María Alba Carmona Tobella - Oboe -

Born in 1986 in France, Maria Alba Carmona began her musical studies at Rodez conservatory (Southern France) with Nathalie Lebrazidec. In 1997 her family moved back to Catalonia, where she continued her musical education with Ferran Angli at Vic Music School up to her pre-university music diploma.

In 2004 she went to study at Musikene, the Superior Music School of the Basque Country in San Sebastián, with professor Juan Manuel G. Lumbreras. She performed there the Lutoslawski Concerto for Oboe and Harp, accompanied by the Musikene Sinfonietta. In 2008 she moved to Switzerland where she studied a Master of Arts in Music Performance in the Hochschule für Musik under the tutelage of professor Emmanuel Abbühl. Her studies in Switzerland were made possible through a scholarship granted by the JONDE/BBVA Foundation and the Government of Catalonia.

Maria Alba had her first orchestra experience in youth formations such as the Orchestra of Catalonian Music Schools, the Youth Orchestra of Catalonia (JONC), the Spanish National Youth Orchestra (JONDE), the Britten-Pears Orchestra at Aldeburgh Festival, Lucerne Festival Academy (conducted by Pierre Boulez) and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra. In 2007 Maria Alba was awarded First Prize and the Audience Prize at the Norman Cooper Chamber Music Competition held at Aberdeen International Youth Festival as a member of the Spanish Youth Orchestra Wind Octet.

In 2011 she won the audition for second oboe and English horn and became a member of Philharmonia Zurich, the orchestra of Zurich Opera House, where she also began playing on periode instruments as member of the “Orchestra La Scintilla”.

Since 2010 she is member of the project Spira Mirabilis, which has strongly influenced her musical development.