Ender Loya

Master of Music, Cello Performance

Ender Loya is a cellist and music educator from the Missouri Ozarks. They have been an active symphonic and chamber musician for over a decade and received their Master of Music in Cello Performance from Illinois State University, where they were the Cello Graduate Teaching Assistant for the award-winning ISU String Project. Ender also coached the University High School chamber ensembles and served as Board President of the Illinois State University Symphony Orchestra for two years.

Most recently, Ender was a Cello Instructor for Sistema Ravinia, a program providing instrument instruction to under-resourced students on Chicago’s West Side. Ender’s methods incorporate sensory-friendly kinesthetic, auditory, and visual elements that support diverse learners, engaging young musicians of all backgrounds to become future creative leaders and collaborators in music and beyond.

An avid chamber music enthusiast, Ender studied at the 2021 and 2023 Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, receiving masterclasses from members of the Miró and Emerson String Quartets. Ender received their Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance at Missouri State University and served as a member of Missouri State's graduate quartet in residence, The William T. White String Quartet. The group regionally premiered works by Paul Wianko and Jessie Montgomery and performed for both the Schumann and Jasper String Quartets. Ender also performed in the 2024 and 2025 RED NOTE New Music Festival and played cello continuo for the ISU Baroque Ensemble. They served as Principal Cello of the Galloway Chamber Orchestra (Springfield, MO) and the 2022 Fulton Chamber Orchestra (Chicago).

Ender began performing in collegiate orchestras while still in high school and became the youngest musician in the Springfield (MO) Symphony when they joined at age 18. They were a 2023 Fellow and Principal Cello of the Texas Music Festival and Section Cello of the 2017 and 2018 World Youth Symphony Orchestra at Interlochen. They have also performed as a member of the Missouri Philharmonic Orchestra and the Sinfonia da Camera, Illinois V alley, and Millikin-Decatur Symphonies.

In 2019, Ender co-founded Compass Music School to provide quality and affordable music lessons to students from the under-resourced schools of North Side Springfield, Missouri. Ender also runs a private teaching studio, and many of their students have won seats in honors orchestras and earned top ratings at district competitions.