Andrea J. Stewart

Based in Montreal, Quebec, cellist and gambist Andrea Stewart is a versatile musician and artistic instigator whose explorations span from historical performance to the new sounds and techniques of contemporary music. A performer on both historical and modern instruments, Andrea is equally at home performing with electronics as she is playing basso continuo.

 

In 2006, Andrea made her solo debut with the University of Western Ontario Symphony Orchestra in her native London, Ontario. Since then, various solo recitals and ensemble collaborations have brought Andrea to venues across North America, Europe, and Asia, most recently as part of the Festival de Música de Morelia Miguel Bernal Jiménez (Morelia, Mexico), Sound Unbound (The Barbican Centre, London, UK), and La Folle Journée de Nantes (France).

 

Andrea is a founding member of the string ensemble collectif9, for which she is also the Associate Director, and with whom she has created and performed in numerous projects including multi-media works, album recordings, film-concerts, and the commissioning of new music. collectif9’s innovative programmes and educational productions have been toured worldwide. As a member of the early music ensemble Infusion Baroque, Andrea has performed across North America presenting the ensemble’s interactive and engaging programming, and has recorded several albums. The ensemble is dedicated to championing the music of historical women composers and performers with their multi-year project, Virtuosa. 

 

Andrea regularly gives workshops and masterclasses in chamber music and solo repertoire. Since 2023, she has been co-director of the chamber music course run by collectif9 at the Orford Music Academy. She is a member of Arion Baroque Orchestra and is regularly invited to perform with ensembles such as Space Time Continuo, Les Violons du Roy, Innovations en concert, Ensemble Caprice, and Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal. Andrea was one of three finalists in the Golden Violin Competition at the Schulich School of Music at McGill University, and was a finalist of the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition and the Prix d’Europe Competition.

 

Andrea holds the degrees of Doctor of Music (2015) and Master of Music (2009) from McGill University. Inspired by contemporary music, her research was devoted to the expansion of cello technique in relation to works in the contemporary repertoire. In the domain of early music, she has explored 18th century music for cello and viola da gamba from a multi-instrumentalist point of view.

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Andrea performs on the 1824 McConnell Nicolaus Gagliano II cello, on loan from the Canada Council for the Arts Musical Instrument Bank.