Óscar Peñarroyawas born in Barcelona in 1974. After completing the first year of physical sciences, he left university to fully pursue music. He obtained a degree in composition and orchestration and studied piano, double bass, singing, choral direction, and film composition, among other subjects.
He is a founding member of the musical theater companyL'Oca Underground, where he participates as an instrumentalist, composer, arranger, performer, and musical director. He is a co-author, along with lyricist M. Carme Mateu, of the musicalThe Passionate Artistic Career of Marta Gelabert, which premiered at theTeatre Zorrilla de Badalonain May 2003 and ran in Barcelona throughout 2004.
He is the composer of the music for the operaThe Forest of Farucàrun, with a libretto byM. Carme Mateu. This work won the II Opera Composition Contest for Secondary School Students "Opera in Secondary School," organized by the Municipal Institute of Education, theGran Teatre del Liceu, the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona, and theTeatre Lliure. This opera premiered at the Teatre Lliure (Fabià Puigserver hall) in April 2004.
He has harmonized and orchestrated the cantataHistory of Cataloniawith songs featuring music by Antoni Ros-Marbà, dedicated to the Xicalla choir on its 25th anniversary. This version has been performed throughout Catalonia.
He has composed the music for the musicalFor Many Years, with lyrics byCèsar Aparício, which he also directed and premiered in 2007 at theTeatre Zorrilla de Badalona.
He has composed the music for the feature filmSilent(Javier Millán), the documentary feature filmsCreators of the Diada(Enric Saulí and Marta Rovira), which aired on TV3 in September 2008, andCamp d'Argelers(Felip Soler), premiered in France in May 2009 and broadcast on TV3 in December 2009, as well as the documentary seriesThe End of the Big Cats(Jordi Llompart), aired on TV3 in March 2013. He has also composed music for corporate projects and various materials for Panasonic, RACC, Figueres-Mutamut, Uriac, Salmos, Torres, and more.
In 2012, he conducted the cantata for choir and orchestraEnchanted Villageat the Pau Casals hall of theAuditori de Barcelona, with his own music and text by Maria Ojuel.
He is the creator and director of the projectThe Participatory Musicalorganized byLa Caixa Social Workthat premiered in July 2012 as part of the "Summer Nights" series at CaixaForum and has been repeated every summer in Barcelona in new editions and in other cities such as Málaga or Madrid.
He has composed the cantataThe Seven Ages,for choir and symphonic band, with lyrics byCèsar Aparício, premiered in December 2013.
In 2013, he premieredBabet, a three-voice kitchen. A musical where he served as musical director, arranger, composer of original songs, and also participated as a performer and pianist. The musical first premiered at Círcol Maldà and later had two seasons atVersus Teatre.
In 2018, he premieredParis, a musical by the Les Cot company, where he composed the music, served as the musical director, and participated as a performer and pianist. The musical had a run at the Almeria Theater in Barcelona.
He is the author of the music and book for the cantataVirtual, with lyrics by Cèsar Aparício, as part of theCantàniaproject organized by L'Auditori de Barcelona. It was originally scheduled to premiere throughout Catalonia, some cities in Spain and Portugal in 2020 but postponed its premiere to spring 2021.
He has written orchestrations for the musicalThe Daughter of the Seawith music by Marc Sambola, premiered at the Condal Theater in June 2021.
He wrote the new version of Gaudeamus Igitur, the university anthem, commissioned by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya in 2021.
He made his debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in the operaThe Lost Catin the role of Camell del Raval, premiered in October 2022.
He wrote the orchestrations and vocal arrangements for the showA Movie Musical, directed by Adrià Aubert, premiered at Caixaforum in July 2023 and will tour all Caixaforums in Spain.
During the 2023-2024 academic year, he will be part of the teaching team for the Master's in Musical Theater Creation offered by El taller de músics ESEM and Eòlia CSAD.
At present, he combines his teaching work and choral direction with composition.