Córdoba, (EFE).- The 20-year-old violinist from Granada, María Dueñas, has been awarded the Princess of Girona Award for Arts and Letters 2023. In an act held at the Gran Teatro de Córdoba and which was presided over by the Queen Letizia.
The jury for the prizes, awarded by the Princess of Girona Foundation, value Dueñas that at the age of 20 she has achieved a “very high degree of interpretation and execution of the violin”. Something that allows him a “great emotional connection with the public”, and he 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.
María Dueñas started playing the violin naturally, after attending concerts in her hometown and listening to classical music at home, and began playing at the age of six, while she enrolled in the Granada Conservatory a year later.
Excitement for an unexpected prize
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.
María Dueñas interacts with the younger public, encouraging their involvement in classical music. She has participated in social initiatives with the City of Granada Orchestra, such as the “El corazón de la OCG” initiative. A social project to bring music closer to disadvantaged groups, materializing in concerts in Aldeas Infantiles de Granada, shelters for children.
In addition, the violinist from Granada won first prize in the Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition (England) in 2021. A year later, she signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon. She then inaugurates her discography with Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, with the Vienna Symphony and Manfred Honeck and with cadences of her own composition.
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” by the 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 to the “Spanish Royal House” for “supporting the new generation of artists in all aspects”.
The cultural legacy of Córdoba
The violinist from Granada María Dueñas expresses her “commitment” from the “greater humility” to “serve as a reference” for the “generation of young people in the musical and artistic field” in Spain. She to “continue working” to contribute to the “need” to promote “values” that she considers “very important”. Such as “the motivation, the work, the effort and, above all, the unconditional dedication to the personal dreams of each one”, she concludes.
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. It was attended by Queen Letizia, who first met 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. They will be able to build their professional future. Connect with opportunities for personal growth and, at the same time, enhance what makes them unique.
The director of the foundation, Salvador Tasqué, highlighted to the journalists before the event that it is a “pleasure” and a “pride” to be in Córdoba. A city with which “the purpose and values of exposing young talent at the center of the agenda” are shared.
Finally, the mayor of Córdoba, José María Bellido, stressed that the city has a “patrimonial, historical and cultural legacy that very few in the world can match.” Now the “mission” is that it “perpetuates itself.” Also building “a new one” in which the promotion of young talents is “very important” and more in the field of art and culture. EFE