Spanish Young Music Talents: Montserrat Egea in Washington, D.C.

Spanish cellist Montserrat Egea will be the last guest of the “Spanish Young Music Talents” 2023 winter/spring season with a solo recital including works by Martínez Campos, Cassadó, and Crumb.

Spanish Young Music Talents (SYMT) is the new program of the Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain in Washington, DC. SYMT has been envisioned to enhance and support Spanish young musicians’ careers, in collaboration with U.S. music schools and universities at a higher level (bachelor and graduate students orchestras), offering them an experience abroad.

SYMT aims to offer young musicians not only a concert or recital in the U.S., but a complete experience with complementary activities such as masterclasses, talks, conferences, etc. to broaden their opportunities and contacts. All visiting musicians are winners of the Juventudes Musicales de España national award and under 30 years old.

Cello solo recital

• J. Martínez Campos: Suite para violonchelo solo (premiere, 20 minutes): I. Preludio, II. Lamento, III. Influencias Mediterráneas, IV. Meditación, V. Perpetuum mobile.
• G. Crumb: Sonata para violonchelo solo (13 minutes): I. Fantasía, II. Tema Pastorale con variazioni, III. Tocatta.
• G. Cassadó: Suite para violoncello solo (16 minutes): I. Preludio-Fantasía, II. Sardana (Danza), III. Intermezzo e Danza Finale.

About Montserrat Egea

Since her beginnings with the cello, Montserrat Egea has received prizes in many competitions: First Prize at the Juventudes Musicales de España (2016), First Prize at the Jaime Dobato Benavente Violoncello Competition (2012 and 2014), Third Prize in the International Dotzauer Dresden Competition (2009 and 2013). As a soloist, she has performed with RTVE Symphony Orchestra and participated in festivals such as Festival de Música y Danza de Granada, Liechtenstein Musikakademie, Encuentro de Música de Santander, Quincena de la Música de San Sebastián and the Schleswig-Holstein Festival.

Her first steps as a cellist were guided by María Casado and Asier Polo. Between 2017 and 2022 she studied with Professor Ivan Monighetti at the Reina Sofía School of Music and in 2021 she was awarded the diploma for the Most Outstanding Cellist. During her studies at the Reina Sofía School of Music, she was a member of the Óscar Esplá String Quartet, a group that received the Most Outstanding String Quartet award in 2019 and 2020.

In 2022, she joined the academy of the Staatskapelle Berlin, where she had the opportunity to work with the orchestra under the baton of D. Barenboim, H. Blomstedt, and C. Thielemann. She has also collaborated with conductors like G. Dudamel, A. Orozco-Estrada, and D. Afkham; and with orchestras such as the Madrid Symphony Orchestra, the Galicia Symphony Orchestra, and the Freixenet Orchestra.

Since August 2022, she has been a member of the Spanish National Orchestra.