Essence of the Elements: Duo Cassadó and Martina Ampuero

C.8. Program:

- Arvo Pärt. *Für Alina*
- Karen Tanaka. *The Song of Songs*
- Max Richter. *On the Nature of Daylight*
- Lili Boulanger. *Reflets* & *Nocturne*
- Florence Price. *Adoration* & *Night*
- Philip Glass. *Opening*
- Arvo Pärt. *Fratres*

**Duo Cassadó**

Formed by cellist Damian Martínez Marco and pianist Marta Moll de Alba, this ensemble is considered one of the most outstanding chamber groups in today’s music scene.

They have performed at prestigious concert halls and festivals around the world, touring in Israel, Canada, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, China, South Korea, and Japan. As exclusive artists with Warner Classics, their discography includes albums such as *Rapsodia del Sur*, awarded the Melómano de Oro, *Rojo*, featuring the world premiere recording of Halffter’s *Fantasía Española*, and *Hypnotik*, their most recent conceptual album with strong international reach.

Committed to contemporary creation, they have premiered works by leading modern composers including Tomás Marco, Laura Vega, Salvador Brotons, and Marina Ortega.

Recently, they successfully presented *Hechizo y Duende* alongside flamenco dancer Iván Vargas—a tribute to Federico García Lorca. In the upcoming season, they will premiere *Esencia de los Elementos* together with visual artist Martina Ampuero—an innovative project uniting classical music and video art.

Both are professors at Musikene, and Damian also teaches at the Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya (ESMUC) in Barcelona. Marta is the creator of the television series *Caminos de la Música* on La2 (TVE), also broadcast on Orange TV and Play, and a regular contributor to the cultural magazine *Jot Down*.

**DAMIAN MARTÍNEZ MARCO, cellist**

Acclaimed by critics for his “expressive sensitivity” and “exquisite sound,” he has won awards at international competitions in France, Spain, and Portugal.

As a soloist, he has performed under conductors including Krzysztof Penderecki, Lawrence Foster, Lorenzo Viotti, Theodor Guschlbauer, Anne Manson, David Harutyunyan, Peter Rundel, Pedro Halffter, Antoni Ros Marbà, Enrique García Asensio, Gloria Isabel Ramos, Frank Beermann, Tomás Garrido, Juan José Olives, Josep Vicent, Vasily Petrenko, Marzio Conti, and Nuno Coelho. He has toured in France, Germany, Italy, England, the USA, Finland, Sweden, Morocco, Lithuania, Estonia, Japan, Colombia, Ecuador, Israel, Canada, and China.

An exclusive artist with Warner Classics, he has recorded *Rapsodia del Sur*, *Rojo*, *Hypnotik*, as well as *Spirit of Casals* and *Essential Saint-Saëns*. He has also made recordings for labels including ASV, Claves, Naxos, TVE, and TV3. Damian participated in a complete recording of David Popper’s cello studies produced by the Association Française du Violoncelle alongside other exceptional cellists.

Deeply committed to contemporary music, composer Salvador Brotons wrote a *Solo Cello Sonata* dedicated to him, premiered in Lisbon, and maestro Tomás Marco composed the *Cello and Piano Sonata “Sibilas frente al espejo”*, which Damian premiered successfully in Madrid. He has premiered *Del Aire que me das* by Marina Ortega and *Páginas de Arena* by Laura Vega.

His social commitment has led him to perform benefit concerts for the *World AIDS Congress*, children in Colombia, victims of the earthquake in Chile (in Canada), and victims of terrorism in Spain.

He was principal cellist of the Orquesta de Radio Televisión Española (ORTVE) and the Orquesta Sinfónica de Barcelona (OBC). He holds professorships in cello at Musikene (Higher School of Music of the Basque Country, San Sebastián) and at ESMUC (Barcelona). He graduated from the Guildhall School of Music (London), Indiana University School of Music (USA), and Musikhochschule Stuttgart. He studied with Janos Starker, Natalia Gutman, María de Macedo, and Aldo Parisot, supported by scholarships from Juventudes Musicales de Madrid, Fundación Pau Casals, Fundación Ritz, Indiana University, Banff Centre for Arts (Canada), and Yale University.

**MARTA MOLL DE ALBA, pianist**

Pianist Marta Moll de Alba, an exclusive artist with Warner Classics, has received awards in Barcelona, Porto, and Mannheim. She was awarded the *Premio Gran Canaria* for her distinguished career.

She has performed in some of the world’s most prestigious venues, earning acclaim from audiences and international critics alike. Her tours have taken her to Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, France, Italy, Colombia, Ecuador, Pakistan, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Canada, China, Japan, and South Korea. Notable venues include Steinway Haus Düsseldorf, Wiener Musikverein, Richter Galerie Tel Aviv, Opera of Cairo, Palazzo Ricci, Acropollium Carthage, Sociedad Filarmónica de Las Palmas, Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, Auditorio de Tenerife, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, Palau de la Música Catalana, Sociedad Filarmónica de Oviedo, Fundación Juan March, Sociedad Filarmónica de Vigo, Sociedad Filarmónica Bilbao, Schloss Elmau, Oriental Arts Shanghai, Center for the Arts, Hefei Anhui Arts Center, Beijing Mong Mae Wai Hall, Dalian Grand Theatre, Tianjin Grand Theatre, Beijing Sunrise Concert Hall, Ilshin Hall Seoul, and the National Centre for the Performing Arts of Beijing.

She has performed benefit concerts for children in Colombia and victims of the Chilean earthquake in Canada.

Her dedication to new music has led to premieres of works such as *Sibilas frente al espejo* by Tomás Marco (dedicated to Duo Cassadó), *Del Aire que me das* by Marina Ortega, and *Páginas de Arena* by Laura Vega.

She earned her higher piano degree in Spain, then moved to Germany on an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation scholarship, studying at the universities of Freiburg and Cologne. She began a *Master in Spanish Music* under Alicia de Larrocha and completed a *Master in Research on Musical Heritage* at the University of Oviedo. She studied with Leontina Margulis, Vitaly Margulis, György Sebök, Alicia de Larrocha, Margarita Guerra, Cecilio Tieles, Tibor Szász, Rudolf Kehrer, Vladimir Krainev, and Dimitry Bashkirov.

She is a professor at the Higher Music Centre *Musikene* in San Sebastián. Certified as a coach by the European School of Coaching, she is also a regular contributor to the prestigious cultural magazine *Jot Down*.

Marta is the creator, scriptwriter, and host of the documentary series *Caminos de la Música*, broadcast on La2 (TVE).

**MARTINA AMPUERO, visual artist**

Graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Barcelona, specializing in painting and illustration, and holds a Master’s in 3D Animation from IDEC (Pompeu Fabra University). Martina Ampuero blends traditional and digital techniques to create immersive and impactful visual experiences.

She began her professional career as a 3D artist at Urano Films, where she worked on landscapes, sets, motion graphics, and visual effects for operas such as *Sonntag aus Licht*, *Turandot*, *Quartett*, and *Tristan und Isolde*. In these productions, she collaborated with renowned directors like Carlús Padrissa, Àlex Ollé (La Fura dels Baus), and Franc Aleu.

For over a decade, she has developed interactive projects, projections (mappings), and video art for global brands including Adidas, Barça, Audi, Dewar's, Absolut, Bombay Sapphire, Telefónica, HBO, Estrella Damm, and TEDx. Her work merges aesthetics, technology, and emotion to create unique visual experiences.

Currently, she is co-founder and art director at Eyesberg Studio. In parallel, she develops personal projects such as *ZØNE (MIRA.mov)*, an immersive experience designed for the Ideal space in Barcelona, and *SHINZØ*, a live performance created in collaboration with musician Pauk, exploring the boundaries between color, sound, and emotion through visceral introspection.