Born in Valencia, Mireia started playing the oboe at the age of eight at the José Manuel Izquierdo Conservatoire of Music in Catarroja, where she obtained the Oboe Honour Award, before winning a place to study for her bachelor’s degree at the Joaquin Rodrigo Conservatoire of Valencia.
Mireia then moved to London, graduating in 2015 with a Master of Performance from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. There Mireia participated in master classes with Lucas Macias Navarro, Domenico Orlando, Ian Hardwick and Christine Pendrill. Mireia’s studies were supported by the Leverhulme Trust and the Guildhall School Trust Scholarships.
During her studies, Mireia took part in side-by-side sessions with the London Symphony Orchestra, working with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Daniel Harding, Bernard Haitink and Antonio Pappano. As a member of the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra, Mireia performed with Takuo Yuasa, Alexander Janiczek and Yan Pascal Tortelier.
Mireia has played with numerous orchestras and chamber ensembles including Britten Sinfonia, London Symphony Orchestra in Trafalgar Square, Guildhall Symphony Orchestra, Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra and Valencia Conservatoire Orchestra. Mireia has performed in renowned venues across Europe, including the Barbican, LSO St Luke’s, Cadogan Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Palau de la Música and Palau de les Arts in Valencia.
Mireia also has a degree in Primary Music Education from the Ausiàs March University of Valencia, teaching in public and private primary schools and also in music centres as an oboe and music theory teacher. Currently, Mireia is teaching privately and in a London-based music centre.
Mireia is a member of the Supernova Wind Quintet who recently had the honour of winning the Ivan Sutton Award sponsored by the City of London Corporation.
What’s on your playlist right now?
On my playlist there are a lot of soundtracks from films such as Pearl Harbour, Gladiator, The Da Vinci Code and Pirates of the Caribbean by Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt, and Disney’s The Lion King. I also have pop, bachata, swing and classical music like Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.4, Chopin‘s Tristesse, Mozart’s clarinet and bassoon concertos and Dvořák’s Cello Concerto.
Which three people, living or dead, would you most like to have dinner with and why?
Claude Monet – I love the detail in his impressionistic paintings. It’s amazing how he recreates nature in his colourful landscapes.
Zoltán Kodály – His Kodály method of musical education has been really valuable to me and fundamental to my musical training and understanding. A very important figure in music education around the world and I have the greatest respect for him.
Joaquin Rodrigo – the Spanish composer who always makes me feel strong emotion and Spanish colour with so much of his music, but one piece more specifically, El concierto de Aranjuez.
Tell us something about yourself that might surprise us
I enjoy playing drums and timpani during one of the most popular festivities in Valencia called Fallas. We play pasodobles and funny tunes walking around the city to wake up all the neighbours, throwing firecrackers in the mornings and having fun in the evenings.