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Josep Carreras i Coll was born on 5 December 1946 in Barcelona. At the age of six, he joined the conservatory of the Liceu and, from very young, started singing secondary roles. He sang as child soprano in "El retablo de Maese Pedro"(The altarpiece of Maese Pedro), of
Manuel de Falla, directed by Iturbi, and debuted in 1960 with the opera "Nabucco", of
Giuseppe Verdi.
In 1971 he gained the first award in the Verdi international contest of singing and, the same year, made a debut with
Montserrat Caballé in London, for whom he nourished a big personal admiration and an artistic passion. He performed in the Carnegie Hall of New York, in Covent Garden of London, in Scalla of Milan, with "Tosca" and "Un Ballo in Maschera".
In 1976, Herbert Von Karajan called him to record "Don Carlo", of Verdi, in the festival of Salzburg. With the German master he also recorded "Requiem", of Verdi. He recorded with Bernstein the latest version of his work "West Side Story".
After discovering his leukemia, which placed him at the doors of the death, he was inactive for a couple of years. In 1992 he was the musical director of the Olympian Games of Barcelona and, on the following year, his video ‘Historia de una vida’ (History of a Life), he received an Emmy award.
His life has been strongly marked by the struggle against the leukemia. The Foundation at that he presides and that takes his name is dedicated to supporting the people who endure this illness, in particular the children. He was sworn as Honorary Doctor by the University of Barcelona in 1989 at the proposition of the Faculty of Medicine by his work in this cause.