Andrea Mundy

Born in Auckland, NZ, Andrea graduated from the University of Auckland in 2004 with a Bachelor of Music, where she received the university’s Arts and Cultural award for excellence in music performance in both 2003 and 2004. She then furthered her studies at the University of Waikato with James Tennant and graduated with an Honours degree in cello performance, receiving high marks especially in chamber music. In 2008, she was awarded the Greta Ostova Violoncello Scholarship and completed a Masters degree from the University of Auckland. That same year she then went on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where she joined the class of Karine Georgian and Raphael Wallfisch. She performed in many of the school’s orchestras and chamber groups before obtaining her Masters of Music degree in 2010. During her years of study Andrea has had the opportunity to perform in cello masterclasses with Ralph Kirshbaum, Raphael Wallfisch, Steven Isserlis, Christoph Henkel and Louise Hopkins. Andrea is a passionate performer of chamber music. In 2007 she was a founder member of the Lumineux Piano Trio in Auckland. During her first year in the UK (2009) she performed at the Charterhouse International Music Festival and toured as Principle cellist with the Dales String Orchestra in Yorkshire. She was invited to play at the NZ Embassy in Paris in 2012, working with a NZ piano quartet and was invited back to perform again the following year. She has worked with various chamber groups since 2011 and was been fortunate to tour Lithuania with the Orphic Piano Trio, Brittany with the Heidelburg String Quartet and has worked with the well-established string quartet ProMusica in London. She is now one half of the cello duo, Cello2ette, established in 2014. Andrea has dedicated most of her musical life to orchestral playing since the age of 9. While still a student she worked as a freelance musician with the Bach Musica Chamber Orchestra and the Waikato Symphony Orchestra in New Zealand. In 2007 she was accepted on the Lady Manchester Internship, working with the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra, in which she performed throughout the year under international conductors including Tecwyn Evans, Ekkehard Stier, Baldur Bronniman, Kirill Karabits and Benjamin Zander. Since living in the UK, she has worked with various orchestras including the Northern Lights Symphony Orchestra, London Firebird Orchestra, The London Arts Chamber Orchestra and the London Film Orchestra. A versatile cellist, Andrea is dedicated to performing 21st century art music and has given world premiers by NZ composers David Adlam, Robin Toan, Claire Cowan, the prominant Lithuanian composer Bronius Kutavicius, British composers Martin Seager and Samantha Fernando and New York composer Philip Martin. She also enjoys performing and recording with folk bands, and solo artists, gaining some experience working with well-established artists from Josh Groban to rapper Stormzy. A dedicated and keen music educator, Andrea has been teaching the cello, from beginners to advanced level since 1999. She plays a copy of the Montagnana 1739 “Sleeping Beauty” cello made by Noel Sweetman, made possible by the unbelievable support offered by her parents. In her spare time, Andrea likes to keep fit and loves nothing more than escaping to the beach and kayaking in the sea.