Luiz Fernando Venturelli (21) is currently a senior at Northwestern University, wherehe studies with Hans Jensen. Born and raised in Brazil by a family of musicians, Luizdeveloped an interest for music very early in his life, taking piano lessons from his parents at age 3. Later on, he took guitar and choir lessons, until he started playing the cello at age 8. He studied at the Instituto Baccarelli, a non-profit organization that teaches music to over 1000 children for free, from the age of 8 until he moved to the United States when he was 17. In Brazil, he studied with Eduardo Belo and André Micheletti. Luiz has been a prize winner in multiple competitions, including the Paulo Bosisio competition, the Northwestern University Thaviu competition, the concerto competitions of the Orquestra Filarmônica de Goiás and OSESP, the 2014 NYIAA competition and most recently the 24th annual Sphinx competition. As a soloist and chamber musician, Luiz has performed in multiple states of Brazil, USA and Canada. He is also a member of the Galvin Cello Quartet, formed in 2021. Aside from cello, Luiz is a huge enthusiast of other kinds of music, having led a rock band and played and recorded with multiple artists in Brazil.