019 - The Pianist at Law

Today I am talking to Maite Aguirre, a Spanish pianist, conductor and music teacher who has made a shift into the world of law. Maite is now halfway through her studies, and she shares what music has meant to her, how her work as a musician has influenced her decision to make a career change and what her future looks like as a lawyer.

After a career in the music industry spanning over a decade, Maite is now a Future Trainee Solicitor at the international law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner (BCLP). She currently combines her Graduate Diploma in Law studies, with her work as piano teacher at St Paul’s Cathedral School as well as completing her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Sir Barry Ife at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. 

Initially trained as a pianist in Barcelona under Vladislav Bronevetzky and Alan Branch, Maite moved to London to complete her Master’s in piano accompaniment at the Guildhall, where she also undertook a postgraduate course in opera studies. Subsequently, Maite became a Lucille Graham Fellow at the Royal Academy of Music working as repetiteur and conductor in the School’s opera department. Other operatic experience includes a collaboration with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Grange Park Opera. 

As a pianist, Maite toured all over Spain, in France, Germany, Italy and Norway, and played in some of the most prestigious London venues including King’s Place, Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smith Square, St Martin’s in the Fields and the Barbican Hall; also recording both for TV and radio: BBC3, RNE (Spanish National Radio) and Spanish TV channels TV3 and BTV; performing in UK festivals such as City of London, Ludlow Festival, Bramley Music Festival, Landsdowne-Blüthner.  

Maite was awarded many prizes during her career, including the Tracey Chadwell Memorial Prize to the best piano accompanist adjudicated by Roger Vignoles, and a second prize at the Concerto Competition in Budapest in 2016. She was also a Georg Solti Academia scholar, and features conducting in the BBC documentary Solti, Maestro or Mephisto. 

She was the Director of the Music Academy Cañada Blanch in the Spanish School in London for six years and remains the conductor of the BCLP Choir. Praised by The Guardian for her quasi orchestral colour in her playing, her first solo Album with music from Enrique Granados received unanimous praise from the media, highlighting her carefully thought textures and well balanced cantabile; impeccable pedalization, use of staccato, characteristic of the Spanish pianistic School as well as her faithfulness to the composer’s characteristic sound and her colour and rubato, in the fingertips themselves. 

Shortly after the release of her second album in 2019, Une sorirée dans Grenade, Maite decided to pursue a career in law, and is the recipient of two scholarships on academic merit at BPP Law School (Career Commitment Scholarship and Dean of the Law). Keen on outreach projects and engagement, Maite has been invited as a panellist in several university events and law fairs and is a mentor at BCLP’s Career Kick Start Alumni programme. 

Instagram: @maite_piano