Julia Villarroel is an international soloist whose career began at a very young age in her home country, having performed hundreds of solo, ensemble, and guitar duo concerts inside and outside her country. She was involved in the cultural movement “Guitarrea” organizing over seven international festivals, where she performed in the most renowned theaters in Ecuador.

Between 2010 and 2016, while living in Ecuador, she won several international competitions, some of them being the youngest and only women among the contestants. She traveled to international festivals in Spain and Venezuela sponsored by the Ministry of Culture of Ecuador and recorded 2 CDs in Ensemble and duo respectively. Due to her extensive musical career at such a young age, Julia was named a “Member of the Culture House of Ecuador” in 2016.

Julia began her higher education in Vigo, Spain, with the Professor Margarita Escarpa. She graduated in 2021 with the highest honors and received a “Matricula de Honor”. Her final thesis on the “History of Academic Guitar in Ecuador” received the same top marks.

She began her master’s degree in 2021 at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar with Professor Thomas Müller-Pering, graduating with the highest honors. Thanks to her long-standing career, she has received annual scholarships, including the “Deutschlandstipendium” and the “Charlotte-Krupp Stipendium.”

“Salgado en seis cuerdas” (“Salgado in Six Strings”) is a self-managed project consisting of 40 minutes of piano music by the Ecuadorian composer Luis Humberto Salgado transcribed for guitar by herself. The CD “Salgado en seis cuerdas” (JSM Records) was released in December 2023 with the collaboration of Lucija Štivčević and the sponsorship of the Neue Liszt Stiftung. The music scores will be published with JSM Editions in the upcoming months.

As an orchestral soloist, Julia has performed the “Concierto de Aranjuez” in Spain and Germany. Her orchestral repertoire also includes “Concierto del Sur” by Ponce and Salgado’s “Ecuadorian Concerto”.

In April 2025 Julia will begin the Konzertexamen (Concert Examination) with Professor Ricardo Gallén.