MAFALDA SANTOS
CELLO FACULTY

Praised for her compelling artistry and warmth of expression, Portuguese cellist Mafalda Santos brings to the stage a deep commitment to sharing music and stories with audiences around the world. She embraces a multifaceted career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, and advocate for inclusive musical experiences, from the classroom to the concert hall.

A prizewinner in over 20 cello competitions, Mafalda made her solo debut at age fourteen with the FIME Ensemble and has since performed with orchestras across Europe and the United States, including the Vigo Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Symphony Orchestra, and Peabody Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared at venues such as Royal Albert Hall, Berliner Philharmoniker, Centro Cultural de Belém, and Casa da Música, and has been featured on broadcasts for WQXR and Antena 2, Portugal’s national classical station.

As a chamber musician, she has recently collaborated with Ani Kavafian, Steven Tenenbom, Amit Peled, and Tony Arnold, and performed at festivals including Four Seasons, Kneisel Hall, Kronberg, and SoundSCAPE. She has also held principal and assistant principal roles with the Portuguese Philharmonic and Yale Philharmonic, and recorded for Decca, Chandos, and CTM Classics with the Sinfonia of London and Mount Vernon Virtuosi.

Deeply committed to community-centered music-making, Mafalda has partnered with organizations such as Our Joyful Noise, The Musical Autist, and Creative Access. From 2021 to 2022, she was Musician in Residence at Edenwald Senior Living Community.

She currently serves as Cello Community Lead at tonebase.co, a leading platform for classical music education, and leads masterclasses across Europe and the US. Originally from Vila Nova de Gaia, Mafalda is a doctoral candidate at Yale and performs on a Jeffrey Muller cello, generously loaned by The Maestro Foundation.