Cellist Aria DiSalvio brings her soulful, rich tone and refined technique to a wide variety of musical settings. Whether performing with the Santa Cruz Symphony or contemporary folk band Long Story Short; or in the recording studio with artists such as Irish singer Éilís Kennedy or jazz trumpeter Roy Hargrove, Aria's passion for and expertise in diverse styles of music shines through. A graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music, Aria continued her studies with Stephen Harrison (Stanford) after relocating from Michigan to the San Francisco Bay area. Always drawn to a diverse range of musical styles, Aria discovered a joy and freedom in traditional music after attending Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddle School. She began to study various traditional music styles, particularly Scandinavian, and soon became a teacher at several traditional music camps including Alasdair Fraser’s Sierra Fiddle Camp, where she is currently on faculty.

Aria’s performing career has included concerts with the Santa Cruz Symphony, Santa Cruz Chamber Players, New Music Works, Cabrillo Stage, with Roy Hargrove at The Monterey Jazz Festival, and with One Lane Bridge at the KVMR Celtic Festival. She currently records and tours with contemporary folk band Long Story Short - joining forces with renowned instrumentalist and composer Ashley Hoyer and fiddler Ben Schreiber to perform Hoyer’s originals for Mandolin, Fiddle and Cello.

Inspiring and educating the next generation of string players has always been central to Aria’s musical life. She spent several years as a youth orchestra conductor, chamber music coach and founder/director of a strings program at a local elementary school. She has been on the faculty of Valley of the Moon Scottish Fiddle School, Alasdair Fraser’s Sierra Fiddle Camp, Community Music School of Santa Cruz Teen Trad Camp and Redwood Camp.

Aria feels very lucky that she and her husband are raising their two children in the beautiful nature of Bonny Doon, California, where meadow walks & picking produce from their organic farm are daily rituals.

Photographs by Kristin Jones Heitzler