Graduated from the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory in Havana in 2009 as an instrumentalist and guitar teacher.
Since the year 2000, while still a student, she was a member of the Havana Youth Guitar Orchestra, with which she participated in various events, including several editions of the Leo Brouwer International Guitar Festival and the Isaac Nicola Guitar Festival/Competition.
In 2014, she completed her university studies at the University of the Arts of Havana (ISA) with a Bachelor’s degree in Sound Musical Direction. From 2000 to 2014, she was part of several choirs at different conservatory levels. In the last years of this period, she belonged to the José Martí Symphony Orchestra and Choir, directed by maestro Marisol Cao, performing as a guitarist and choir singer, as well as a sound technician. Between 2010 and 2011, she worked with the Mefisto Theater Group during two seasons of the musical “Cats” by Andrew Lloyd Webber, performing as a singer and playing one of the supporting roles in the musical. She was also the sound technician for the show. From 2010 to 2013, she worked as a Guitar Teacher at the Vocational Art School in Havana. From 2011 to 2014, she worked at the National Electroacoustic Music Laboratory of Havana as a Sound Assistant, participating in recordings of renowned artists such as Juan Piñera, Haila María Mompie, Diego Gutiérrez, Adrián Berazain, the all-female jazz orchestra Alami, and many more.
During the same period, she was a Recording Assistant in the studios of maestro Manolito Simonet in Havana, participating in several record productions, including albums by Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco, the Maravillas de Florida Orchestra, La Tabla Orchestra, and singer Vania Borges. In 2013, she recorded the live concert for the 20th anniversary of Manolito Simonet y su Trabuco and subsequently produced the CD/DVD of the same concert. This work constituted her Graduation Thesis at the University of the Arts. In 2012, she participated in the recording of several productions at Abdala Studios in Havana.
At the end of 2014, she moved to Spain to continue her studies at the Madrid Film Institute, where she obtained a Diploma in Film and TV Sound. There, she did direct sound and sound post-production for around 50 fiction short films. That same year, the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Sports of Spain recognized and validated her degree from the Amadeo Roldan Conservatory in Havana, enabling her to work as a Professional Music Teacher in that country. In 2015, she was hired by Sony Music Latin and the Cuban record company Egrem to work on the remastering and restoration of numerous pieces from the extensive Cuban musical catalog, personally handling around 1600 musical works.
In Spain, she worked from her arrival as a teacher of guitar, piano, ukulele, and music and movement. She was a guitar teacher at various schools, including the Arturo Soria School (2016-2022) and the Cortes de Cadiz School (2017-2018), where she also taught piano and music and movement classes. At the Sanchinarro Cultural Center, she was a guitar and ukulele teacher (2018-2022). During this period, she also worked at Mannon tropo and Jenmusic academies, at the latter of which she also taught singing classes.
She performed this teaching work alongside her role as a live sound technician at the bar-restaurant and club “La Negra Tomasa” in Madrid.
In 2018, she was part of the Alter Ego trio, a trio of string and plectrum instruments.
In 2021, as part of her musical-pedagogical training, she took a Music Therapy course at Leader Systems Academy in Madrid.
In 2022, she moved to Miami, where she has worked as a guitar, ukulele, and piano teacher and joined Lauren Music Academy, where she continues to work. In addition to her native language, Spanish, María José is fluent in English and can teach in English.
