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Milena Umiglia-Marena was born into a musical family and received her first cello lessons from her mother. At age 10, she began taking lessons with Rafael Rosenfeld and studied with him until obtaining the Bachelor degree at the Basel Academy of Music in 2018. Ever since, she’s been continuing her studies with Thomas Grossenbacher at the Zürich University of the Arts. 

She has obtained various awards and distinctions in national and international competitions, such as Murten Classics Cello Competition (2018), Schenk Soloist Competition (2021), Kiwanis Soloist Competition in Zurich (2023), Vienna Classical Music Academy (2023), 19th International Padova Music Competition (2023), Vienna New Year's Concert International Competition (2023), and Slava International Cello Competition (2023). She has received stipends from the Friedl Wald Foundation, the Aebi-Luthy Stiftung and the International Lyceum Club Zürich. She's taken part in Masterclasses with renowned cellists such as David Geringas, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt, Peter Bruns, Maximilian Hornung and Reinhard Latzko, as well as chamber music teachers such as Eberhardt Feltz and Robert Levin. She's had the opportunity to play with chamber music partners such as Julia Fischer, Alexander Sitkovetsky, Nils Mönkemeyer, Dima Smirnov, Benjamin Engeli, and Fabio di Casola. She won a second prize at the Swiss Chamber Music Competition Orpheus as well as a first prize at the Kiwanis Chamber Music Competition in Zürich, and was a finalist of the Young Credit Suisse Competition in 2022 with the Modulor string quartet.

Milena has appeared as a soloist in Switzerland, Argentina, Italy and Spain with various orchestras such as Neues Orchester Basel, Collegium Musicum Zug, the Argovia Philharmonic Orchestra, the Youth Symphony Orchestra of Central Switzerland, Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto, Ensemble Kuraia, the Slovakian Chamber Orchestra, as well as with musicians from Opernhaus Zürich.

She reached the final round for the principal cello audition at the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich in 2021.

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