“A brilliant guitarist and ravishing musician who fascinates her audience thanks to great creativity and spontaneously ignited temperament – her playing combines sound culture, rhythm, timeless poetry and instrumental elegance.”
Thomas Müller-Pering
About
Julia Villarroel is an international soloist with a career that began at a very young age in her home country performing more than 300 concerts as a soloist, ensembles, and guitar duo inside and outside the country. Due to her extensive musical career at such a young age, Julia was named a "Member of the Culture House of Ecuador" in 2016.
She pursued her higher education in Vigo, Spain with Prof. Margarita Escarpa, graduating in 2021 with the highest honors and receiving a "Matricula de Honor." Her final paper on the "History of Academic Guitar in Ecuador" received the same top marks. In 2021, she began her master's studies at the Franz Liszt School of Music in Weimar with Thomas Müller-Pering, completing the program with the highest distinction. Thanks to her long-standing career, she has been annually awarded the "Deutschlandstipendium" and "Charlotte-Krupp Stipendium" scholarships.
"Salgado en seis cuerdas" is a self-managed project consisting of 40 minutes of music by Ecuadorian composer Luis Humberto Salgado, commemorating his 120th anniversary. The pieces, originally written for piano, were transcribed by Julia for guitar and published on the CD “Salgado en seis cuerdas” in December 2023 with the collaboration of the guitarist Lucija Štivčević and the sponsorship of the Neue Liszt Stiftung. The sheet music will be published with JSM Editions in the upcoming months. The CD was presented on tour in May 2024 and is available for sale in Madrid and Castellón de la Plana.
As an orchestral soloist, Julia has performed the “Concierto de Aranjuez” in Spain and Germany with the Vigo Orchestra and the Ortenau Orchestra, respectively. Her orchestral repertoire also includes “Concierto del Sur” by Ponce and Salgado's “Ecuadorian Concerto”, which is scheduled to be performed in 2025.
In April 2025 Julia will begin the *Konzertexamen* (Concert Examination) with Professor Ricardo Gallén.