Having received his initial musical training at the Escolania of Montserrat and at the Conservatori Superior Municipal de Música in Barcelona under the direction of Antoni Besses, Miquel Villalba has since been a pupil of both Claude Helffer in Paris and of the Belgian teacher Frédéric Gevers; he has been described by the latter as being 'one of the most gifted pianists of his generation'.

An outstanding course of studies led to the Premios de Honor for piano and accompaniment and he has been a prize-winner at various national and international competitions (Albacete, Granada, Carlet, the Maria Canals in Barcelona and the Jonge Virtuozen in Antwerp and elsewhere). He has also been awarded the Premi de l'Associació Catalana de Compositors and the Premi Generalitat de Catalunya.

On the concert platform Miquel Villalba has appeared as a soloist and with chamber ensembles in many countries (Spain, France, United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany, Brazil, the Philippines, Venezuela) receiving critical acclaim wherever he goes: 'an intelligent and attentive performer, blessed with a precise and flexible technique, aligned with a most attractive sound' (La Semaine d'Anvers, Belgium), 'a prodigious technique and a perfect performance (El Correo de Andalucía), 'a pianist with remarkable talents: technical mastery, a self-reliant security and a true and exact interpretation... in short, a musician of great personality, a maestro...' (ABC, Spain).

Villalba has an admirable breadth of repertoire, ranging from the Baroque up to music from current times and his acknowledged support for contemporary music has resulted in him being the dedicatee for many compositions. A rich discography extends from the works of Bach to Hindemith including Bach's Goldberg Variations and a noteworthy multi-disc survey of the complete piano works of Manuel Blancafort for the Naxos label, one which has been welcomed and applauded by specialist critics around Europe.