Cristina Pato

Cristina Pato (born August 17, 1980) is a bagpiper, pianist and composer.

The first female Galician bagpiper to record a solo album in Spain, she has released four albums as a solo bagpiper and two as a pianist. Pato has collaborated with artists as Yo-Yo Ma, Silk Road Ensemble, Arturo O'Farrill, The Chieftains, Paquito D'Rivera, The World Orchestra, Damian Woetzel, Lil Buck, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Osvaldo Golijov and in more than twenty recordings as a guest artist.

Pato is Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University where she studied with a fellowship from Fundación Barrié de la Maza. She was awarded the Edna Mason Scholarship and the Irene Alm Memorial Prize for excellence in scholarly research and performance (Rutgers University, May 2008). She holds both a Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance and a Master of Music Degree in Music Theory and Chamber Music (with honours) from the Conservatori Superior de Música del Liceu in Barcelona. She also holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Digital Arts (Computer Music) from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona.

She has given more than 500 concerts in Spain, Portugal, USA, France, Italy, Germany, Mexico, China, Korea, Angola, Arab Emirates and India many of them recorded and broadcast by television stations such as BBC, TVG and TVE and acclaimed by The New York Times, El País, La Voz de Galicia or The Scotsman. She appeared as a guest artist in Yo-Yo Ma "Songs of Joy and Peace" in 2008 and on television shows such as The Colbert Report, Lincoln Center (PBS Live From Lincoln Center Series)and The Kennedy Center Honors.

Pato is a member of Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble, and founder and artistic director of Galician Connection, a forum and multidisciplinary festival in world music celebrated at City of Culture of Galicia.

Discography

• Migrations (2013)
• The Galician Connection (2010)
• SOAS (2010)
• Tolemia (1999)
• Xilento (2001)

Guest Artist

• Yo Yo Ma Songs of Joy and Peace (2009). Won GRAMMY Award 2010
• Miles Davis Miles Español (2010) Bob Belden
• Silk Road Ensemble Off the Map (2009)

References

• Official website
• The New York Times 2006
• The New York Times 2007
• El Pais 2009
• Rutgers Focus
• Silk Road Ensemble and Yo Yo Ma