BIOGRAPHY

A unique blend of technical skill, great sensitivity and deep passion in his playing has established Leo de María as one of the best performers of his generation. 

Born in Madrid in 1995, he began his musical training at the age of 11. He studied at the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts of the Alfonso X el Sabio University in Madrid under the direction of Maestro Leonel Morales and is currently studying with Maestro Pavel Gililov at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.

Leo de María has won more than 30 national and international prizes. To be highlighted in 2018, the National Award “Cultura Viva” for Artistic Revelation, also he has won First Prizes at the International Piano Competitions Ciudade de Ferrol (November, 2017. Spain), MozARTè (September, 2016. Germany) and Grand Prix de Lyon (June, 2016. France). 

He has recently obtained the Second Prize at the International Competition Johann Nepomuk Hummel of Bratislava in Slovakia (WFIMC), Second Prize at the International Competition Santa Cecilia of Porto in Portugal (WFIMC), Second Prize at the International Competition of Russian Music of San Remo in Italy, Third Prize at the International Competition Ettore Pozzoli of Seregno in Italy, as well as the Rosa Sabater Prize at the International Piano Competition of Jaén in Spain. 

Last May 2022, he was invited to the Great Soloists Cycle Pilar Bayona, in the auditorium of Zaragoza. In its XXV edition, artists such as Grigory Sokolov, Alessio Bax, Joaquín Achúcarro among others participated… Leo de María received a 5 star review: Music as a panacea.

In 2020, he made his debut at the Sala Nezahualcóyotl in Mexico City with the Orquesta Joven Universitaria Eduardo Mata (OJUEM), performing Sergei Prokofiev’s Concerto no. 3. with its artistic director Gustavo Rivero Weber. He was also awarded the Second Prize at the International Competition “Valsesia Musica” in Italy. 

In 2019, he made an extensive tour of China with a total of 12 concerts on the main stages of the Asian country, starting in the city of Chong Qing and concluding in Beijing, at the Tianquiao Performing Arts Center. 

Due to the success obtained, Leo de Maria got artistic representation in China, through the Concert Agency CHONGQING PERFORMANCE CO.Ltd. 

He is also an artist of the agency MUSIESPAÑA, an international endorsement factor. 

At the age of 15 he performed Prokofiev’s Concerto No. 1 with the Cukurova State Symphony Orchestra in Adana, Turkey, conducted by Emin Güven Yasliçam. After his success, he was again invited to Antalya at the age of 16, this time to perform Tchaikovsky’s Concerto No. 1. 

Since then, his concert activity has taken him to different parts of the world, performing in the most prestigious halls such as the Laeishalle in Hamburg, Wiener Saal and Solitär Concert Hall in Salzburg, Casa da Música in Oporto, Slovak Philharmonic with the Orchestra in the Reduta Hall and in its Summer Music Festival…

In China at the Guotai Arts Center (Chonqing), Daning Theater (Shanghai), Cangjiang Theater (Xiamen), Fuzhou Grand Theater (Fuzhou), Tianquiao Performing Arts Center (Beijing), Elfers Concert Hall in Hotchkiss Series in Connecticut (USA), as well as guest professor for the Hotchkiss Summer Portals Masterclass, Auditorium CKK Jordanki (Torun-Poland), Auditorio de San Pedro de Monterrey-Mexico at the Festival Santa Cecilia- Parnassós, Sala Nezahualcóyotl in Mexico City, Salle Molière in Lyon at the Festival “Les Virtuoses du Piano”, Teatro Bibiena in Mantova (Italy), the House of A. Scriabin in Moscow, the Moscow Concert Hall of A. Scriabin (Moscow), the Teatro Bibiena in Mantova (Italy), the Festival “Les Virtuoses du Piano” in Moscow (Italy). Scriabin’s House in Moscow, Radio France in Paris, Turkey, Slovenia, Italy, Holland… 

In Spain, he has collaborated for the Yehudi Menuhin Foundation in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen Mother Doña Sofía, Rafael Orozco Cycle in Córdoba, Sala Iturbi in the Palau de la Música in Valencia, Auditorio de Castellón, Sala Mozart Auditorio de Zaragoza in its prestigious Cycle of Great Pianists, Teatro La Maestranza in Seville, in different halls in Granada including the Audiorio Manuel de Falla, the Academia de Bellas Artes De San Fernando in Madrid, Fundación Olivar del Castillejo, Fundación Juan March… 

He teaches at Musical Arts Madrid and at the Faculty of Music and Performing Arts of the Alfonso X El Sabio University in Madrid. He is also invited every year to give master classes at The Hotchkiss School Summer Portals in Connecticut in the USA. 

“Powerful”, “He plays like the big pianists”, “Dominant and Conquering” are some of the superlatives used by different critics around the world to describe him.