The great names of international music, comprising the faculty and alumni of the Reina Sofía School of Music, gather for the Masters Series, where they reconnect with their ‘home’ in a more intimate and personal format.
Dúo del Valle
Since their consecration at the prestigious ARD International Music Competition in Munich, brothers Víctor and Luis del Valle have established themselves as a leading piano duo on the international scene, combining virtuosity, sonic discourse, and a unique voice that captivates audiences. Their performances have resonated in emblematic auditoriums such as the Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, the Palau de la Música de Cataluña, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki, Munich’s Herkulessaal, Stuttgart’s Liederhalle, and the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris, as well as on important stages in America and Asia.
Recognized with international awards—in addition to the ARD, in Paris, Miami, Poland, and Slovakia—their talent has been celebrated by both juries and audiences, highlighting their ability to merge technical precision with poetic expressiveness. They have collaborated with top-tier orchestras, including the Spanish National Orchestra, Sinfónica de Galicia, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, and Helsinki Philharmonic, alongside conductors such as Juanjo Mena, Yakov Kreizberg, Pablo González, and Vasili Petrenko.
Their discography reflects a commitment to Spanish music and the universal repertoire, including recordings of Tomás Marco, José Arriola, Mozart, Poulenc, Bartók, Ravel, and Corigliano, released by specialized labels such as SONY España, IBS Classical, and Brilliant Classics. Passionate about bringing music to a wider audience, they created the show «2 Pianos con Pasión» with singer Pasión Vega, enjoyed by over 40,000 spectators.
Trained at the Reina Sofía School of Music under the guidance of D. Bashkirov and C. Martínez Mehner, and enriched by the advice of masters such as R. Gothoni, M. Pressler, and D. Barenboim, Víctor and Luis del Valle combine their concert career with teaching in Malaga and Madrid, also giving international masterclasses. Their career has been recognized with the «Málaga Joven Award» and the Gold Shield of Vélez-Málaga, a testament to their contribution to art and the projection of their hometown on the world’s most prestigious stages.
Juanjo Guillem
Solo percussionist, orchestral musician, professor, composer, and producer, he is a leading figure in contemporary percussion, noted for his commitment to avant-garde music. As a concert performer, he has appeared in Spain, Europe, Asia, and America, and numerous composers have dedicated works to him. He has premiered a wide repertoire of concertos for percussion and orchestra with ensembles such as the Spanish National Orchestra, OCB, OSM, OFM, and the Cascais Orchestra, among others.
In 1994, together with Juanjo Rubio, he founded the NEOPERCUSIÓN Study Center, a key project in his pedagogical work. He has taught at the conservatories of Madrid and Zaragoza, is a regular instructor for youth orchestras, and has given courses and masterclasses at prestigious international institutions such as the Royal College of Music, the Manhattan School of Music, and the China Conservatory.
Since 2012, he has been a Percussion Professor at the Katarina Gurska Higher Education Center and Alfonso X el Sabio University. As artistic director of NEOPERCUSIÓN, he has collaborated with artists such as the Arditti Quartet and Markus Stockhausen, and directs the mADRID aCTUAL and Àgora Actual Percussió Series in Jávea.
Trained at the superior conservatories of Valencia, Barcelona, and Madrid, as well as in Strasbourg and Manchester, he is a founding member of JONDE and first prize winner of the Juventudes Musicales de España Competition. As an orchestral musician, he has been part of various groups and, since 1999, has been the principal percussionist of the Spanish National Orchestra.
Rafael Gálvez Laguna
Gálvez is a distinguished percussionist whose artistic and educational work has significantly contributed to the development of contemporary music and the training of new generations of performers in Spain.
He completed his studies at the Superior Conservatory of Music of Valencia and furthered his education with a postgraduate degree at the Superior School of Performing Arts and Music of Porto, later expanding his studies at the Neopercusión Study Center in Madrid.
Committed to the dissemination of musical culture and its social impact, he has developed an intense educational activity ranging from special education and social integration projects—such as Exotica for Change, supported by the La Caixa Foundation—to the professional training of musicians.
In the academic field, he has been a professor at the Professional Conservatory of Music of Gijón, the Neopercusión Musical Studies Center, and the Superior Conservatory of Music of the Balearic Islands, and currently teaches at the Katarina Gurska Higher Education Center and Alfonso X el Sabio University. He also regularly collaborates as a guest professor in instrumental technical improvement courses for youth orchestras and conservatories.
As a performer, he is a member of Neopercusión, a platform dedicated to the creation and dissemination of contemporary music, where, alongside Juanjo Guillem, he has promoted numerous artistic projects, the mADRID aCTUAL Festival, and various recordings, including the album Kronos & Kultur.
In the orchestral field, he has been part of JONDE, the Oviedo Philharmonia Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Community of Madrid, and since 2006, he has been the principal percussionist of the Spanish National Orchestra.
