Information
Facts
Born in Spanien
Member since 1.5.2025
Biography
Raquel Areal Martínez comes from a family that always listened to classical music. When her older sister started playing the violin, she wanted to learn the instrument too. The Spanish-born violinist later studied at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Madrid with Zakhar Bron and Yuri Volguin, and at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin with Kolja Blacher. She has won numerous awards and scholarships, including a scholarship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. In 2018, she won first prize at the International Wieniawski & Lipinski Competition.
Raquel Areal Martínez made the decision to become an orchestral musician when she took part in a project with the Orquesta Joven de Sinfónica Galicia for the first time. “Playing in the orchestra, I experienced an intensity that I had never felt before. I love sharing and working in a team; I see these qualities as being fundamental for orchestral musicians.” At the age of 22, she was given her first position in the Spanish National Orchestra. In September 2024, she joined the Karajan Academy of the Berliner Philharmoniker. This was an important building block in her career, she says. “I was able to further develop as a musician by playing in the orchestra's concerts, expanding my solo and chamber music repertoire, and being prepared well for the demands of the profession.” She went on to join Berliner Philharmoniker, where she has been playing in the second violin section since May 2025.
Raquel Areal Martínez also performs as a soloist and chamber musician – with conductors and artists such as Pedro Neves, Hansjörg Schellenberger, Zakhar Bron, Antje Weithaas and Nobuko Imai. In her free time, she enjoys playing table tennis, following tennis tournaments with enthusiasm, and relaxing in the wonderful landscape of her Galician homeland.
