Javier Serrano Santaella is a prominent Spanish double bass player, from La Línea de la Concepción, Andalucía. He began his studies at the Muñoz Molleda Professional Conservatory in his hometown. Later he studied at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía with professors Duncan McTier and Antonio García Araque, in Madrid.
He has received master classes from professors such as Edicson Ruiz, Matthew McDonald, Janne Saksala, Wies de Boevé, Martin Heinze, Slawomir Grenda, among others. He has worked with directors such as Herbert Blomstedt, Gustavo Dudamel, Vladimir Jurowsky, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Lorenzo Viotti, David Afkham, Josep Pons, Juanjo Mena, among others.
He received the distinction of “Most Outstanding Student” of the Double Bass Chair of the Reina Sofía School of Music from HM Queen Emeritus Doña Sofía in the 2017/18 academic year. He won first prize in the string category at the Gibraltar Festival for Young Musicians, first prize in the I CPM Muñoz Molleda Soloists Competition, and first prize in the XVIII Toledo Provincial Council competition for String Instruments.
Professionally he is a collaborator of national orchestras such as the National Orchestra and Choir of Spain (OCNE), and the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, main orchestra of the Teatro Real (OSM). He is a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra (EUYO), as well as a member and double bass soloist of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (GMJO). He has been invited as solo double bass in Marc Minkowsky’s Les Musiciens du Louvre orchestra. Since 2021 he is a member of the Symphony Orchestra of the Gran Teatre del Liceu.