Mia Barcia-Colombo

Mia Barcia-Colombo was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where she began her musical studies at four years of age and began playing cello when she was eight with Bongshin Ko. At 10 she continued her studies at the prestigious Colburn School of the Performing Arts with Dr. Richard Naill. While at Colburn, Mia played with the Colburn Chamber Orchestra and participated in the Colburn School’s “Honors Trio,” which routinely performed in master-classes and in concerts on 105.1 K-MOZART’S broadcast, “Sunday’s Live.” In 2005, she competed and placed as a Laureate in the Sphinx Competition and a finalist at the Los Angeles Spotlight Awards. After high-school, she was accepted into the studio of Eleonore Schoenfeld at the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music, and also played principal cello in the American Youth Symphony until 2008. She completed her bachelor’s degree in Cello Performance at the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University under the tutelage of Amit Peled.

Mia has attended several music festivals locally and internationally, including the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, the Idyllwild Arts Academy in California, Encore School for Strings in Ohio, the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Forum de Violoncello de España in Madrid, Spain. She has participated in master-classes with the Emerson, Guarneri, Tokyo, Miro, Takács, and Orion string quartets as well as with the Eroica Trio. While studying at the Peabody Institute, her chamber group, the Janos Quartet, won the position as the Honors Quartet in residence in Baltimore, Maryland, and performed in 2012 in Shanghai, China, at the Shanghai Conservatory. The Janos Quartet also premiered new works by prominent contemporary composers at the Aspen Music Festival and School.

Mia is a musical egalitarian with a great passion for Jazz, and enjoys playing a myriad of instruments. She has recorded backing vocals for indie rock band “Meekos&Me’s,” debut album, released on iTunes in June 2011, and was featured as a prominent artist on electronic contemporary musician Dan Deacon’s latest album “America,” released internationally in August 2012. She collaborates regularly with various bands and singer-songwriters. This facet of her cello performing has led her to play shows at prominent venues such as the House Of Blues, the Kennedy Center, and the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, California. Mia also works closely with film and television composers in and around Los Angeles and is currently pursuing an eclectic musical career. While her passion is performing, Mia enjoys the educational world as well, and has performed numerous outreach programs to various underprivileged schools throughout the country. She has spent time teaching for the YOLA program of the LA Phil as well as with the Baltimore Symphony’s outreach program, OrchKids.