Irene Herrero

Irene Herrero Martínez, born in Llíria in 2003 into a family with a musical tradition, began her violin studies at the age of seven. She entered the School of the Banda Primitiva de Llíria and the city’s Conservatory, where she studied with Ernesto Verdeguer and refined her training with violinist Vicent Huerta, obtaining the Extraordinary Prize for Violin Performance and the Extraordinary Prize for Chamber Music. Subsequently, she trained at the Reina Sofía School of Music with Christoph Poppen, Miguel Colom, and Aitor Hevia, where she will complete her Degree in Higher Artistic Education in Music in June 2026.
Her academic career has been enriched by masterclasses with renowned performers such as Michaela Martin, Miriam Fried, Ulf Wallin, Nora Chastain, Günter Pichler, Vera Martínez, and Cibrán Sierra.
In the orchestral field, she has held the position of principal violin in ensembles such as Concertgebouworkest Young (Netherlands), Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra (Switzerland), the Freixenet Orchestra of the Reina Sofía School of Music, and the Orquestra de la Federació de Societats Musicals de la Comunitat Valenciana. She has also collaborated with the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada.
She has performed in internationally renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York, Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Kölner Philharmonie, Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest, Bratislava Reduta, and the Auditorio Nacional de Música, under the baton of conductors such as Andrés Orozco-Estrada, András Schiff, Daniel Harding, and Roberto González-Monjas.
In the field of chamber music, her career as a member of the Banco de España Arriaga Quartet stands out, with which she has developed an intense national and international concert activity. She has performed in New York, Cologne, Marvão, Madrid, Santander, Valencia, Málaga, A Coruña, and Castilla y León, in venues such as the Auditorio Nacional de Música, Kölner Philharmonie, Cervantes Institute in New York, the Teatro Real, and the Palacio Real in Madrid, as well as at festivals and academies such as the Santander Music Encounter and Academy and the Marvão Academy (Portugal). In June 2024, the quartet performed before the Kings of Spain at the Palacio Real on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the coronation of King Felipe VI. In October 2025, she made her solo debut at the Kölner Philharmonie with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra, alongside clarinetist Pablo Barragán and under the direction of Christoph Poppen.
The Banco de España Arriaga Quartet has received numerous awards, including the Golden Medal and Special Prize at the Vienna International Music Competition 2025, as well as Second Prize in the Juventudes Musicales de España 2025 competition. It has also been distinguished as the most outstanding string quartet of the Reina Sofía School of Music during the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 academic years, in Heime Müller’s chair, an award presented by Queen Sofía. Furthermore, it has been invited to participate as a chamber ensemble in the Stuttgart International Violin Competition 2027, in collaboration with the finalists.