Rita Isabel

Rita Andrade is a Los Angeles-based violist. The city's artistic scene of orchestras, studios, chamber music and sprawling creative community, offers the perfect environment to nurture both her classical roots and range across genres. Trained at the University of Texas at Austin and DePaul University in Chicago, that foundation continues to shape how Rita practices, listens, and shows up to every musical situation she finds herself in.

With a season as assistant principal violist of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and fellowships with the Grant Park Symphony and Chicago Sinfonietta, Rita deeply treasures those experiences that include special performances with Ricardo Muti, Yo-Yo Ma and Michael Tilson Thomas. That same love for orchestral playing brought her into the world of film and television, where she has recorded for various productions including Avatar: The Way of Water and Sinners, and contributed to albums by artists as wide-ranging as Mitski, Iron & Wine, Miley Cyrus, and Sienna Spiro.

Chamber music has been another deep throughline. Eight years with the ATLYS String Quartet were another very formative and special chapter, one that stretched her across classical and multi-genre worlds and led to over a thousand performances in concert halls, nightclubs, and aboard ships at sea.

In Los Angeles, Rita continues to perform classical and chamber music alongside a wonderfully eclectic range of collaborators. She subs regularly with regional ensembles including Long Beach Symphony and LA Master Chorale, brings classical and pop music to intimate settings through candlelight performances with the Orchid Quartet Collective, and is also a member of the Rogue Lemon Collective.

Recent performance highlights include Bad Bunny at the NFL Super Bowl Halftime Show, Wicked Live at the Dolby, Beyoncé at the NFL Halftime Show, the Kelly Clarkson Studio Sessions residency at Caesars Palace, Andrea Bocelli and Jennifer Hudson at the Kia Forum, Björk at Coachella, John Legend at the Emmys, Chris Martin on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Celeste at the Oscars, Danny Elfman at the Sick New World Festival, Erykah Badu and Madlib at Camp Flog Gnaw, Seven Lions at Red Rocks and The Gorge Amphitheater, and live performances of Encanto, Game of Thrones, and The Lion King at the Hollywood Bowl.

Beyond the stage, Rita finds joy in the ocean and mountains of Los Angeles, embracing the beauty and nuance of a creative life.