With her impressive musical expression and technical perfection, the 19-year-old María Dueñas has already established herself as one of the most sought-after artists of her generation. Since winning the Menuhin Competition – and its audience prize – in 2021, this Spanish violinist has been in worldwide demand as both soloist and chamber musician.

Her most recent career highlights include debuts with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Staatskapelle Berlin with conductors such as Marek Janowski, Manfred Honeck, Gustavo Dudamel und Alain Altinoglu.

Born in Grenada (Spain) María Dueñas began her musical training aged 5 and initially studied in Dresden, before moving in 2016 to the Private University of Music and Art Vienna, where she studied with Boris Kuschnir, and also Graz University of Art.

María Dueñas plays a Nicolò Gagliano instrument made in 17?4 and a Guarneri del Gesù ›Muntz‹ from 1736. Both violins are on loan from the Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben and the Nippon Music Foundation. In addition, she has also been loaned a Stradivari from the private collection of Jonathan Moulds.

This season, María Dueñas celebrates her debut with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen, with whom she is also going on tour.

The Mexican conductor Alondra de la Parra owes her international breakthrough to her rousing concerts and her commitment to music by Latin American composers. She is the official cultural ambassador of her homeland Mexico and to date has conducted over one hundred of the world’s most renowned orchestras, including the Orchestre de Paris, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphoniker and the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich. Between 2017 and 2019, Alondra de la Parra was also General Music Director of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, making her the first ever female chief conductor of an Australian orchestra.

She became known to a wide audience due to her many live concert broadcasts and appearances, in particular through the web and television editions of the Deutsche Welle’s ›Musica Maestra‹ in which Alondra de la Parra was not only a protagonist but also appeared as the reporter. In the 2019/20 season, the concert she conducted in the Frauenkirche with the Staatskapelle Dresden was broadcast on ZDF, as indeed was her celebrated return to the Orchestre de Paris, which was broadcast live on ARTE. Further highlights of the last season include a world premiere of the new production about Carlus Padrissa – T.H.A.M.O.S. – at the Salzburg Mozart Week, together with the Camerata Salzburg and the Catalan theatre group La Fura dels Baus, as well as her debut at the Easter Festival in Aix-ex-Provence.

This artist has enjoyed a close and regular working relationship with the Deutsche Kammer­philharmonie Bremen for many years.