Interview: María Dueñas

Violinist Maria Dueñas joins KGNU’s Sanford Baran to discuss her new album, Homage to Heifetz, inspired by the legendary violinist Jascha Heifetz, whose recordings she heard as a child growing up in Granada, Spain. The album revisits Heifetz’s celebrated pairing of Lalo’s Symphonie Espagnole and Korngold’s Violin Concerto, recorded with conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, alongside intimate miniatures performed on Heifetz’s own 1731 Stradivarius. Dueñas reflects on Heifetz’s influence, the balance between technical perfection and spontaneity, and her determination to honor his legacy without simply imitating him. She also talks about her musical partnership with Dudamel, the importance of creativity and improvisation for performers, and leaving Spain at age 11 to pursue her musical education in Germany and Vienna. At the heart of the conversation is her hope that young musicians discover what she considers most important: a lasting love of music. (Air Date 8/31/26).