Biography
Ona Cardona is a sensitive musician who combines solo performance and chamber music, enjoying a wide repertoire from classicism to contemporary premieres. She has performed at the main Spanish halls, such as Palau de la Música and L’Auditori de Barcelona, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, Fundación Juan March, Palau de la Música de València, Auditorio de Zaragoza, also appearing at international festivals such as Granada, Segovia, Castell de Peralada, Úbeda, La Porta Ferrada, Al-Kalat, Santa Cristina d’Aro, Schubertíada de Vilabertran, Quincena Donostiarra. She has also played in relevant European venues (Wigmore Hall, St-Martin-in-the-Fields, Barbican Hall, Glyndebourne Opera, Berlin Konzerthaus, Elbphilarmonie) as well as in the United States (Carnegie Hall, Adrienne Arsht Center) and China (Nanjing Music Hall).
As a soloist, she has performed with orchestras such as Radiotelevisión Española, Sinfónica de Castilla y León, Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, OCAZ Enigma, Orquesta de Córdoba, Nacional de Cambra d’Andorra or Simfònica de les Illes Balears, among others. Passionate about chamber music, she usually appears with artists such as Alexandar Madzar, Gerold Huber, Denis Pascal, Enrique Bagaría, Juliane Banse, Mojca Erdmann, Maximilian Hornung, Ramón Ortega, The Soloists of London or the quartets AmarArt and Casals. In the orchestral sphere, she collaborates with prestigious ensembles (Orquestra de Cadaqués, Camerata 432, Arts Symphony Orchestra) and, linked to her roots, she is principal clarinet of Orquestra de Cambra Illa de Menorca. She has worked with renowned conductors such as Adrian Leaper, Vassily Petrenko, Salvador Mas, Virginia Martínez, Peter Rundel, Christian Curnyn, Jaime Martín, Eva Ollikainen, Krzysztof Penderecki, Nuno Coelho or Vladimir Ashkenazy.
Very committed to contemporary creation, many composers have dedicated their scores to her, premiering works by Carles Santos, Alberto García-Demestres, Gabriel Brnčić, Jesús Rodríguez-Picó, Julian Philips, Cimeon Ellerton, Pedro Faria Gomes, Solfa Carlile, Mark Wolf, Rhian Samuel or Henrik Goldschmidt. She has recorded for Radio Nacional de España, Catalunya Música, Televisión Española, D+3 Artmusic Project, Trito and Anacrusi, her performances being broadcasted internationally. Among her discography, it is remarkable the CD for Columna Música including the World premiere recording “Suite for Solo Clarinet” by Michel Camilo, as well as Chiaroscuro for Eudora Records, romantic works by Johannes Brahms, Robert and Clara Schumann with pianist Josep Colom, with whom she performs regularly.
Licensed from Escola Superior de Música de Catalunya with the highest marks, she obtained a Master with Distinction at Guildhall School of Music and Drama of London. She has also studied at Royal College of Music of London and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili de Tarragona. Her musical quality has been recognized with numerous awards (Concurso Nacional Intercentros de Grado Superior, Concurso Permanente de Juventudes Musicales de España, El Primer Palau International Competition, among others) and nowadays she is frequently requested as a jury member.
With extensive teaching experience, she regularly offers courses and masterclasses in which she integrates the principles of the Trager Approach®. She has taught at Conservatori Superior de Música de les Illes Balears and Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón, being recently appointed Professor of Clarinet at Conservatorio Superior de Música de Málaga.