Cristina Pato

Galician bagpipe (Spain) Internationally acclaimed as a Galician bagpiper and classical pianist, Cristina Pato enjoys an active professional career devoted to both Galician popular music and to classical music. Her dual careers have led to performances throughout major stages in the United States (Carnegie Hall 2006; Lincoln Center 2007, Metropolitan Museum 2008, New York; Chicago Symphony Hall, Chicago 2007; Seiji Ozawa Hall, Tanglewood, Massachussetts 2006), Portugal (Festa do Avante, Lisbon 2003), Brazil (Liszt Festival, Rio de Janeiro, 2000), the United Kingdom (Celtic Connections 2004, Glasgow), France, Italy (Etnofestival, San Marino 2002), Germany (Ibero-Amerikanisches Institut, Berlin 2003), Mexico (Palacio de Bellas Artes 2004) and, of course, all around her native Spain. She has collaborated with international artists such as the Chieftains, Yo-Yo Ma, the Silk Road Ensemble and Chicago Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Miguel Harth-Bedoya and invited by composer Osvaldo Golijov), Hevia, the Royal Pipe Band, the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra and the Galicia Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Victor Pablo Perez).

Pato has released three CDs as a solo bagpiper (Tolemia, 1999; Xilento, 2001; Misturados, 2007) and two as a collaborative pianist (From Russia to Brazil, 2006) and has collaborated on more than twenty recordings as a guest artist. Pato has given more than 400 concerts, many of them recorded and broadcasted by television stations such as BBC, TVG, CNN and RTVE, and has been acclaimed by newspapers as The New York Times, El Pais, and The Scotsman.

A Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano from the Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University (New Jersey), Cristina was awarded with the Edna Mason Scholarship and the Irene Alm Memorial Prize for excellence in scholarly research and performance (May 2008). She holds both a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance (with honors) and a Master of Music Degree in Music Theory and Chamber Music (with honors) from the Conservatorio de Musica del Liceu (Barcelona). There she studied with Luiz de Moura Castro, Carmen Martínez and Lourdes Pérez Molina. She also holds also a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Digital Arts (Computer Music) from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona). Her final project, a multi-media piece entitled Ansiedad, has been exhibited at the international exhibition BAC03 (Barcelona Arte Contemporáneo) and at the Auditorio de Galicia (Premio Jóvenes Artistas 2003).

During recent seasons Pato has performed several world premieres of pieces such as From Air to Air (by Osvaldo Golijov) with the Silk Road Ensemble and Yo-Yo Ma (Carnegie Hall, New York, September 2006); the chamber opera The Outlaw and the King (by Mark Zuckerman) at Rutgers University (New Jersey, December 2006); Norte dedicated to Pato (by Montserrat Torras) at the New England Conservatory (Boston, April 2007); Trio Guernica (by Octavio Vazquez) at the Via Stellae festival (Santiago de Compostela, Spain 2007, national premiere), the Piano Concerto (by Octavio Vazquez) at the Palacio de la Opera with Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia (A Coruña, Spain, November 2007); and the symphonic work Rose of the Winds (by Osvaldo Golijov) with Yo-Yo Ma and Chicago Symphony Orchestra (Symphony Hall, Chicago, April 2007). All served to quickly bring her talents as both bagpiper and pianist into the spotlight. In 2006 Pato produced, composed and performed the soundtrack of the Spanish film El Hombre de Arena, which premiered in November 2007.