Bio

Munich-based, Havana-born, composer, arranger, and violinist, Jenny Peña Campo, is one of her country's most sought-after composers and arrangers.

Her orchestral works include Cuban Suite (commissioned by the Rheingau Musik Festival (2017), Orchestre de Paris, Philzuid), Danzon (CuE - 2019), and Darbuqueña Fantasia for violin and orchestra (2023). Her string orchestra works include Pequeñas Cosas (Camerata Romeu 2012), Cimarron (Musica Eterna Chamber Orchestra 2014), L’orage for violin, cello, and string orchestra (Camerata Romeu 2014), La Huida (Balthasar-Neumann Orchestra 2023), and Concertino for violin, cello, and string orchestra(Musica Eterna Chamber Orchestra 2021). Her compositions also include works for chamber ensembles and solo works.

Her collaboration expands across artistic mediums. She composed Un violin para sillas viejas (2003) for the visual arts exhibition “Sillas Viejas” conceptualized by Mia Unverzagt with works by Arturo Montoto and Juan Quintanilla among others. She composed Improvised for the theatrical play “Historia de Mujeres” presented by Casa Gaia Company.  She has also collaborated with dance companies including the Contemporary Dance Company Mal Paso (arranging music by Tchaikovsky), Contemporary Dance Company OtroLado (Solo Segundos [2019], El Principio [2022], Paradoja [2022]), and Acosta Danza (Germen [2022]).

An outstanding violinist, she has held the concertmaster position at Camerata Romeu and Gran Teatro de la Habana Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Second Violin at Havana Lyceum Orchestra. An avid chamber musician, she was a member of Caribe Nostrum String Quartet with which she performed a wide repertory from the classics to Cuban contemporary works.  As a soloist, she has performed with the Santa Clara Symphony Orchestra, Gran Teatro de la Habana Symphony Orchestra, and Havana Lyceum Orchestra. She has been a laureate at many national and international violin competitions highlighted by her Second Prize at the 2003 edition of the Jose White Ibero-American Violin Competition. From 2016-2022 she was part of the Violin Faculty at the ISA Universidad de las Artes in Havana.  

Ms. Peña Campo is also a prolific arranger. Her arrangements have been performed by the Havana Lyceum Orchestra, CuE, Musica Eterna Chamber Orchestra, Simone Dinnerstein, Cuarteto Presto, and YOA. They have also been presented at the Kennedy Center, Cuban Contemporary Music Festival, Jojazz, Rheingau Musik Festival, and Ruhrtriennale Music Festival. 

Jenny holds a bachelor's degree from Cuba’s ISA Universidad de las Artes in Violin Performance and Pedagogy where she graduated Suma Cum Laude. Among her violin teachers are Maria Verdecia, Rafael Cutiño, Evelio Tieles, and Maylin Herrera. Currently, she is working on her master's Degree in Composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München under the tutelage of Jan Müller Wieland and performs as part of the Balthasar-Neumann Orchestra.