Cuarteto Iberia at the Museo Lázaro Galdiano
The quartet

Madrid, 2018. Four musicians, one vision.

Marta Peño (violin) · Luis Rodríguez (violin) · Mario Oltra (viola) · Arnold Rodríguez (cello).

Biography

The Cuarteto Iberia was founded in Madrid in 2018. Since then the quartet has carried on the quartet tradition of its teachers while bringing a new perspective to the great works of the genre. From an early age, each member’s own need to go deeper into the string quartet repertoire brought them together to form this ensemble, the fullest expression of their artistry and the vehicle through which they create an exceptional musical atmosphere.

In June 2021 they won a place on the string quartet course at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg with Univ. Prof. Cibrán Sierra (Cuarteto Quiroga). At the same institution they also studied with Univ. Prof. Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartett).

They have also taken masterclasses with Valentin Erben (Alban Berg Quartett), Heime Müller (Artemis Quartett), Lukas Hagen and Veronika Hagen (Hagen Quartett), Paul Watkins (Emerson String Quartet), Kuss Quartett, Simone Gramaglia (Quartetto di Cremona), Jonathan Brown and Abel Tomás (Cuarteto Casals), Alasdair Tait (Belcea Quartet) and André J. Roy, among others.

They have appeared at international festivals in cities such as Salzburg, Würzburg, Weikersheim, Paris, London, Montreal, Venice, Milan and Lucca, and in Spain in Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, Burgos, León, Santander, Oviedo and Gijón.

The Cuarteto Iberia belongs to several European quartet institutions such as ECMA, Le Dimore del Quartetto and ProQuartet. It is one of the 38 quartets selected for the European project MERITA. Its members are also active as teachers, giving classes and courses to young musicians and ensembles.

They have been awarded first prize at the XI Concurso Internacional de Música de Cámara «Antón García Abril», first prize at the 26 Concurso de Música de Cámara Josep Mirabent i Magrans in Catalonia, second prize at the XIX Concurso Internacional de Música de Cámara de Arnuero, second prize at the I Concurso de Música de Cámara «Ciutat d'Altea» and an honourable mention at the Zukunftsklang Award 2022 Stuttgart.

Since early 2022 the Cuarteto Iberia has been quartet in residence at the Museo Lázaro Galdiano in Madrid, and was quartet in residence of the Sociedad Filarmónica de Burgos for the 22/23 and 23/24 seasons. They play modern Cremonese instruments (Pascal Hornung and Martin Gabbani), a 44 cm viola by Bernd Hiller and an Austrian violin by Hans N. Pluhar, on loan from the Fundación Mozarteum in Salzburg.

Since May 2026 the Cuarteto Iberia has been quartet in residence at ESMAR, where its members teach chamber music and their own instruments.

Download CV (PDF)
The musicians

Four voices, one conversation.

Marta Peño
Violin

Marta Peño

Born in Madrid in 1994, Marta Peño began her musical training at the age of four with Sergio Castro and continued at the Conservatorio «Adolfo Salazar» in Madrid with Anna Baget, with whom she completed her professional-level studies, graduating with the Premio Extraordinario. In June 2016 she obtained her Bachelor’s degree after four years at the Centro Superior de Música del País Vasco (Musikene) under Keiko Wataya. Her artistic and international career took shape at the Hochschule Luzern Musik (Switzerland), where she earned two Master’s degrees (Performance and Solo Performance) under Daniel Dodds, completing her training with a solo debut at the celebrated KKL in Lucerne with the Festival Strings Lucerne.

As a chamber musician, Marta Peño is a founding member of the Cuarteto Iberia, one of the most prominent emerging ensembles of the new Spanish generation, with which she gained a third Master’s degree in String Quartet at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg. Since its formation the ensemble has been recognised at international competitions, winning, among other awards, First Prize at the Concurso Internacional de Música de Cámara «Antón García Abril» in Granada, First Prize at the Concurso Josep Mirabent i Magrans in Catalonia and an honourable mention at the Zukunftsklang Award in Stuttgart.

Her commitment to the chamber repertoire has taken her to leading venues and festivals in Spain, Austria, Germany and Italy, such as the Fundación Juan March, the Lucerne Festival, the Salzburg Sommerakademie, the Semana de Música Religiosa de Cuenca and the Festival Música Musika in Bilbao. She has also refined her approach to performance alongside leading figures of the string quartet and chamber music world such as Rainer Schmidt, the Cuarteto Quiroga, Oliver Wille, William Coleman, Andoni Mercero, Benedicte Palko, Helmut Lachenmann, Maurice Bourgue, Isabelle Van Keulen and Anton Steck.

Since September 2026 she has taught violin and chamber music as a member of the faculty at the Centro Superior ESMAR Madrid.

As an orchestral player she works regularly with the Festival Strings Lucerne and has been a member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester since 2018, working with conductors such as Lorenzo Viotti and Jonathan Nott on tours of some of Europe’s most emblematic halls, among them the Musikverein in Vienna, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid.
Luis Rodríguez
Violin

Luis Rodríguez

Luis Rodríguez Lisbona (Caracas, Venezuela, 1995) began his musical training in Madrid under Ignacio Gilabert. He continued at the Conservatorio Profesional de Música Joaquín Turina with David Martínez Rincón and Carlos López Villalta, and went on to the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón, where he studied with Jordán Tejedor. In 2018 he made his solo debut with the Orquesta Filarmónica del CSMA performing Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4. In the 2019-2020 academic year he completed his Bachelor’s degree at ESMAR with the highest marks.

After finishing his undergraduate studies he moved to the Netherlands to take a Master’s degree in Performance at the ArtEZ Conservatoire in Zwolle, studying violin with Sarah Kapustin. He then joined the Cuarteto Iberia, with which he completed a Master’s degree in String Quartet at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg. As an orchestral player he is a member of the Joven Orquesta de la Comunidad de Madrid and has worked with The World Orchestra under Josep Vicent.
Mario Oltra
Viola

Mario Oltra

Born in Orihuela (Alicante), he is a member of the Cuarteto Iberia, one of the most active Spanish ensembles on the national and international scene. His concert activity with the group is extensive, with appearances at festivals and philharmonic societies in Gijón, Pontevedra and Burgos and at the Semana de Música Religiosa de Cuenca. Internationally he has played in prestigious halls such as the Teatro Politeama Garibaldi (Palermo), the Muziekgebouw (Amsterdam) and the LAC (Lugano).

He began his musical studies at the conservatoire of his home town, choosing the viola as his instrument under Veliko Nedyalkov. After graduating with the Premio Extraordinario of his year, he entered the Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón and later moved to Musikene to continue his training with Josep Puchades. His most recent studies took him to the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg, where he completed a Master’s degree in Performance with William Coleman and postgraduate studies in chamber music with Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartett) and Cibrán Sierra (Cuarteto Quiroga).
Arnold Rodríguez
Cello

Arnold Rodríguez

The German-Spanish cellist Arnold Rodríguez (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, 1993) trained at the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid, the Conservatorio Superior del Principado de Asturias and the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg with teachers such as Viguen Sarkissov, María de Macedo and Leonhard Roczek.

He has been awarded first prize at the Concurso Adolfo Salazar, first prize at the Concurso Antón García Abril, first prize at the Concurso «Mirabent i Magrans» with the Cuarteto Iberia and an honourable mention at the international «Zukunftsklang Award» in Stuttgart. He took a Master’s degree in String Quartet at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg with Cibrán Sierra (Cuarteto Quiroga) and postgraduate studies with Rainer Schmidt (Hagen Quartett). He has also taken lessons from quartets such as the Tokyo, Casals, Artemis, Emerson and Alban Berg.

He has been a founding member of the Cuarteto Iberia since 2018. His international career has taken him to the most prestigious stages in cities such as Paris, London, Vienna, Salzburg, Amsterdam, Venice, Milan and Montreal. He currently records for the Eudora label. Alongside his concert schedule he is a dedicated teacher, passing on his experience and his passion to younger generations.