irginia Luque plays classical and flamenco music in a Spanish romantic style, combining extraordinary technical virtuosity with beautiful tone and musicianship.”
Beethoven is quoted as saying that “The guitar is a miniature orchestra in itself.” Virginia Luque’s distinctive sound of extraordinary vibrato of “ bending notes,” and virtually placing a piano pedal inside of a guitar comes from a life-long passion and dedication to bring out all the colors and tones of that miniature orchestra. Luque began studying the science of acoustics at an early age with the aspiration of applying the science to the guitar and creating sustains that the guitar doesn’t normally produce. She continues to develop techniques to beautifully articulate and sustain notes and chords. In that endeavor she is one of few guitarists who does not use nails.
A native of Algeciras (Cádiz), Spain, Luque began playing the guitar when she was only four, started formal training when she was six, and gave her first concert at the age of seven. After hearing her play, Luque was invited by the legendary Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia to study privately with him. She continued her studies and earned a Master’s degree from the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Málaga in Spain, and at Segovia's suggestion, she came to America where she also received a Master's degree from the Juilliard School in New York City. She was awarded First Prize at several international and national competitions, including The Manuel de Falla Competition for Classical Guitar in Granada, Spain, and she received the Lincoln Center Scholarship among other notable awards. As well as guitar, Luque studied conducting in Spain and the United States.
Luque recorded Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez with the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios on a CD Spanish Masterworks for the Guitar. Concerto performances have included the Concierto de Aranjuez with Seoul Symphony Orchestra, Antalya Symphony Orchestra, Izmir Symphony Orchestra, Orquesta del Teatro Colón in Ushuaia (Argentina), New York Virtuosi Orchestra, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, the North Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, and Riverside Symphony. She premiered her own concerto Fantasía Andaluza with the Alexandria Symphony.
Internationally, she has performed in Argentina, Italy, Spain, London, Germany, Turkey, Morocco, Korea, among others. In the United States, she has performed multiple recitals at New York City venues including Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, The Metropolitan Opera House, The Frick Collection, as well as numerous other concert halls throughout the United States.
She was invited by Christopher Parkening on several occasions to do a special guest recital at the Christopher Parkening International Master Class at Montana State University. Luque performed the Concierto de Aranjuez in a recent Homage Celebration to Christopher Parkening in Indiana.
Luque founded Music for Life NYC and through this foundation she presented the organization Children of the Night in a concert at Carnegie Hall. The concert was performed by the New York Women’s Ensemble, an orchestra that reunited great musicians with very different backgrounds. This orchestra was later transformed into a larger orchestral body named New York Women’s Philharmonic.
Currently, Luque is producing The Gold Catalogue Composers (GCC), a very ambitious project that honors prominent, contemporary, international composers for the guitar such as Leo Brouwer (Cuba), Jorge Morel (Argentina), Sergio Assad (Brazil), Ernesto Cordero (Puerto Rico), Nikita Koshkin (Russia), and Ricardo Llorca (Spain). It is a collaborative project that features compositions hand-selected by the composers, as well as newly commissioned works premiered by Luque. All the works are performed by Luque and the interpretations are reviewed and approved by the composers. A documentary film with live scenes of the collaboration and masterful guidance by the composers is also included with the project. Viewers will gain insights into the personalities and creative processes of these contemporary legends.
Being a true renaissance woman, beyond playing guitar, composing, conducting, record producing, and choral singing, Luque’s writing pursuits have garnered her a First Prize in the International Competition of Poetry based in Puerto Rico with her book Cosas del alma. Other books followed: Esencias and Vivencias. She iscurrently writing the book Antología de desaparecidos. She also graduated as a Professional Chef in Culinary Arts at the French Culinary Institute of New York.
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