Irene Cantos
Born in 1997 (Albacete, Spain), Irene Cantos began her musical studies at the age of 7 at the Santa Cecilia School of Music in the capital. In 2005 she entered the Royal Professional Conservatory of Music and Dance of Albacete under the direction of Llanos Díaz with whom she finished her studies in the Professional Piano Programme in 2015. In June 2019, she finished her "Degree in Musical Interpretation" with Leonel Morales at the Alfonso X el Sabio University in Madrid, obtaining the highest marks in the Final Degree Recital. She has also received lessons from pianist Josu De Solaun.
During her training period, she received the Scholarship of Excellence from the Community of Madrid in 2017/2018 and 2018/2019, which has helped her to develop her musical skills working with some of the best pianists and teachers such as Pavel Gililov, Jacques Rouvier, Alexander Kobrin, Pascal Nemirovski, Murray McLachlan, Pavel Nersessian, Boris Slutsky, José Ramón Méndez, Logan Skelton, Julian Martin, Jean Saulnier, James Giles, Amy Gustafson, Norma Fisher, among others. In the summer of 2018, she was admitted to participate in the "Ferrara International Piano Festival" where she worked with Matti Raekallio, current professor at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York.
Since 2011 she has presented concerts and recitals in Spain, Italy, Belgium, Austria and Germany, in such performance halls as the "Municipal Auditorium" and "José Saramago" Hall in Albacete, "Sala de las Américas" in Santa Fé, "Auditorio Caja Rural” in Granada, “Medina Elvira Auditorium” in Atarfe, “San Juan de los Caballeros” Church in Segovia, “Olivar del Castillejo” Foundation in Madrid, Auditorium of Castellón, “Centre del Carme” in Valencia, “Wiener Saal” and “Universität Mozarteum” in Salzburg (Austria), Castle “Ramírez Máro” in Hauset (Belgium), “Costabili Palace” in Ferrara (Italy), among others. After winning the "Best Spanish Music Performance" award at the "Santa Cecilia" International Piano Competition, in 2012 she was invited to participate in the 37th Segovia International Music Festival. In 2015 she performed Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2 with the Orchestra of the Albacete Royal Conservatory of Music at the "Teatro Circo" of Albacete.
She is currently a member of the Novus Promusica team, a record label headed by the composer and music producer Manuel Ruiz del Corral, with whom she has developed both composition and production skills. Under this label she has recorded two albums, 'Jeux' and 'Reflets'. One of the facets that characterizes her is her commitment to contemporary music; in her discography there is absolutely inspiring music by Einojuhani Rautavaara, Manuel Ruiz del Corral, Miguel Bustamante, Ana Silva, José Buenagu and Brian Field.
As a composer, she has explored various genres of film music and has composed and produced the music for the promotional video for the new building of the Faculty of Psychology at the University of Malaga created by the architect Eduardo Pérez Gómez. She is currently immersed in the composition of a commission for Lynn University (Florida).
She has also served as music producer for works by great composers such as José Buenagu and Nicolas Bacri.