Cellist Ashley Walters has gained attention as an interpreter of new music, a prodigious performer in chamber music, and a dedicated teacher. After a performance in Los Angeles of the Berio 'Sequenza', Mark Swed of the LA Times said: "Ashley Walters, a cellist finishing her doctorate at UCSD, played Berio's late Sequenza XIV with the kind of brilliance that beckons a major new performer on the new music scene." A native of Oak Hill, Virginia, Ashley is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in Contemporary Cello Performance as a fellow at the University of California, San Diego, where she has been twice awarded for excellence in teaching for her work with undergraduate students. She graduated from California Institute of the Arts with a Master of Fine Arts degree in Cello Performance. In 2005, Ashley graduated from Vanderbilt University, Magna Cum Laude. She had her solo debut in 2006 performing Sciarrino’s ‘Melencolia I’ at the REDCAT hall in Los Angeles. In the summer of 2008, Ashley worked with the great Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho performing her work ‘Spins and Spells’ as part of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. Ashley is a founding member of the Formalist Quartet, a Los Angeles based new music string quartet that tours in the U.S. and internationally and that focuses on adventurous contemporary repertoire. In addition, she is a member of inauthenita, a Los Angeles new music ensemble. Ashley has served on the cello faculty of the California State Summer School, and currently serves as faculty at the Oakwood School, the Academy of Creative Education, and as an Associate-in-Music at UCSD. Ashley's primary teachers have been Charles Curtis, Erika Duke-Kirkpatrick, Felix Wang, John Kochanowski, and Barbara Van Patten. In addition she has recently recorded a solo album with works by Luciano Berio, Wolfgang von Schweinitz, and Nicholas Deyoe. In the spring of 2012, Ashley will present her doctoral dissertation on the performance practice of just intonation music.

www.ashleywalterscello.com