María Dueñas

Debut beim Luzerner Sinfonieorchester am 1. Januar 2026

Spanish violinist María Dueñas has emerged as a luminous talent in classical music, captivating audiences with her extraordinary range of tonal colours, impeccable technical prowess, and interpretations that blend artistic maturity with bold expressiveness.

Her meteoric rise led to an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, a significant milestone in her burgeoning career. Her debut album Beethoven and Beyond, released in May 2023, showcases her exceptional interpretation of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, featuring her own cadenzas. Recorded with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Manfred Honeck, the album earned her the prestigious Opus Klassik award for Young Talent of the Year in 2024. Her second DG album, an ambitious project centered around Paganini’s legendary 24 Caprices, was released in February 2025.

She has distinguished herself by winning numerous international competitions, including the Senior Division of the Menuhin Competition, the Viktor Tretyakov and the Vladimir Spivakov International Violin Competitions or the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition. Her unique interpretative approach has also been recognized by the Rheingau Music Festival, BBC Radio 3, and with the Princess of Girona Arts and Letters Award.

Establishing herself as a globally recognized soloist, María Dueñas has already collaborated with leading orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Oslo Philharmonic, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Munich Philharmonic, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Bamberger Symphoniker, Wiener Symphoniker, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestre de Paris, alongside a constellation of esteemed conductors including Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Herbert Blomstedt, Christian Thielemann, Marin Alsop, Christoph Eschenbach, Manfred Honeck, Marek Janowski, Daniel Harding, Alan Gilbert, Paavo Järvi, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, and Santtu-Matias Rouvali.
Her close artistic partnership with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel has produced notable achievements, including the world premiere of Gabriela Ortiz’s violin concerto Altar de Cuerda and performances at the Hollywood Bowl’s centennial celebration. Her creative pursuits extend beyond performance, with compositions of her own, such as Homage 1770 and involvement in innovative projects such as the film Measures for a Funeral.

María Dueñas started playing the violin at the age of six and enrolled at the conservatory of music of her hometown Granada a year later. Today, she studies at the Musik und Kunst Universität der Stadt Wien with Boris Kuschnir. She performs on a Nicolò Gagliano violin from 17?4, on loan from Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben, and has also been entrusted with the Stradivarius Camposelice from 1710 by the Nippon Music Foundation