Born in Madrid (1966), Teresa Laiz began playing castanets over 30 years ago through her training in Spanish Dance. She studied under renowned masters such as Víctor Ullate, Ana Mercedes, Rafael de Córdoba, Candela Soto, La Tani, El Farruquito, Juan Carlos Lérida, and Belén Maya. Her professional experience focused primarily on Spanish Dance and Flamenco until 2003. After that, she created various shows inspired by Federico García Lorca, fusing theater, music, dance, and castanets.

In 2005, she met Maestro José de Udaeta, who introduced her to the passionate world of Concert Castanets, and with whom she later shared the stage on several occasions. Teresa Laiz began her solo career as a castanet performer in 2006, composing her own castanet scores and offering concerts with classical, Spanish, and folk repertoires, marked by passion and virtuosity.

She has extensive teaching experience, having worked as a teacher of Classical Ballet, Spanish Dance, Creative Dance, Ballroom Dance, Flamenco, and Castanets since 1987 in various institutions and her own school. She has also taught Concert Castanets and Dance Technique with Castanets at the prestigious “Amor de Dios” Flamenco and Spanish Dance Center in Madrid. Currently, she teaches at the School of Performing Arts Ma non troppo in Madrid.

She has performed on radio and TV channels (Rai TV, Canal Nord Catalunya Televisió, TV Costa Brava, Canal 4 Mancha Centro, Castilla y León TV -CyL, TVE2, Telecinco, TVE1, Telemadrid, Cuatro TV, Telebari, Antenna Sud – Canale 13), as well as in venues and theaters across Madrid, Ávila, Barcelona, Salamanca, Valladolid, Albacete, Zamora, Girona, Huelva, Málaga, Calatayud, Palencia, Seville, Murcia, Guadalajara, Italy, France, Vienna, and the USA. She has performed at festivals such as the International Festival of Porta Ferrada in Sant Feliu de Guíxols (on several occasions), Festival des Articulés in Le Cheylard (France), the International Castanets Festival, and the Catalunya Against Cancer Festival. She has collaborated with various musical ensembles, from solo and duo (piano & castanets/guitar & castanets) to string quartets, municipal bands, and symphony orchestras.

Her most recent work in 2022 includes concerts at prestigious venues such as the Liria Palace, the National Auditorium, Plaza Mayor in Madrid, the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, and Carnegie Hall in New York.

She has shared the stage with renowned artists including Montserrat Martí Caballé, Luis Santana (baritone), Marika Spadafino (soprano), Carmen Solís (soprano), Nancy Fabiola Herrera (mezzo-soprano), Aquiles Machado (tenor), Sílvia Pérez Cruz (singer), Clara Montes (singer), José de Udaeta (castanet soloist), Antonio Reyes (guitarist), Adrián Galia (flamenco dancer), and Sergio Bernal (dancer).

She has been awarded twice in the “Progressive Musicians” International Music Competition, winning both in the Soloist and Ensemble categories, which led her to perform at Carnegie Hall in New York (2022 and 2023). Together with soprano Marta Casas, she won First Prize in the Fanny Mendelssohn International Competition in the Professional Chamber Music category (March 10, 2024).

Her discography as a solo castanet performer includes Repicando el Alma (2007). She has also collaborated on other recordings with artists such as Santi Vendrell (Parlem-ne, 2008, Track 2: “El temps de les cireres,” L’Indi Music label); with the duo Els que canten (Pere Bahí and Pep Rodríguez) in Canciones del comer y del beber (2010); and with American singer La Firu on the track “Bellas Promesas” (2022).

She participated in the soundtrack of the film The Man Who Killed Don Quixote by Roque Baños, directed by Terry Gilliam (2018), performing in the tracks “Release the Prisoners” and “A Marvellous Day of Adventures.”

Publications: Castanet Method by Teresa Laiz, Vol. 1 (available on Amazon.com).

She has also completed studies in orchestral conducting at the Navarro Lara School of Orchestra and Band Conducting.

She founded and directs the O.I.R. (Orchestra of Rare Instruments) and the Castanets Choir of Madrid. In 2009, she created the International Castanets Festival—the first and only festival in the world dedicated exclusively to castanets in all their forms, featuring music and dance styles such as classical, Spanish, flamenco, baroque, bolero, jotas, folk, jazz, oriental, traditional music from around the world, and theatrical comedic acts.

In 2019, she launched the Online Castanets School, and in February 2023, she founded the 1st Teresa Laiz International Castanets Competition.

In her concerts, Teresa Laiz reveals a deeply rooted yet often unknown aspect of Spanish culture, presenting castanets not merely as accompaniment, but as a solo instrument. She performs original scores she has written herself, interpreting classical music (Rébel, Vivaldi, Bach, Scarlatti, Haydn, Boccherini, Mozart, Beethoven, Rossini, Strauss…), Spanish (Bizet, Chueca, Giménez, Albéniz, Granados, Larregla, Vives, Falla, Soutullo…), Catalan (sardanas, habaneras, traditional Catalan composers like E. Morera, Els Groullers, Els Montgrins…), as well as jazz, flamenco, pop, and folk music from various Spanish regions and countries worldwide.

Currently, she is actively managing her Online Castanets School, offering masterclasses and in-person workshops around the globe, and performing in various concert formats. She continues composing new castanet scores and publishing upcoming volumes of her Castanet Method. She is also preparing the 11th International Castanets Festival and the 3rd Teresa Laiz International Castanets Competition for February 2025.