Manuel Papale

Cellist Manuel Papale was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and began his musical studies in Miami, Florida. He joined the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra as Assistant Principal of the cello section in the fall of 2025. 

In 2016, Manuel was awarded a full-tuition scholarship to attend the Texas Christian University School of Music where he co-founded and performed in ensembles dedicated to promoting the music of female and Latin American composers. While receiving his Master's degree from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Manuel was awarded the “Eva Heinitz Cello Scholarship Award” and co-founded the award-winning Canone String Quartet which was named the Student String-Quartet-in-Residence and recipient of the Kuttner Quartet Fellowship. 

He went on to receive an Artist Diploma from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as a Diversity Fellow with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. As a 2025 Grant Park Music Festival String Fellow, Manuel was featured as a soloist in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis.

Manuel has performed in masterclasses for acclaimed cellists Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Inbal Segev, Bion Tsang, Philippe Muller, Yehuda Hanani, Astrid Schween, Yeesun Kim, and Julian Schwarz. He has also trained with leading members of the Cincinnati, Grant Park, St. Louis, Fort Worth, San Francisco, Milwaukee, and Buenos Aires Symphony Orchestras.

In the realm of chamber music, he has performed with members of the Renaissance, Cleveland, Borromeo, and Miró string quartets as well as members of the baroque ensemble Twelfth Night. Manuel is also Principal Cellist of the Ballet Indiana Symphony Orchestra and an avid Baroque cellist.

Aside from classical performance, Manuel is passionate about teaching composing/arranging, and improvising in a variety of musical genres!

Manuel was a Grant Park Music Festival String Fellow in 2025.