Irene Caldas Sánchez

She was born in Seville, Spain, in 2009. Since 2025, she has been studying at the BBVA Foundation Viola Chair at the Reina Sofía School of Music with Professor Diemut Poppen. She is a recipient of the Albéniz Foundation scholarship.

She began her viola studies at age 3 at the “Joaquín Turina” School in Seville with Claire Applewhite and later with Jerome Ireland. She has also studied with Laure Gaudron, Jonathan Brown, Joaquín Riquelme, and Karolina Errera. In addition, she has received masterclasses from Gérard Caussé, Ruth Olmedilla, Ignacio González, and Natasha Tchitch, among others.

In 2023, she was admitted to the Barenboim-Said Academy and the Andalusian Youth Orchestra, becoming its youngest violist. She was also selected for the Concertgebouw Orchestra Young Encounter (2025).

She has won competitions such as 1st Prize at the Vigo String Competition (2024), 1st Prize at the Baeza Young Performers Competition (2024), 1st Prize in the Chamber Music category at the 28th “Visitación Magarzo” Competition (2019), and 1st Prize at the “Julia Hierro” Competition in Nerva (2019).

At the AIMS Festival in Solsona, she was selected to perform with the Festival's renowned conductors (2023).

She has worked with conductors such as Vasily Petrenko, Elim Chan, Julio García Vico, Pablo González, Oksana Lyniv, and Thomas Guggeis, and in chamber music with Aitor Hevia and Atte Kilpeläinen.

In January 2026, she collaborated with the LGT Young Soloists in their concert in Logroño, Spain.