David Cruz

Starts his musical studies at the Professional Artistic School of Vale do Ave.

Graduted by the Academia Nacional de Orquestra (Lisbon) in the studio of the cellist Paulo Gaio Lima, continues his musical studies in the United States at Indiana University, studying with the cellists Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi and Janos Starker. At IU, he teaches at the University's String Academy as an assistant to the cellist Susan Moses.

Several works are dedicated to him, including the work “Passo Cruzado” (suite for solo cello), by the Polish composer Igor Iwanek, premiered at the “Boston Portuguese Festival”, in 2012, and the work “Circumloquios Enrevesados” by the Mexican composer Alejandro Castillo, premiered in August 2009 in Bloomington, USA.

In June 2014, he finished his Doctorate in Music at Boston University, under the guidance of the cellists Michael Reynolds and George Neikrug. At the same University, he works in the field of string quartet playing with Raphael Hillyer, founding member of the Julliard Quartet. As his doctoral dissrtation, he develops an analytical study on the works for cello by the Portuguese composer Fernando Lopes Graça. At BU he was also Assistant to the professor to Michael Reynolds and was awarded the membership of the Honor Society Phi Kappa Lambda.

In the field of early music, he integrates, as part of his Doctoral Program, studies in the area of ​​early music interpretation and the performance of baroque cello and viola da Gamba. He works at the level of instrumental performance, baroque cello with Sara Freiburg (Boston Baroque) and viola da gamba with Laura Jeppeson (Boston Baroque). He also participates in masterclasses with Phoebe Carrai (Julliard School of Music) and Stanley Ritchie (Indiana University). He performs solo concerts and chamber music concerts as both baroque cellist and gambist.

From 2001 to 2003 he is a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra, performing in some of the main European concert halls under the direction of conductors such as Sir Colin Davis and Vladimir Ashkenadzy.

From 2013 to 2018 he was music director, teacher and performer at the Santa Cristina Cello Festival (Santo Tirso, Portugal), a project involving some of the most pretigious cellists and cello pedagogues of today.

He is currently a professor at the University of Aveiro and at the Instituto Superior Jean Piaget de Viseu. He regularly performs solo and in chamber music (as a member of the Suggia Quartet) in Europe and the United States. He regularly holds masterclasses in Portugal, Spain, Brazil and the USA.