María José García Zamora - Bassoon -
Born in Albatera (Alicante) in 1986, María José García Zamora had her first music lessons at the local music school “Unión Musical La Aurora” when she was nine years old. After having started with guitar and tenor saxophone, she switched to the bassoon when she was thirteen.
In 2000, she enrolled in the Oscar Esplá Music School in Alicante, where she studied bassoon with teachers Francisco Vanaclocha and David Arroyos. In 2005, she was admitted to study in the bassoon class of Juan Sapiña at the Conservatory of Aragón (Zaragoza), where she obtained her superior music diploma in 2009. That same year she moved to Switzerland to study at the Hochschule für Musik in Basel under the tutelage of renowned bassoonist Sergio Azzolini, thanks to a scholarship awarded by Ibercaja Bank. After her Master of Arts in Music Performance in 2011, she continued studying towards an Advanced Degree in Music, which she obtained at the same conservatory in 2013.
She has actively taken part in masterclasses given by a series of renowned international soloists, including Gustavo Nuñez, David Tomás Realp, Stefano Canuti, Silvia Coricelli, Enrique Abargues, Lyndon Watts, Robin O’Neill and Ole Kristian Dahl.
María José started acquiring orchestral skills in young ensembles such as the Catalonian Youth Orchestra (JONC), the International Youth Orchestra “Oviedo Filarmonia”, the Spanish National Youth Orchestra (JONDE) and, subsequently, the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra.
On a professional level, she has been invited to play in the ranks of RSB Berlin, Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin, DSO Berlin, Orchestra de Chambre de Lausanne, Münchener Kammerorchester, Festival Strings Lucerne, Basel Chamber Orchestra, Spanish National RTVE, Valencia “Palau de la Musica” Symphonic Orchestra, Valencia “Palau de Les Arts” Orchestra and Oviedo Filarmonia.
During 2010/11 season she was a member of the youth academy of Basel Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dennis Russell Davies. In December 2012, she won the audition for Principal Bassoon at the Orchestra of Komische Oper Berlin, in which she has been performing as member since the 2013/14 season.