Spanish pianist Enriqueta Somarriba thrives in a prolific and versatile career as a sought-after performer, music educator and arts administrator, both in the United States and Europe.

Praised by the New York Concert Review for her “aplomb” and her “natural, individual interpretation”, Somarriba performs regularly in the US East Coast, in venues such as Carnegie Hall, New Jersey State Theatre, Organization of American States in Washington D.C., Pregones Theatre, Cervantes Institute, Richardson Auditorium, Center for Jewish History of New York, Zimmerli Art Museum, and Roulette, among others. She has also performed frequently in European halls, festivals and concert series, such as the Auditorio Nacional de Música de Madrid, Centro Nacional de Difusión Musical (Cuenca, Spain), Festival de Música y Danza de Granada, Kasteel d’Ursel (Antwerp, Belgium), Festival dels Horts (Valencia, Spain) and Sala dei Notari (Perugia, Italy).

As a soloist, Somarriba has performed with the Orquesta Andrés Segovia, Virtuosi Brunensis Orchestra, Orquesta Fórum Musikae and Rutgers Symphonic Orchestra. Her performances have been broadcasted in the Spanish National Radio, 98.7 WFMT Chicago, Veracruz Television-Radio (México) and 89.1 WWFM Radio. Dr. Somarriba can be heard as solo pianist and chamber musician in several recordings, such as the soundtrack of the Netflix feature film “Dancing on Glass” by composer Iván Palomares, which was nominated for the Spanish Film Academy Awards (‘Goyas’) in 2023. She also recoded for MSR Classics label as part of the album featuring the 4-hand piano music by US composer Paul Reale, in collaboration with The Center for Musical Excellence.

Dr. Somarriba carries a mission to promote Ibero-American music in the US, often curating concerts and lectures with emphasis on new music by Spanish and Latin American composers, in institutions such as Cornell University, Manhattan School of Music, Cervantes Institute of New York, Georgetown University, University of Michigan, Peabody Conservatory and Cuarto Festival de Perfeccionamiento Pianístico (Mexico). Among her broad, new music repertoire, highlights include music by Nico Muhly, Benet Casablancas, Tania León, Vijay Iyer, Mercedes Zavala, Jesús Torres, Roberto Sierra, Voro García, Catalina Mayorga, JP Jofre, Aina Sandoval, Patricio Molina, George Walker, Teresa Catalán, Ricardo Lorenz and Sebastián Vergara.

She has also brought forth music by composers who deserve a wider presence in concert programs, including Isidro Maiztegui, Valerie Capers, Ruth Crawford-Seeguer, Joaquín Nin-Culmell, Rosa García-Ascot, Roberto Gerhard, Salvador Bacarisse, Julián Bautista, and others. In 2018, Ms. Somarriba participated in a project carried by Indiana University and Rutgers University, led by musicologist Halina Goldberg, to rescue the works by Polish-Jewish composers who had been silenced the Holocaust. In addition, in 2021, she performed at Carnegie Hall in collaboration with the Notes for Growth Foundation, presenting rare, Pan-American music of indigenous roots, in a fundraising effort to provide pianos to children in need.

As a collaborative pianist, Enriqueta Somarriba performs regularly with members of the Metropolitan Opera and Philadelphia Orchestras.

Somarriba is an award-winner of national and international competitions, including the New York Chamber Players Concerto Competition, Pianos and Artists Competition, Veguellina de Órbigo, Jacinto Guerrero, Hazen-Intercentros and Manuel Rojas Competitions, and has obtained grants from Juventudes Musicales de Madrid, Mutua Madrileña and the Association of Spanish Performers (AIE).

Dr. Somarriba combines her performance career with the arts administration: she currently holds the position of Director of Education and Community at SpeakMusic Conservatory in NJ, where she focuses on developing educational music programs for a diverse community of students of all ages, while being part of the school’s piano faculty since 2015. Dr. Somarriba is also Instrumental Faculty at The Spence School. Previous teaching engagements include instructor of Piano Proficiency at Rutgers University, Piano Faculty at Rutgers’ Community Arts, and delivery of lectures and masterclasses in more than a dozen K-12 schools and children’s programs. Dr. Somarriba also served as Ambassador for The Center for Musical Excellence, an organization that mentors young artists at the start of their careers. Somarriba is an Official Steinway & Sons Educational Partner.

She has served as well as Founder and Artistic Director of Musica en el Sil, a concert series in Ribeira Sacra, Spain, that connects innovative concert programs with wine culture, architecture and nature.

With Solomon Mikowsky, Fernando Puchol, Min Kwon, Inesa Sinkevych and Jerome Lowenthal as her most influential mentors, Somarriba holds degrees from the Madrid Royal Conservatory (B.M.), Chicago College of Performing Arts (M.M.) Manhattan School of Music (Professional Studies Certificate) and Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey (D.M.A.), where she received the Irene Alm Memoral Prize to Excellence in Performance and Scholarly Research.