Meet Eva Carizza

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Eva Carizza. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Eva below.

Eva, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

Being creative is one of my favorite things, no matter what I do. When I perform with the violin, compose, sing, conduct, teach… whatever I do, I like to do it in a creative way. When I was 12, I developed a neuro-immune condition called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. After a medical mismanagement of the condition, I was bedridden for six years and used wheelchairs for nine, until recently. After the initial three years of being in bed, I found my own way to play the violin and keyboard while lying down. I love being creative and finding solutions to the problems that arise.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

My real name is Eva Casado Ariza, but I use the name Eva Carizza when performing. I am an instrumentalist, conductor, and singer from Barcelona, Spain. I hold a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Violin Performance with a Cognate in Instrumental Conducting. I began my music studies at the age of five. At twelve, I developed a severe form of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which left me bedridden for six years. Despite this, I became the first person to earn a professional degree while playing the violin in bed and successfully advocated for a law in Catalonia to improve the situation of people with disabilities in artistic degrees, which was approved in November 2013.
I completed my Bachelor’s at the “Escuela Superior de Música de Cataluña” in Barcelona and West Virginia University. I later earned my Master’s Degree in Violin and Conducting at the University of Florida, consistently achieving outstanding results. My musical journey has taken me to wonderful places, such as performing as a soloist at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and being recognized by the King and Queen of Spain in person.
My professional experience includes conducting professional orchestras and directing student orchestras since 2015. I have studied under renowned maestros such as Antoni Ros Marbà, Salvador Brotons, and Gerard Schwarz. Currently, I am dedicated to supporting students with disabilities, having developed recognized scholarly work presented at Yale University and the College Music Society’s conferences.
I am currently producing my own music, in which I sing and play violin, my own compositions. I also teach, finding special joy in teaching students with disabilities. Anyone who wants to hear my music can follow me (as Eva Carizza) on my social media and music platforms, such as YouTube, Spotify, and Instagram.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

I would say the most important skills are persistence, a problem-solving attitude, and self-awareness. Regarding persistence, it is important to realize that we are here for the long run; we want our passion to last. So, I like to think about persistence in terms of finding a way to balance your life so that you can make your activity sustainable. If your understanding of persistence is just making yourself miserable to achieve something, I don’t think that’s going to end well.
Problem-solving is the ability to adapt to life and learn from it. Sometimes we wish our paths were easy and straight to our goals. But in reality, dealing with problems and finding a way out makes us so much better at anything we do. To be able to develop that persistence and adapt, problem-solve, we need to know what we are starting with; we need to know ourselves. Being honest about our own flaws and shortcomings, while at the same time being confident in our strengths and firm in our convictions, is such a difficult thing to develop. I think I am closer to achieving that, but one never stops learning.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

I am always looking for connection, whether it is with my fans or anyone who has something to say to me. Some people reach out with questions about learning the violin with a disability, while others want to share how my music has impacted their lives. Some reach out to perform together or to receive lessons. I truly love when people connect with me.
Sometimes, one might feel that what we do has no impact; I appreciate when people let me know that I have helped them in some way—it’s a beautiful thing.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://evacarizza.com/
• Instagram: dr.evacarizza
• Youtube: @evacarizza
• Other: To Support my music creation, one can buy my music here:
  https://evacarizza.bandcamp.com/track/sorry-this-is-me

Image Credits

Picture with the red dress @marphotofilms