Born in Seville in 2012 into a family of musicians, cellist Alicia Arriaza began her studies at the age of five.
Deeply passionate about the cello, she has participated in masterclasses with renowned artists including Frans Helmerson, J. Peter Maintz, Gustav Rivinius, Miklós Perényi, Christian-Pierre La Marca, Valentin Radutiu, Paolo Bonomini, and Adrian Brendel.
Despite her young age, Alicia has already received numerous awards, including First Prize at the 29th “Visitación Magarzo” Soloists Competition, Second Prize at the David Geringas International Cello Competition (Klaipėda, 2025), Third Prize and the Junior Talent Award at the 8th Dotzauer International Cello Competition, and Third Prize at the David Popper International Cello Competition, among others.
Since the age of ten, Alicia has studied with Carmen María Elena. She is also a student of the Barenboim-Said Foundation, where she has studied with Maestro Pavel Gomziakov since the 2022–2023 academic year. Through the Foundation, she has had the opportunity to perform with its orchestra under conductors including Nuno Coelho, Vasily Petrenko, Oksana Lyniv, and Thomas Guggeis, as well as to receive artistic guidance from Sennu Laine and Alexander Kovalev at the Barenboim Akademie in Berlin.
Alicia has performed at the Baeza International Festival and has appeared in chamber music concerts alongside artists such as Clara Cernat, Thierry Huillet, Alexander Sitkovetsky, and J. Peter Maintz. She will make her orchestral debut as a soloist on March 14, 2026, in London, performing Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33.
She has the privilege of performing on a bow generously loaned by renowned maker C. Jochen Schmidt of Dresden, Germany, and on an 18th-century Italian cello by Antonio Ungarini. Alicia currently continues her studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London with Matthijs Broersma.