with Jonas Bylund. He also attended masterclasses with Denis Wick, Christian Lindberg, Joseph Alessi and Jörgen van Rijen.
A member of the National Youth Orchestra of Catalonia from 1998 to 2002, he won the Joventuts Musicals Ciutat de Vinaròs International Competition in 1999, the Herbert Samuel Memorial Competition at the RCM in 2006 and the Sitges International Chamber Music Competition in 2009.
He has collaborated with ensembles including Utopia Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, the Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatro del Liceu, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Klangforum Wien, Orquesta Nacional de España, Spiramirabilis Orchestra, MusicAeterna Brass Ensemble and London Brass, working with Teodor Currentzis, Bernard Haitink, Neville Marriner, Eiji Oue, Jordi Savall and John Cale, among others.
His festival appearances include the Salzburger Festspiele, BBC Proms, Lucerne Festival, Festival de Peralada, Festival Grec in Barcelona and Primavera Sound. As a soloist, he has performed in Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, England and Russia.
In 2013, he recorded Hindemith’s Sonata for trombone and piano with Alexander Melnikov for Harmonia Mundi’s album “Sonatas for…”. In 2017, Christian Lindberg selected him as an active participant in the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Meisterkurse.
Costes has given masterclasses at institutions including the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid, Conservatori Liceu in Barcelona and the Russian National Youth Orchestra. Since 2012, he has been principal trombone of the MusicAeterna Orchestra under Teodor Currentzis.
