Ariana Kashefi - Cello

British cellist Ariana Kashefi is in high demand as a chamber musician and soloist performing in such venues as the Wigmore Hall, Pierre Boulez Saal, Berliner Philharmonie, Royal Albert Hall and more.

Ariana is a Park Lane Group Young Artist, as well as being the winner of the Making Music Awards for Young Concert Artists (AYCA), a finalist in the Royal Over-seas League Competition, and 3rd prize winner in the International Anton Rubinstein Competition held in Berlin. She was also selected as a City Music Foundation Artist for 2018, as well as a scholar at Villa Musica Rheinland-Pfalz. Ariana is the recipient of the prestigious Royal Philharmonic Society’s ‘Julius Isserlis Scholarship’ for instrumental studies abroad, which allowed her to study for her masters at the Hochschule für Musik ‘Hanns Eisler’ with Professor Claudio Bohorquez in Berlin. Whilst there, she was chosen on two separate occasions to perform in the prestigious ‘Excellence Concerts’ for exceptional students. Ariana recently completed her studies at the Barenboim-Said Akademie with Professor Frans Helmerson where she earned an Artist Diploma.

She began her studies with Robert Max at the Junior Department of the Royal Academy of Music where she won all available prizes. As an Amaryllis Scholar, she later completed her Bachelor of Music with first class honours at the Royal College of Music with Melissa Phelps. At the College, she won the cello prize in her first year and was named an ‘RCM Rising Star’ after performing Prokofiev’s Concertino with the RCM Symphony Orchestra.

Recently, she has appeared as a soloist live on BBC Radio 3’s ‘In Tune’, performing a selection of works, including excerpts from Poulenc’s Cello Sonata and a premiere of a new solo cello work by British composer Deborah Pritchard, which was written and dedicated to her. Ariana was chosen to participate in the London Symphony Orchestra string scheme and invited on several tours with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Ariana frequently plays as a soloist with orchestras. This season has included performances with the Southgate Symphony Orchestra, the Janus Ensemble, the Narva Symphony Orchestra in Narva, Estonia and the North London Symphony Orchestra. As a keen chamber musician, she has taken part in many festivals including IMS Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, Musique à Marsac and East Neuk Festival.

Ariana has also received invaluable guidance over the years from Steven Isserlis, David Geringas, Ralph Kirshbaum and Gary Hoffman.

Works performed:
Elgar - Cello Concerto - Sat 16 Nov 2019