FLASHBACK FRIDAY | VC Young Artist María Dueñas Performs Mozart Violin Concerto No. 1 in 2014

The then 11-year-old violinist performs with conductor Andrea Marcon and the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada in the Auditorio Manuel de Falla, in Granada, Spain

"I felt extremely excited to be performing with the Orchestra whose concerts I had always attended as a child," VC Young Artist María told The Violin Channel.

"I have very vivid memories of that concert," she added. "It was a responsibility because no other child had debuted there before, but I also felt extremely proud that I was getting closer to achieving my dreams of becoming a soloist. Andrea Marcon was also very supportive."

When asked if she had any tips for performing with an orchestra, María said, "Love what you do and everything will be fine. I like to remember Gandhi's quote: 'Love is the strongest force the world possesses and yet it is the humblest imaginable.'"

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, she 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.

In May of this year, 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.

In comparison to her playing in 2014, María said that her development has been enormous.

"Improvement in technique has led to more freedom in my play," she said. "That's the point, keep improving!"