Born in Madrid, where she did her degree in Advanced Singing, and studied with Ana María Iriarte, later, she moved to Vienna where she completed her studies with O.Miljakovic and Sena Jurinac. She holds a bachelor degree in History of Music by the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

She has received the following prizes; "Lucrecia Arana", "Federico Romero" of the SGAE,  "Ojo Critico" of RNE and CEOE, Coca Cola Foundation, Spain for the best
performer 2001.

Between 1988 and 1991 she was a member of the cast with the Vienna Opera, where she made her debut with the role of Gerhilde in the Valkirias.

She has sung on the most important stages in the world:
Scala di Milano, Carnegie Hall in New York, the Scala in Milan, the Kennedy Center Washington, Pleyel in Paris, Finland Hall Helsinki, Musikverein, Konzerthaus and Staatsoper in Viena, NAC Ottawa, Cincinnati, Doelen in Rotterdam, Opera in Budapest, Sydney Town Hall, Teatro Real and Auditorio in Madrid, Palau in Barcelona and Valencia... María José Montiel has worked under the direction of conductors, such as Riccardo Chailly, López Cobos, Gómez Martínez, García Navarro, Ch. Dutoit, Sir Neville Marriner, Spivakov, Paul Decker, García Asensio, M. Bodmer, M. Foster,  Janos Kovacs,  J. Tate, J.Mercier, J. Webb, R. Gandolfi, Tortelier, Benini,  to name just a few.

During the opening season of the Teatro Real in Madrid, she sang the opera La Vida Breve by Manuel de Falla, with Jaime Aragall. In the same theatre, she sang Las
Golondrinas by Usandizaga; the Centenary Gala of SGAE, with Montserrat Caballé and Alfredo Kraus and the Teatro Real 150 Years Gala conducted by Plácido Domingo.

Placido Domingo invited her to sing at the reopening of the Teatro Avenida in Buenos Aires as well as to the “Gala de Reyes” at the Madrid Auditorium and Luisa Fernanda  at the Milano Scala.

She has performed in operas as varied as The Tales of Hoffmann, Favorite, Clemenza di Tito, the Marriages of Fígaro, Barbier of Seville or Carmen in Bologna, Venice, Pisa, Livorno, Lucca, Trieste, Parma, Paris and Vienna;  and symphonic repertoires as Summer Nights (Berlioz), symphony II (Mahler), 8 Scenes of Fauste (Berlioz), Requiem (Verdi), Gloria (Vivaldi), Stabat Mater y Misa Solemne (Rossini), Schéhérazade (Ravel) and as well Spanish repertoir (Pepita Jiménez and the worldwide premiere of Albéniz's Merlin, to name just a few)

She has given around 70 recitals, most of them with M. Zanetti, some of which have been recorded on CD. Her discography covers a total of 12 CDs. Her disc "Modinha" with Luiz de Moura Castro was a finalist in the Grammy Awards 2002.

Among her most recent performances, critics have acclaimed the Stabat Mater by Rossini conducted by R. Chailly in Milan. She recently enjoyed great success with her interpretation of  Verdi's Requiem in Milan and the NHK Hall of Tokyo with  R.Chailly, in front of more than four thousand spectators, Brahms Rhapsody conducted by R. Gandolfi in Milan as well as productions of Carmen in Italy and Switzerland (the latter, conducted by Gomez Martínez).

Among her forthcoming projects, it is worth mentioning Luisa Fernanda in Washington with Placido Domingo, Le Roi de Lahor by Massenet at the Fenice in Venice, the Requiem by Verdi conducted by R. Chailly in Leipzig and in Vienna (Konzerthaus), Frankfurt, Milan and Budapest,  Giani Schicchi in Milan conducted by R. Chailly, Cosí fan tutte in Brussels (Thêatre de la Monnaie), Barbiere di Seviglia and, Carmen in Köln.