About
Mireia Peñalver i Guilleumes is a cellist and viola da gamba player based between Barcelona and Berlin, working across early and classical music, contemporary creation, and sound research.
She holds a cum laude Bachelor's degree in cello from the Prins Claus Conservatorium (Groningen, NL), a Master's degree with honours in viola da gamba from the Universität der Künste Berlin (DE), and a Postgraduate degree in viola da gamba from the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg (AT). She has worked in masterclasses with Lucile Boulanger, Myriam Rignol, Jean-Guihen Queyras, Michel Strauss, Troels Svane and Lluís Claret, among others.
She is a founding member of What a Day collective, home to ensembles Saó and The Gardeners -awarded the Talento Generación SMADE prize at the Semana de Música Antigua de Estella 2024- and collaborates regularly with larger projects like Asambura Ensemble, Berliner Symphoniker, Neue Philharmonie Berlin, and the Fabia Mantwill Orchestra, among others.
Since 2020 her practice has expanded into interdisciplinary creation and sound research, driven by the interest in the possibilities of her instruments beyond the early and classical repertoire. This line of work finds its home in Mirall, her solo creation project - a space for exploring the multiple soundscapes that cello, viola da gamba, voice and electronics can unfold together.
© Stephan Röhl
Recent work Festival Jordi Savall 2026 - BEYOND THE ECLIPSE: residency and new creation concert format (CAT) / Festival Barcelona Obertura 2026 (CAT) / Fondazione Chigiana 2025 - Contemporary composition residency (IT) / Fondation Royaumont - Air de Cour with Vincent Dumestre (Poème Harmonique) 2024 (FR) / Festival Embar(o)quement Immédiat (FR) / Festival Jazz Baltica 2024 with Fabia Mantwill Orchestra (DE)
Sound Research & Residencies2025 La Marfà (CAT) x Mirall and Eden Lonsdale, Three Offerings
2024 Embar(o)quement Immédiat (FR) x The Gardeners
2023 Festival ECOS (SP) x The Gardeners
2022 Fabra i Coats: Fàbrica de Creació (CAT) x Mirall with Jacob Eriksen, Landscapes that Peel
2022 Institut Ramon Llull / Fabra i Coats (CAT), Musical Projects Mentorship Programme
2020 Konvent Zero (CAT), International Residences Program x Mirall, project HEY
Selected Grants2025 La Marfà, International Creation Grant (CAT)
2024 Generalitat de Catalunya, Grant for Training and Advanced Studies in the Arts (CAT)
2023 Goethe Institut, Culture Moves Europe (DE)
2022 Deutscher Musikrat, Neustart Kultur (DE)
2021 Mimtek, Female Talent in the Music Industry Grant (SP)
2020 Generalitat de Catalunya, Research and Innovation Grant in Music and the Arts (CAT)
