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Praised for her “transcendent” performances and her “rich, soulful…and comforting” tone (Bermuda’s Royal Gazette), cellist Kate Kayaian engages with audiences through her unexpected programming and her lively commentary and introductions to works. Her curatorial focus brings to life the common threads linking a seemingly disparate group of pieces. Highlights of this past season include performances in Boston’s Jordan Hall, the Stroum Center in Seattle, WA, the Memorial Classics Concert Series in Houston, TX, and the Charleston Library Society.
Kate performs and records regularly with the Grammy-nominated group Boston Modern Orchestra Project. She has premiered over 100 works by some of today’s most innovative composers and has worked with such icons of contemporary music as Oliver Knussen and Pierre Boulez. She is currently working on her latest project–commissioning and recording a set of new works for solo cello.
In addition to her recital and chamber music appearances, she has performed as a soloist with the New Trier Symphony, The New World Symphony, the Boston Youth Symphony, and the Bermuda Philharmonic Orchestra.
An active teaching artist and coach, Kate regularly offers workshops and master classes. Her teaching credits include directing the chamber music programs at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and the Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras. She currently teaches cello and chamber music at the Bermuda School of Music, and is the writer of Tales From the Lane, a lifestyle blog for classical musicians.
Born in Evanston, IL, she began her studies at the Music Institute of Chicago with the esteemed pedagogues Gilda Barston and Nell Novak. She went on to receive her B.M. from the New England Conservatory. She was awarded a fellowship with the New World Symphony where she often served as principal cellist. Her teachers have included Colin Carr, Gary Hoffman, and Ralph Kirshbaum.
Short Version:
Cellist Kate Kayaian is known for her stunning artistry and for her passion for communicating through music . She maintains a rigorous schedule balancing her solo and chamber music performances with her various teaching projects.
She also performs and records regularly with such acclaimed ensembles as the GRAMMY award-winning group Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and has had the honor of working with the world’s most esteemed conductors and proponents of contemporary music: Pierre Boulez, Oliver Knussen, and Michael Tilson-Thomas.
Originally from Chicago, IL, Kate later studied with Colin Carr at the New England Conservatory of Music. Subsequently, she won a three-year fellowship with the New World Symphony where she performed as principal cellist under the baton of Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas. She has spent summers performing in the Spoleto (USA), Tanglewood, Killington, and Bowdoin Summer Music Festivals, and is the Founder and Artistic Director of the Virtual Summer Cello Festival and the Bridge Online Cello Studio.
She lives in Hamilton, Bermuda and Boston, Massachusetts, and can be heard on the Naxos, RCA, and BMOP/sound recording labels. Kate plays on a 1947 Primo Contavalli cello and a bow by François Nicolas Voirin.
Kate Kayaian 