Praised by the New York Times for having “traversed the palette of emotions” with “gorgeous tone and an edge of-seat intensity,” Spanish-born cellist and composer Andrea Casarrubios has performed as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. First-prize winner of many international competitions and awards, she has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Lincoln Center and the Ravinia, Piatigorsky and Verbier festivals. Her recent engagements include commissions and concerts in Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Canada, Germany and the United States.
Her album “Caminante” (2019) presents some of her own original music. Released on Odradek Records, it was chosen as one of the best 2019 classical music albums by Australia’s ABC Classic. As a guest soloist at Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, she performed her own concerto, Mirage (2019), among other works. The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and cellist Thomas Mesa recently performed the U.S. premiere of this concerto. Seven (2020) for solo cello, which the New York Times called “a searching, intense and elegiac tribute to the essential workers during the pandemic,” was commissioned by Mesa, who toured the country with Sphinx Virtuosi, performing the work at dozens of concert halls, including Carnegie’s Stern Auditorium in 2021.
One of her latest works, Amid a Place of Stone (2020), for solo violin, commissioned by Emily Daggett Smith and funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation, was featured at the Albany Arts Museum in fall 2021.
Her compositions have been programmed in 78 countries, presented by organizations such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Washington Performing Arts, World Heritage Festival, Sphinx Organization, Decoda, Ensemble Connect, Festival de Febrero, Crescent City Chamber Music Festival, NPR, Chicago’s WFMT-FM, Canada’s CKIA and the Spanish National Radio RNE.
A dedicated mentor, Casarrubios has taught master classes at the Juilliard School, University of Southern California, Eastman School of Music, Queens College, Missouri State University, University of Kansas and Academia NEO, as well as at numerous festivals and institutions. Her cello teachers have included Maria de Macedo, Lluís Claret, Amit Peled, Marcy Rosen and Ralph Kirshbaum. As part of her doctorate studies in New York, Casarrubios also studied composition with John Corigliano.
She is a founding member of Trio Appassionata, along with violinist Lydia Chernicoff and pianist Ronaldo Rolim, and the ensemble has toured the United States, Spain, the United Kingdom, Italy, Brazil and China. She also is a member of the Brandenburg String Trio, based in Berlin, and the Manhattan Chamber Players in New York.
