Córdoba (EFE).- The 20-year-old violinist from Granada, María Dueñas, has been awarded the 2023 Princess of Girona Award for Arts and Letters at an event held at the Gran Teatro de Córdoba and presided over by Queen Letizia.
The jury of the prizes, awarded by the Princess of Girona Foundation, have valued Dueñas that at the age of 20 he has achieved a “very high degree of interpretation and execution of the violin”, which allows him a “great emotional connection with the public”, and has received “unusual international recognition at his age.”
“Because of his great talent, his discipline and his ability to work, he constitutes an exceptional inspiring model for young people,” the jury stated.
The winner, who was unable to attend the event as she was in the process of general rehearsal for the concert she is offering together with the Spanish Radio Television Orchestra, has shown herself in a live video “incredibly excited” for an award “that I did not expect” and has given “heartfelt thanks” to his “companion” finalists.
Dueñas wanted to “thank all the cultural, social and financial institutions” that make the award possible and the “Spanish royal house” for “supporting the new generation of artists in all aspects”.
The violinist from Granada has expressed her “commitment” from the “greatest humility” to “serve as a reference” for the “generation of young people in the musical and artistic field” in Spain and to “continue working” to contribute to the “need” for promote “values” that he considers “very important” such as “motivation, work, effort and, above all, unconditional dedication to the personal dreams of each one”, he concluded.
María Dueñas started playing the violin naturally, after attending concerts in her hometown and listening regularly to classical music at home, and began playing at the age of six, while she enrolled in the Granada Conservatory a year later.
In 2014 she won the Juventudes Musicales de Madrid scholarship to study abroad, being the youngest participant ever to participate in that call, a scholarship that facilitated her transfer to Dresden (Germany) to continue her training at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria. von Weber.
Dueñas interacts with the youngest public, promoting their involvement in classical music and has participated in social initiatives with the City of Granada Orchestra, such as the initiative “El corazón de la OCG”, a social project to bring music closer to disadvantaged groups, materializing in concerts in Aldeas Infantiles de Granada, foster homes for children.
In addition, the violinist from Granada won first prize in the Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition (England) in 2021, while a year later she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon and will inaugurate her discography with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, with the Symphony from Vienna and Manfred Honeck and with cadences of his own composition.
The delivery of this award is part of the third day of the “Talent Tour”, after those held in Zaragoza and Valladolid, organized by the Princess of Girona Foundation 2023, and which was attended by Queen Letizia, who met first-hand the projects of the foundation.
This tour is an annual tour that covers different cities in Spain with multiple events led by young people in which they can build their professional future, connect with opportunities for personal growth and, at the same time, promote what makes them unique.