Two musicians from Valencia, Oboist Victoria Muñoz and pianist Rubén Talón, will play at the ICMA Award ceremony on 12 April at the Palau de la Musica.
Victoria Muñoz was born in Valencia in 2000. Coming from a family of musicians she began her Oboe studies at the Joaquín Rodrigo Conservatory in Valencia, where she graduated in 2022. She was also member of Sevilla Barenboim-Said Academy with Ramón Ortega Quero and Jose Luís García Vegara.
After completing her conservatory studies, in 2022 she won the audition for the Academy of the Concertgebouworkest in Amsterdam, with which she has actively collaborated in various productions, both in the orchestra and in chamber ensembles.
In 2023 she began her master’s studies in Suisse at the Haute École de Musique in Genève under the guidance of Prof. Alexei Ogrintchouck.
In recent years, she has also collaborated with professional orchestras, such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orkest (RCO), Suisse Romande Orchestra (OSR), Spain National Orchestra (ONE), Netherlands Philarmonic Orchestra (NedPhO), Antwerpen Symphony Orchestra (ASO), Comunity Valencian Orchestra (les Arts), Balearic Islands Symphony Orchestra, among others.
Victoria Muñoz will play excerpts from Six Metamorphoses after Ovid, op. 49 by Benjamin Britten.
Hailed by critics as one of the best pianists of his generation, Rubén Talón (*1988) is the winner of more than 30 first prizes in national and international competitions in Spain, France, Italy, Austria and the United States.
He began his musical training at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música José Iturbi in Valencia at the age of 12, with Professor Ricardo Roca. In 2006 he began his studies at the Conservatory of Rueil-Malmaison [Paris] in the class of Denis Pascal. Later he attended masterclasses by teachers like Alicia de Larrocha, Maria João Pires, Dmitri Bashkirov, Jaques Rouvier, Lazar Berman, Michel Béroff and Rudolf Buchbinder, among others.
In October 2010 he was admitted to the prestigious Accademia Pianistica Internazionale Incontri col Maestro in Imola [Italy]. This institution was created in 1988 and was presided by Vladimir Ashkenazy. Rubén Talón has become the first Spaniard to be accepted in this institution, where he has studied for 9 years.
He gives concerts as a soloist and with orchestra [Orquesta de Valencia, Orquesta Europea de Milán, Nord Caucasus Philharmonic…] in Spain, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Russia, China, Argentina and Uruguay.
He has given masterclasses in several conservatories and specialized centers, both in Spain and abroad, and has been part of the jury in international competitions. His students have been winners of national and international competitions.
His latest recording, Seeking Lightness, produced by Shigeru Kawai and dedicated to Beethoven, Liszt and Rachmaninov has been praised by international critics and specialized media, being awarded with important prizes such as the Gold Prize at the World Classical Music Awards and the Silver Global Music Awards.
Rubén Talón is Delegate of the Eutherpe Foundation, Ambassador of Talent in the Promete Foundation and Director of the concert series El Piano de Cañada Blanch in Valencia. In addition to his concert activity, he directs the Piano Department of ESMAR [Escuela Superior de Música de Alto Rendimiento], in Valencia.
Rubén Talón will play Manuel de Falla’s Fantasía Bética.