Caterina Schembri (b.1993) is an Italian-Colombian composer and producer based in Dublin. Through her work, she likes to traverse harmonic explorations, literary motifs, multidisciplinary intersections, symbolic meaning, and different orchestration possibilities within acoustic and hybrid ensembles. Connections with visual imagery and written word are recurrent in her music, often working with original text written by her.

In the last years, she has composed pieces for a wide range of musicians including Ficino Ensemble, Tonnta, Chamber Choir Ireland, ConTempo Quartet, Spilliaert Trio, the Dublin Viols, members of the UCDSO, the BNR Orchestra, percussion ensemble Tridio, vocalist Michelle O’Rourke, violist Nathan Sherman and cellist Kate Ellis.

In 2022 she was commissioned to premiere a piece in New Music Dublin and in 2022 and 2024 she was granted a Music Bursaries by the Arts Council of Ireland to develop new work. Most recently, MoLI (Museum of Literature Ireland) and the DFA commissioned her to write a piece for the 2023 Bloomsday video. Caterina was also selected as a CMC (Contemporary Music Centre Ireland) Emerging Composer for the period of 2024/2025.

Schembri’s debut album Sea Salt & Turpentine, with performances by Ficino Ensemble and Michelle O’Rourke, releases in 2024 under the Ergodos label with a launch concert in the National Concert Hall of Ireland.

Caterina is also one of the founding members of Sonic Gate Studios, an international collective of sound artists working on curated new music, and the general manager for the record label Ergodos.

Formed in 2013 by artistic director and violist Nathan Sherman, Ficino Ensemble is an acclaimed chamber music group known for programming a breadth of musical styles. Their concerts have been described as “distinctive, transparent and carefully poised”. They have been invited to perform at major festivals and concert series in Ireland, including the String Quartet Series at the National Concert Hall, and are frequently broadcasted on RTÉ Lyric FM. Each member of the ensemble is a major force on the Irish classical and contemporary music scene and enjoys devoting time to curated chamber music programmes. Ficino Ensemble released their debut album, Winter, in 2018, and this was long listed for the RTÉ Choice Music Prize. Ficino Ensemble have premiered many works, and the ensemble is committed to championing music by living composers.

Michelle’s natural sound, unaffected expressivity, and technical ability make for an interpreter of rare dynamism. Several Irish composers have created work specially for her, including: Andrew Hamilton, Simon O’Connor, Karen Power, Judith Ring, Anna Murray, Benedict Schlepper-Connolly, and Garrett Sholdice. Since 2016, Michelle has worked on a number of interdisciplinary projects, including work by Louise White Performance, Rob Heaslip Dance, Tonnta, theatre-makers Oonagh Murphy & Maeve Stone, and choreographer Catherine Young. In 2019, Michelle was co-curator of Listening Bodies, a durational performance event presented by Tonnta and Kirkos. Michelle has featured on a number of critically acclaimed releases, including: Left Behind: Songs of the 1916 Widows (with Simon O’Connor, Ergodos label) and Andrew Hamilton: Music for People (with Crash Ensemble, NMC label). Michelle can be heard contributing to Inside Out, the recent release by Dutch violinist Diamanda La Berge Dramm (Genuin label). Her 2022 release with Ficino Ensemble, Folk Songs, was chosen as one of The Guardian’s top ten folk albums of 2022. Current and upcoming activity includes: the development of new performance collaborations, including a new duo with flautist Lina Andonovska; solo albums featuring work by Andrew Hamilton and original self- composed material.