André Navarra

André-Nicolas Navarra (October 13, 1911 Biarritz, France – July 31, 1988 Siena, Italy) was a French cellist and cello teacher.

He was born into a musical family, his father a bassist of Italian descent. At age seven, he began studying cello, as well as singing. Two years later, he was accepted as a student at the Toulouse Conservatory, and graduated 1924 with first prize at age thirteen. He then continued his studies at the Conservatoire de Paris, learning cello from Jules Leopold-Loeb and chamber music from Charles Toumemire. He graduated two years later at age fifteen, again taking first prize. In his youth, Navarra was also an expert middle-weight boxer and swimmer.

In 1929, at the age of eighteen, Navarra joined the Kretly String Quartet, and remained with them for the next seven years. Two years later, he made his solo debut with Paris's Colonne Orchestra, performing Édouard Lalo's Cello Concerto in D minor. In 1933 he became principal cellist of the Paris Opéra Orchestra, in addition to continuing to appear as a soloist with various European orchestras.

Navarra's career was halted by World War II from 1939 to 1945, when Navarra left his cello in its case and served with the French infantry. He resumed concertizing around the world after the war, playing with the era's great conductors.

Navarra accepted professorships at the Paris Conservatory in 1949 as a successor to Pierre Fournier, at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana Siena in 1954 and the Hochschule für Musik Detmold in 1958. He also taught in London and Vienna.