Biography

Iris Azquinezer was born in Madrid in 1984. She began her studies of cello at age 3 and piano at age 5 with her mother, the late contemporary composer María Escribano.

In recent years she has recorded two solo albums (Azul y Jade, 2014 and Blanco y Oro, 2019) from a trilogy that includes the Bach Cello Suites and her own works (composed in the same tonalities as Bach Cello Suites). This original work has made her a space in the Spanish classical music scene, where she also gives music appreciation workshops for music lovers and professionals about Johann Sebastian Bach´s works.
With Zaruk, a longstanding duo with the German guitarrist Rainer Seiferth, they have recorded two albums: Hagadá (2016) inspired in Sephardic songs and Agua (2022) and have performed more than 100 concerts in Spain and Germany.

She is the artistic director of “A solas”, a series of concerts, based on the union of word and music, where each artist creates their own connection with the public by explaining their own vision of their instrument, music and programme. Over the years interpreters like Sara Águeda, Juanjo Guillem, Pablo M. Caminero or Claudio Constantini have participated in it.

She studied in Germany with Xenia Jankovic in the Hochschule für Musik Detmold, where she graduated with honors in her Konzertexamen degree, a chamber music postgraduate with Auryn Quartett and a Master in Orchestra in Dortmund, Germany. As well as further studies at the Chamber Institute of the Reina Sofía Music School in Madrid, in the department of string quartets, with Günter Pichler where she got a scholarship for studies and residence. With the Con Fuoco String quartet she debuted in festivals in Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Turkey and attended masterclasses with András Schiff, Heime Müller, Hansheinz Schneeberger, Arnold Steinhardt or Takács quartet.
She has collaborated with artists such as Marco Rizzi, Xenia Jankovic, Gerhard Weinberger, U. A. Mathé, Candida Thompson, Claudius Hermann, Paolo Giacometti or Gerhild Romberger at chamber music festivals in Switzerland and Germany.

Her strong appeal for Baroque music and historical interpretation led her to perform as a cello soloist at the Barock Akademie in Detmold (led by Gerhard Weinberger and Ulrike A. Mathé) with whom she recorded Handel’s Messiah and interpreted the most important works of J.S. Bach and to be a founding member of Ensemble Sarabande, where she played various concerts as soloist.

However, Iris’ interests are not only in classical music, as she was brought up and trained in the field of contemporary music and new creation. At age 16 she recorded the CD Concerto-Tale, Suite Of the Chinese Zodiac with music and text by María Escribano. Also, she performed in the Festival of Contemporary Music of Alicante, Encontre de Compositors de Mallorca and several diverse tours in Cuba and Spain. She has also performed a great number of Spanish contemporary compositions for solo cello.
In the world music field, she was a member of the Ensemble Vinorosso for six years in Germany, during this time they recorded 4 CDs and performed in Germany, Belgium and China and they got the OWL Kulturförderpreis. She also collaborates with pop artists such as Michael Bublé, Antonio Orozco, Paco Cifuentes, Vanesa Martín, Rozalén, Pablo López, Laura Pausini or Ana Torroja.