Manuel P.

Manuelwas born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and began playing the cello in Miami, Florida, at age 10. His primary teacher was Jason Calloway, cellist of the Amernet Quartet and Professor of Cello at Florida International University. In 2016, Manuel was awarded a full-tuition scholarship to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance at Texas Christian University (TCU) under the tutelage of Dr. Jesús Castro-Balbi and Christine Lamprea, and has recently graduated Magna Cum Laude. He is now pursuing a Master’s degree in Cello Performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music studying under Emilio Colón. Manuel has performed in masterclasses for Bion Tsang, Gregory Beaver, Christine Lamprea, Michael Kaufman, Anne-Martindale Williams, Allan Steele, Astrid Schween, Yeesun Kim, and Gwen Krosnick. He has also received chamber coachings from members of the Chiara, Borromeo, Cleveland, and Miró string quartets, as well as orchestral excerpts coachings from members of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Recent festival appearances include the Round Top Festival Institute, Miami Music Festival, Josef Gingold Chamber Music Festival, and Vivac-e! Cello Festival where he was given the “New Music Award” for his performance of Krzysztof Penderecki’s Divertimento for Solo Cello. Solo appearances include the CPE Bach Cello Concerto in A minor with the TCU Collegium Musicum in 2019 and Antonín Dvořák’s Silent Woods with the Greater North Texas Youth Orchestra in 2020. Manuel was a founding member of the Uproar and Cantilena string quartets dedicated to promoting the music of female and Latin American composers, respectively. He is now Assistant Principal of the McKinney Philharmonic Orchestra and cellist of the latin fusion group Sounds of Nilo. Aside from classical performance, he is passionate about private teaching, composing/arranging, and improvising in a variety of styles.