Mia Barcia-Colombo was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where she began her musical studies at four years of age and began playing cello when she was eight. She continued her studies at the Colburn School of the Performing Arts, later finishing her bachelor’s degree under the tutelage of Eleonore Schoenfeld at USC’s Thornton School of Music and Amit Peled at the Peabody Institute. Growing up, she competed and placed as a Laureate in the Sphinx Competition and a finalist at the Los Angeles Spotlight Awards, and also played principal cello in the American Youth Symphony until 2008.
Mia has attended festivals including the Lake George Music Festival in New York, the Aspen Music Festival in Colorado, the Idyllwild Arts Academy in California, Encore School for Strings in Ohio, the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Forum de Violoncello de España in Madrid, Spain. She has participated in master-classes with the Emerson, Guarneri, Tokyo, Miro, Takács, and Orion string quartets.
Mia currently resides in Los Angeles and enjoys an eclectic performance career serving as a substitute cellist for the LA Phil, recording scores for film and TV, and teaching cello at the Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California.