Photo by Titilayo Ayangade
Biography
Praised by The New York Times for having "traversed the palette of emotions" with "gorgeous tone and an edge-of-seat intensity," GRAMMY® nominated Spanish-born cellist and composer Andrea Casarrubios has played as a soloist and chamber musician throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. First Prize winner of numerous international competitions and awards, Casarrubios has appeared at Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Piatigorsky, Ravinia, and Verbier Festivals. Her latest engagements include commissions and concerts in Mexico, Spain, Romania, Belgium, Germany, Canada, and the United States.
Casarrubios' compositions have been programmed by organizations such as the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, National Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, Sphinx Organization, Washington Performing Arts, the European Parliament, NPR, and the Argentinian, Brazilian and Spanish National Radios. Her album Caminante: Music of Andrea Casarrubios presents some of her own original music and it was chosen as one of the "Best 2019 Classical Music Albums" by Australia's ABC Classic, celebrating her artistry as "superhuman." Her acclaimed piece SEVEN "an intense and elegiac tribute to the essential workers during the pandemic" (The New York Times) was commissioned by Thomas Mesa, receiving its Carnegie Hall premiere in 2021. SEVEN has been performed around the world since and has been nominated for the 2025 GRAMMY® Awards. Other recent original works include the orchestra version of Afilador (2022-23) commissioned by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra for MusicNOW, and Herencia for String Orchestra (2023), a "stirring creation" (The Strad) commissioned for Sphinx Virtuosi's 2023-24 tour and premiered at Carnegie Hall's Stern Auditorium in 2023.
As a guest soloist at Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, Casarrubios premiered her own Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, MIRAGE, a large-scale work that she will continue to perform next season with Charlotte Symphony Orchestra. Other upcoming appearances as a cellist include performances of Franz Schubert's Arpeggione Sonata arranged for cello and orchestra by Casarrubios herself, Osvaldo Golijov's Azul with conductor Sameer Patel, as well as duo recital programs featuring her own music alongside works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Nadia Boulanger, Manuel de Falla and Xavier Foley. Her new 2024 album, SEVEN works by Andrea Casarrubios, includes seven of her most recent pieces featuring stunning collaborations with Manhattan Chamber Players and artists from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
A dedicated mentor, Casarrubios has taught masterclasses at The Juilliard School, University of Southern California, Eastman School of Music, City University of New York, Missouri State University, as well as at numerous festivals and institutions on tour. Her cello teachers have included Maria de Macedo, Lluis Claret, Amit Peled, Marcy Rosen, and Ralph Kirshbaum. She is an alumna of Ensemble Connect, and as part of her Doctoral degree in New York, Casarrubios also studied composition with John Corigliano.