VC Artist María Dueñas Named as Recipient of €20,000 Princess of Girona Award

The award, which is administered by the Princess of Girona Foundation, is aimed at young artists aged 16-35

Spain's Princess of Girona Award recognizes an individual in any artistic discipline or in literature who has demonstrated immense promise, and has served as an inspiration to other young people.

As this year's winner, violinist and VC Artist María Dueñas will receive a prize of €20,000 from the Princess of Girona Foundation.

The jury for the award was comprised of Ana Vallés (chair), Luis Bassat, Ignacio García-Belenguer, Daniel Bianco, Antonella Broglia, Auxiliadora Toledano, Sergio Vila-Sanjuán, and Andrés Salado. Previous musical recipents of the award include cellist Pablo Ferrández and conductor Andrés Salado Egea.

"I am incredibly touched to have received the Award 'Princesa de Girona', one of the greatest recognitions in our country," Dueñas wrote on social media. "I am very grateful to the Spanish Royal House and to all the institutions that make this award possible, for their support to the new generations in all its genres with these awards."

"In recent centuries, our country has created international references in the artistic field and I am committed to continue working day by day to help give visibility to values that I consider important: motivation, hard work and unconditional dedication to one’s personal dreams, dreams that are there to come true. Thank you, Spain!"

A student of Boris Kuschnir at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna and the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz, María Dueñas is a former first and Grand Prix winner at the Leonid Kogan, Georg Philipp Telemann, Zhuhai, and Yankelevitch International Violin Competitions as well as the "Getting to Carnegie" competition. She was awarded first prize and audience prize in the senior division of the Menuhin Competition Richmond 2021. María has also been named one of the 2021-2023 BBC New Generation Artists.

Her 2023 engagements include performances with the Wiener Symphoniker, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony, Orquestra Sinfónica RTVE, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

In October of this year, she signed an exclusive recording contract with Deutsche Grammophon. She is due to release her first album — titled Beethoven and Beyond — on the label on May 5, 2023.

María has given debuts at New York's Carnegie Hall, Vienna's Musikverein, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the 2019 edition of the Verbier Festival. Her recent solo engagements include performances with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Luxembourg Philharmonie, Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, and St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra.

She frequently collaborates with the Catalonian composer Jordi Cervelló, and several of his works are dedicated to her.