Cellist Titilayo Ayangade, originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, is a dedicated chamber musician, multifaceted artist and curator of a diverse collection of music. Titilayo holds a Bachelor of Music from CCM where she studied with Ilya Finkelshteyn. Titilayo is the cellist of Thalea String Quartet which served as Young Professional String Quartet from 2018-2020 at UT Austin under the tutelage of the Miro Quartet. Thalea String Quartet also holds an Associated Artists position at Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, Belgium where they are mentored by the Artemis Quartet.
As an avid chamber musician Titilayo has worked with celebrated quartets such as the Miro Quartet, Ying Quartet, Artemis Quartet, and many others. The cellist of the Thalea String Quartet, Titilayo was a top prize winner at both the 2018 Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and the 2018 Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition. From 2015-2017 Titilayo was a member of the Yas Quartet based in Chicago, which was the 3rd prize winner at the 2016 Schoenfeld International String Competition in China. In addition, she was a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago from 2014-2016 and a Chicago Sinfonietta Project Inclusion Fellow from 2015-2017. Titilayo has attended Bowdoin International Music Festival, Sphinx Performance Academy at the Walnut Hill School, Meadowmount Summer Music Festival, International Festival de Inverno Campos do Jordao, Aspen Music Festival, National Orchestral Institute (NOI), Colorado College Summer Music Festival and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. Beyond the concert stage, Titilayo has made several appearances on Fox’s hit TV show Empire and enjoys her work as a professional photographer.
