María Dueñas love for music started early, with her parents extensive classical music collection and concerts in her hometown of Granada. At age six she was already enrolled in a conservatory, and by 11 would move from her native Granada to Dresden to study at the Carl Maria von Weber College of Music. At this point, her career takes off and now at age 22 has an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon, with whom she's recorded the violin plus orchestra music of Ludwig van Beethoven (in 2023), and just released the Caprices of Niccolò Paganini along with about a dozen other works.
This latest album, clocking in at almost three hours long, is a compendium of collaborations, with the likes of Raphaël Feuillâtre, Itamar Golan, and a new work from Gabriela Ortiz. In this interview, Dueñas discusses her influences, writing cadenzas for Beethoven's concerto, and taking risks in a performance.
