Mario Cellist

Eighteen-year-old cellist Mario Rodriguez McMillan was born in Mexico City. He grew up surrounded by music and began his own musical studies at the age of seven. He studied classical guitar at Escuela Superior de Música del Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes y Literatura, an acclaimed conservatory in Mexico. His love for music inspired him to reach proficiency at various instruments, including piano, drums, percussion, and trumpet. He eventually chose the cello because of its incredibly expressive qualities.
Mario was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 2022, and he studied with renowned faculty including Sascha Goetzel, David Hetherington, and Bryan Epperson. He has also been a member of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra since 2020 and currently holds a principal cellist position.
In the spring of 2022, Mario’s string quartet won first place in the Ontario Music Festivals Association chamber provincials competition. He had his solo debut with the first movement of the Schumann Cello Concerto after winning the North York Concert Orchestra concerto competition. A few months later he played in a masterclass for Sheku Kanneh-Mason.
Mario is currently in his first year studying cello performance with Joseph Johnson at the University of Toronto.