Rafael Ibarbia

Rafael Ibarbia Serra (1931 – 13 January 2003), was a Spanish conductor, composer, pianist, and music director. He worked for twenty-seven years in Televisión Española (TVE) as music director, conductor, and arranger.

Career He conducted the in the Eurovision Song Contest at the , "La La La" sung by Massiel. The orchestral arrangement he made was totally right as it accelerated the pace of the song gaining strength. He also conducted another five Spanish entries in the contest in different years: At the he conducted "" sung by José Guardiola, at the he conducted "" sung by Nelly with Tim and Tony, at the he conducted "Yo soy aquél" sung by Raphael, at the he conducted "" sung by Peret, and at the he conducted "" sung by Micky.

He conducted the Spanish winning entry in the OTI Festival at the 1976 contest, "" sung by . He was the musical director of the 1977 contest, which was held in Madrid, and conducted "Al nacer cada enero", sung by Fernando Casado, representing the Dominican Republic, "Enséñame a vivir", sung by Ana Marcela D'Antonio, representing El Salvador, "El verbo amar", sung by Mildred y Manolo, representing Guatemala, "El hombre", sung by Tony Morales, representing Honduras, "Gente eres tú", sung by , representing the Netherlands Antilles, and "Canta a la vida", sung by Leopoldo Hernández, representing Panama. He also conducted the Spanish entry at the 1974 contest, "Lapicero de madera" sung by .

He was the musical director of numerous Televisión Española (TVE) shows, such as and . He was also the musical director of the Benidorm Song Festival in several editions. He made more than 3,000 music recordings of various genres, from classical music to flamenco. He recorded several albums with the RTVE Symphony Orchestra.

Selected filmography Year Title Notes 1958 Habanera 1964 La chica del gato 1971