Parisian-based Alexa Ciciretti is the cellist of Ensemble Cairn. Additionally, she has performed as guest solo cellist of Opera Nationale de Lorraine and with Ensemble Intercontemporain, Orchestre Nationale d’Auvergne, Ensemble Sillages, and Barcelona Modern Ensemble. She has performed solos and chamber music at Palais Garnier, Salle Cortot, Château de Versailles, Château de Fontainebleau, and the Centre tchèque de Paris. Her interest in contemporary music has led her to work extensively with living composers, including Betsy Jolas, Jérôme Combier, Philippe Leroux, and Noriko Baba.
Ms. Ciciretti was a guest artist at the 2019 Ojai Festival, where she performed John Zorn’s Ouroboros with Jay Campbell of the JACK Quartet, which was hailed as an “impressive tour de force” (sequenza21.com). A member of the Spoleto Festival USA for several seasons, Ms. Ciciretti served as continuo cellist on the U.S. premiere of Vivaldi’s Farnace and section cellist on the U.S. premiere of Helmut Lachenmann’s Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern.
As an invited member of the Lucerne Festival Academy, she participated in several European tours, both with the Alumni Orchestra under the direction of Riccardo Chailly and the Academy Orchestra under the direction of Matthias Pintscher. Additionally, she was the solo cellist in Wolfgang Rihm’s Jagden und Formen under George Benjamin, and was one of six orchestral cello soloists in the world premiere of Luca Francesconi’s Das Ding singt.
Ms. Ciciretti was a cello fellow at the New World Symphony for four years, serving as principal cellist in their 2019 tour to Carnegie Hall. A frequent principal cellist under Michael Tilson Thomas, she additionally performed as principal under conductors such as Osmo Vänskä, Matthias Pintscher, John Adams, Brad Lubman, and Mark Wigglesworth. She also performed contemporary chamber music extensively during her time at New World Symphony, including Peter Maxwell Davies’ Eight Songs for a Mad King with baritone Kelvin Thomas and George Crumb’s Black Angels.
She received her master’s degree and orchestral studies diploma from Eastman School of Music and her bachelor’s degree with a minor in historical performance from Oberlin Conservatory. Principal teachers include Steven Doane, Amir Eldan and Ronald Lowry.
Ms. Ciciretti pursued post-graduate studies with Anssi Karttunen.