Dr. Mariama Alcântara has earned recognition for her artistry as a solo, chamber, and orchestral musician. Her debut album Brazilian Landscapes: Music for Solo Violin from Brazil, released by the Italian-Japanese label Da Vinci Classics, has been highly praised by Gramophone UK, Concerto Magazine and Estadao Newspaper. Described as “unmissable”, “impactful” and “courageous” the album features Flausino Vale’s 26 Preludes for solo violin and a Partita that she commissioned from Andre Mehmari.
Mariama grew up in a musical family, making her solo debut at the age of 12 with the Paraiba Symphony Orchestra. Presently, she is a member of the Austin Symphony and the Austin Opera. She has given recitals and solo orchestral performances in Brazil, Austria, France and the United States.
An avid chamber musician, Mariama is the second violin of the Artisan Quartet, and has collaborated with the Aizuri Quartet, Dali Quartet and has been a guest artist with the Allenspark Chamber Music Festival.
Festivals appearances include Mozarteum Summer Academy (Salzburg, Austria), Rencontres Musicales de Graves (Bordeaux, France), Wintergreen Summer Music Academy (Fellow – Virginia, USA), Colorado College Summer Music Festival (Guest Artist – Colorado, USA), Dali Quartet International Summer Festival (Fellow – Philadelphia, USA), Virtuosi (Guest Artist – Recife, Brazil).
Passionate about improving equality and diversity in classical music, Mariama worked as a researcher with the Boulanger Initiative, an advocate of women composers based in Washington D.C. The Initiative promotes music composed by women through performance, education, commissions, and consultations.
Mariama’s background and diverse musical projects shape her passion for discovering, performing and teaching a broad range of music to students of different ages and abilities. She is a faculty member at Austin Chamber Music Center and has served on the faculty of Texas Lutheran University, El Sistema Colorado and Colorado Youth Symphony Orchestra. She has conducted masterclasses at nationally and internationally-recognized institutions such as Conservatorio Jose Siqueira (Brazil), Universidade Federal da Paraiba (Brazil), and the University of Colorado Boulder.
A graduate of the University of Memphis, she studied with Dr. Soh-Hyun Altino and earned her master’s degree from the Pennsylvania State University as a student and teaching assistant of Professor James Lyon. A 2019 recipient of the prestigious Dorothy Delay Starling Foundation Fellowship, Mariama earned a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Colorado Boulder as a student and teaching assistant of Professor Harumi Rhodes and Ed Dusinberre of the Takács Quartet.
See Mariama perform during our concert season!