Biography
Juan Ramón Oliac y Serra (Barcelona, c. 1707/1708-Ávila, January 20, 1780) was a Catalan composer and conductor.
He was born in Barcelona. It seems that he trained musically in the Pilar de Zaragoza, with his uncle, Francisco Luis Serra, who was a chapel master there between 1715 and 1758.
After the death of the master of the chapel of the Cathedral of Ávila, Fermín de Arizmendi, on December 15, 1733, the Buenos Aires council convened oppositions to seek a successor to the position. In addition to Oliac, Adrián González Gámiz, master of the Burgo de Osma, and José Mir y Llusá, a composer living in Toledo, appeared. Oliac presented letters of recommendation from his uncle, dated February 17, 1734, from Jaime Casellas, teacher of Toledo, and the organists of the Cathedral of Toledo, Jacinto del Río and Joaquín Martínez. These letters suggest that Oliac worked in Toledo before presenting himself in Ávila.
The oppositions were held on May 27, 1734, being named José Mir y Llusá on July 9 of that same year. Mir resigned shortly after and a second oppositions were held on June 21, 1734, to which curiously Mir also presented himself. In these second tests, Oliac was the winner, who was appointed chapel teacher and rector of the six-year school on September 17, 1734.
In 1736 he presented himself to the teaching of the Seo of Zaragoza, "having come out very successful," but without success. A year later he had some problems with the council for missing the six-year classes and was not allowed to place in the cathedral an image of the Virgin of the Pillar, which he had financed together with the musicians José Valiente and Pedro Burriel. On September 14, 1740, he was ordained a priest, after several calls from the council.
In 1744 he presented himself to the oppositions for the magisterium of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, which had become vacant after the departure of maestro Pedro Rodrigo to the Monastery of the Incarnation of Madrid. The Cabildo decided to convene an opposition to which ten applicants would apply.
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