I imagine that my beginnings in music are not very different from those of any other child: to be amazed and choose as my favourite toy the most mysterious object I can find, whose depths can only be unveiled by dedicating all the time in the world to it, stolen from other games and interests that, almost without realising it, pass into the background or simply disappear. My subsequent steps are also nothing out of the ordinary… the “classic recipe” for the “preparation” of a professional musician, the main ingredients of which could be: the unconditional love and support of parents who were equally enthusiastic and fearful of the diffi cult path I had chosen; a series of generous teachers who knew how to guide and stimulate me (even if I didn’t always listen to them); the occasional teenage crisis and, fi nally, some luck in the form of scholarships, which allowed me to enjoy the wonderful and necessary experience of getting out of my comfort zone, seeing some of the world – first Madrid (Royal Conservatory) and later Warsaw (Chopin University), and discovering if a musical career really was meant for me. I currently live in Seville, my birthplace: a beautiful city almost perpetually warmed by the sun and which, although not a musical centre of the fi rst order, is an absolutely vibrant and tremendously inspiring place of vitality for any artist. Dozens and dozens of novels, poems, films and, of course, operas attest to this (reportedly more than 150!), all of which have found inspiration in its streets, its people and its stories, real or fictional. Here, I am lucky enough to work at the Conservatorio Superior “Manuel Castillo” doing what for almost two decades now has been my vocation and main artistic activity: working as a collaborative pianist and teacher of repertoire for singers. It is precisely this work with singers that has allowed me to enjoy unforgettable experiences in the world of music, such as, for example, walking with exceptional artists onto the stages of the Opera Comique in Paris, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Teatro de la Maestranza in my beloved city or the Festival della Valle D’Itria, in Martina Franca, among many others… or discovering for myself and for others small and exceptional treasures, such as some of the unpublished music of the great Pauline Viardot-García. In this way, I continue to enjoy myself today, thanks to music, as the child I was and, in a way, still am, and I hope to continue to be, always.
