Leonardo Altino, a native of Brazil, began to play the cello at the age of six and gave his first performance at the age of eight.  By age fifteen, he had appeared as a soloist with every major orchestra in Brazil and worked with renowned conductors such as Eleazar de Carvalho and Isaac Karabitchevsky. Praised by the Strad Magazine for his “exceptional musical intelligence and an exceptionally cultivated sound," Mr. Altino was first prize winner at the International Cello Competition in Viña Del Mar, Chile, He has since appeared as soloist and in solo recitals in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Korea, Taiwan, and the US. He has performed with many orchestras in the United States and abroad such as the Boston Symphony, Concord Symphony, Hudson Symphony, Memphis Symphony, Montgomery Symphony, Sinfonica de Bogota, Sinfonica de Santiago, and Sinfonica de São Paulo, among many others. Mr. Altino was awarded the first prize at the Jovens Concertistas Brasileiros, a prestigious competition in Brazil. He also received the Harvard University Music Award. In addition to his activities as soloist, Mr. Altino frequently performs in chamber music recitals, collaborating with artists such as Monique Duphil, Ilya Gringolts, Oleh Krysa, Antonio Meneses and the Miró String Quartet.

Mr. Altino holds degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His principal teachers include Aldo Parisot, Laurence Lesser, and Suren Bagratuni. He also studied in Germany with Marcio Carneiro at the Detmold Musikhöchschulle and received the Montgomery Symphony Orchestra Fellowship to serve as artist-in-residence for two years.

During the summers, Mr. Altino and his wife, violinist Soh-Hyun Park Altino, direct the String Intensive Study Program at the Masterworks Festival in Winona Lake, Indiana, and teach at the Duxbury Music Festival in Massachussets.  He has also taught at the Preparatory Division of the New England Conservatory of Music and in many festivals such as the Festival de Inverno Campos do Jordão in Brazil, the International Music Festival in Bogota, Colombia, and the Academia y Festival del Nuevo Mundo in Venezuela.  He has given master classes in many universities and music festivals in the United States and abroad. Mr. Altino presently teaches at the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music at the University of Memphis and performs in the Ceruti String Quartet and in the Dúnamis Trio.