Program: Music (Viola Performance)
Home Country: Spain
University: Escola Superior de Musica

Spanish violist Marcos Lopez was born in Cartagena in 1995. He studied at the Escola Superior de Musica de Catalunya, where, as an undergraduate pupil of Ashan Pillai, Lopez also took chamber lessons with Jonathan Brown, violist of the Cuarteto Casals. He was awarded several top prizes in the " Intercentros Melómanos" and "Entre Cuerdas y Metales" competition during his studies and performed in more than twenty different countries with the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester.

Between 2015 and 2016, he appeared in the festivals of Proms in London, Salzburger Festspiele, Rheingau, Ravello and Lucerne under the baton of Herbert Blomstedt, Philippe Jordan, Jonathan Nott, Kent Nagano and Leo Mcfall. In addition, Lopez has played with professional orchestras such as the Barcelona Symphony orchestra and the Navarra Symphony orchestra for two seasons. He also enjoys making new music and collaborating with young composers as well as playing in his hometown with different chamber orchestras like Camerata de Murcia, Joven Orquesta de la Region de Murcia and Orquesta Sinfonica de Jovenes de Cartagena. Thanks to winning a Fulbright Scholarship, Mr. Lopez is currently pursuing his master´s degree in Viola Performance at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Ivo van der Werff´s studio.