Marisse Cato
Connecting Stars Emerging Artist
Marisse Cato is a free-lancing young composer and violinist who works across a wide range of genres including pop, jazz, contemporary and classical. As a recent music graduate from the University of Cambridge, she enjoys a varied and busy musical life. Currently working in London, she continues composing in a contemporary classical style with Afro-diasporic influences. Previous commissions include the Devon Philharmonic Orchestra in partnership with the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Robinson College Choir for the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music. Her compositions have been performed as part of the Cambridge University Minerva Festival as well as College Music Society recitals and the Kettle’s Yard New Music Series. She also composes for film with the interdisciplinary creative company DISRUPTION. Her music narrates the film “Hold That Pose” which was screened in the Cambridge Union Keynes Library.
Marisse’s performance career spans multiple genres. She performed as leader and co-leader across multiple Cambridge based orchestras including Cambridge University Symphony Orchestra and Kings College Music Society Orchestra. She is well versed in performing canonical works with recent highlights including Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony, Florence Price’s Symphony No.1 and Amy Beach’s Gaelic
Symphony. She has also enjoyed performing as part of Chineke! Junior Orchestra performing in the Royal Festival Hall and Fairfield Halls. Prior to Cambridge, Marisse studied at Junior Trinity where she led the Symphony Orchestra and was awarded the Rose Eley Memorial Prize for String Playing. She is frequently called on to partake in contemporary music ventures having worked with the Cambridge University New Music Group enjoyed performances of Errollyn Wallen’s Horseplay West Road Concert Hall and the European debut of The Blue Hour in St John’s College Chapel. Her commercial music career includes recording on the debut album “Tales of a Miracle” from UK singer Mira May before performing alongside her as a featured artist at her headline show to over 2,000 people at Here at Outernet, Charing Cross.
Having performed to care home residents with her school as well as delivered food packages and prepared Christmas dinner for elderly members of her local community, Marisse enjoys using music to support a wider demographic online. She supports the engagement of her performances through her studies on music and emotional well-being. This exploration into the benefits of music therapy further informs her performance delivery.