BIANCA D’AVILA DO PRADO

Bianca d’Avila do Prado is a Brazilian cellist, pedagogue, and composer. She holds a Master of Music degree in Cello Performance and String Pedagogy from Illinois State University, where she completed her studies under Dr. Adriana Ransom and Dr. Cora Swenson-Lee, working as a String Project Graduate Assistant and acting as ISU Symphony Principal Cello. She had completed Suzuki Teacher Training in all 10 Units plus supplemental courses, receiving a "Distinguished Young Teacher" award from the Suzuki Association of the Americas at the SAA/ASTA Conference in 2024 and the Music Institute of Chicago "Teacher of Note" Honoree in 2023. 

Bianca has been teaching cello students for more than 20 years in Brazil and in the US, privately and in schools such as Escola de Musica Tio Zequinha, Suzuki String Academy, University of Idaho Preparatory Division, Northwestern University Music Academy and Music Institute of Chicago where she coordinated of the Third Coast Suzuki Strings outreach program for 4 years. She has been a guest clinician at the ASTA Conference in San Francisco, Eastman Cello Institute, Suzuki Strings Festival in Peoria, Illinois State University Summer Camp, Sandpoint Summer Strings Festival and Encontro de Violoncelos in Brazil.

Bianca’s first composition, titled Brazilian Habanera was published as part of Mosaic: A Collection of String Music by Black and Latino Composers. She was later commissioned by the Cello Teaching Repertoire Consortium and wrote Suite Pequenina for cello solo and cello duet and was part of the New Canon Project's first cohort, writing Valsa para Sofia for strings. Bianca’s most recent publications include 25 Duetos Latinoamericanos for strings, A La Rorro Niño and Ciranda Cirandinha for string orchestra and Resonance: A Multicultural Cello Method. 

     She has been actively working on making Brazilian music for strings more accessible and performed in the US. She had her articles "Teaching Diversity: Four Brazilian Pieces for String Orchestra" published in The Scroll Magazine and "Viajando Pelo Brasil I, Suite for Strings: A Fun way to Explore the Richness of Brazilian Culture and Music" published in the American String Teacher Magazine. She also had "Setting Habits for Success: How Being a Suzuki Student Can Transform Your Child’s Brain" published by the American Suzuki Journal. 

Bianca was part of the Camerata Ontoarte, recording six CD’s, two of them featuring acclaimed soprano Carla Maffioletti and performing concerts in Brazil, Italy and Russia. She also recorded A Lua de Santiago, including music composed by Fernando Avila for accordion and string quintet. She has performed with the Peoria Symphony Orchestra, North Idaho Philharmonia, Orquestra de Camara Theatro São Pedro and Quatricelli Cello Quartet.