Isabel Villanueva is a Spanish violist who has developed a successful career around the world, which has spanned Europe, China, Latin America, Russia and the Middle East; in 2013 she became the first foreign violist to perform recitals in Iran. His solo performances include the Great Hall of the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic, Berlin Konzerthaus, La-Chaux-de-Fonds Music Society in Switzerland, Xinghai Concert Hall in Guangzhou, Bath Festival, Slovenian Philharmonic Hall, Royal Court Theater in Copenhagen, National Auditorium of Madrid, Palau de la Música Catalana, Santander Festival, Gran Teatro Nacional de Lima, Estonia Concert Hall, Rottweil Musikfestival and the Wigmore Hall in London.
Since her debut performing Bartók’s Viola Concerto with the Spanish Radio Television Symphony Orchestra, Villanueva has been invited as a soloist with important ensembles, including The Soloists of Moscow (Mozart), Estonian National Symphony Orchestra (Gubaidulina & Olivero), Orquesta Lebanon Philharmonic (Khoury), Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra (Bartók), RTVE Orchestra (Bartók & Walton), Oviedo Filarmonía (Walton), Castilla y León Symphony Orchestra (Bartók), ADDA Symphony (García-Abril), Orchestra of Córdoba (García-Abril), Andorra National Orchestra (Hoffmesiter & Rolla), Navarra Symphony Orchestra (Walton & Berlioz), Cuenca Symphony Orchestra in Ecuador (Bartók), Nuevo León Symphony Orchestra (Paganini & Berlioz), Symphony Orchestra State of New Russia (Bartók), The Soloists of Zagreb (Paganini & Weber), St. Petersburg State Capella (Bruch), Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra (Berlioz), National Symphony Orchestra of Colombia (Bruch & Britten), The Orchestra System of Venezuela (Berlioz). She has worked under the baton of Michel Plasson, Jacek Kaspszyk, Yaron Traub, Paul Daniel, Andres Mustonen, Jorge Mester, Christian Vásquez and Lior Shambadal.
Isabel has collaborated and premiered more than 20 new works for viola, many of which are dedicated to her, including composers Kurtág, Gubaidulina, Sotelo, García-Abril, Khayam, Khoury, Cervelló and Marco. Her discography includes the Viola Concerto by José Zárate with Orquesta de Extremadura (Sony Classical 2017).
Her debut album Bohèmes with pianist François Dumont was met with great acclaim and was awarded “Best Classical Album of the Year 2018” at the MIN Independent Music Awards.
Passionate about chamber music, she shares the stage with artists such as Prazak Quartet, François Dumont, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Tedi Papavrami, Victor Julien-Laferrière, Daniel Schnyder, Leonard Elschenbroich, Astrig Siranossian, Rafael Aguirre or Iddo Bar-Shaï.
In 2015 she received the “El Ojo Crítico” Award from the National Radio of Spain and in 2019 she was awarded the Classical Music Culture Award granted by the Community of Madrid; being the first time that a violist receives these important awards.