As a child, you pick an instrument for no objective reason, firmly believing it's the best in the world. In my case… I was right! Hi! I'm Antonio, a cellist based in The Hague, born and raised in Seville, Spain. I'm a symphonic music fanatic and a lover of literature and flamenco.
I completed my master's degree in performance at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague under the guidance of Lucia Swarts, and my bachelor's degree at C.S.M. Manuel Castillo in Spain, where I studied with Israel F. Martínez, as well as an Erasmus year at the Vorarlbergerkonservatorium in Austria with Beatriz Blanco. I also had the opportunity to attend masterclasses with renowned artists like Zlatomir Zfung, Kian Soltani, Pablo Ferrández, Marc Cooper, María de Macedo, and Harro Ruijsenaars, among others.
I've collaborated with several orchestras and ensembles, including Sinfonía Rotterdam, Ensemble Modern, New European Ensemble, Camerata Bern, and the Córdoba Orchestra and Málaga Philharmonic Orchestra. I was also a member of the Dutch National Youth Orchestra and the Andalusian Youth Orchestra, working with prominent conductors and musicians such as Anthony Hermus, Pablo Heras-Casado, John Axelrod, Pedro Halffter, and Conrad van Alphen. This experience has led me to perform in prestigious national venues across various European countries, including Het Concertgebouw, Amare, De Doelen, Tivoli Vredenburg, the Spanish National Music Auditorium, and the Spanish Royal Theatre.
In 2021, I created "Words of Music," a production exploring multidisciplinarity by combining music and poetry in various languages across different venues in the Netherlands. I'm also a member of the "Ear to the Earth Ensemble," a Hague-based musical group focused on contemporary music and environmentalism. This ensemble emerged from the conservatory’s Ensemble Academy, and we're already working on professional performances: Delft Festival after winning the audience award at the Delft Fringe Festival the year before (2023), Ensemble Modern Academy in Frankfurt and other future collaboration already confirmed for next season, including performances at the next edition of the Gaudeamus festival (2025), the Bloom festival in Megazzo (Italy)—with funding from the Goethe Institute’s “Culture Moves Europe”, and at the Stadklooster Utrecht.
The Netherlands Musical Instrument Foundation opened the door for me to a completely new world of possibilities that wouldn't even be imaginable without the right tools; and this amazing Thomas Bertrand cello and Tourte bow certainly are!
