About

Sought after for her “radiant” (The New York Times) performances full of “tremendous heart, bringing joy and a captivating sound to the stage” (The Strad), Karen Ouzounian is a GRAMMY®-nominated cellist and composer who champions and creates a remarkable breadth of music with fierce commitment and emotional power. She has collaborated with some of the most singular musicians of our time, including Yo-Yo Ma, Rhiannon Giddens and Augustin Hadelich, and has appeared as a soloist at major venues such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, Elbphilharmonie, Kölner Philharmonie, Tonhalle Düsseldorf, and Carnegie Hall, as well as at leading festivals including Marlboro, Ojai, Caramoor, and Ravinia. Recent milestones include concertos written for her by Lembit Beecher (Tell Me Again) and Anna Clyne (Shorthand), and her forthcoming solo debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Kayhan Kalhor’s double concerto Venus in the Mirror. In 2024, she premiered Dear Mountains, a major work co-composed with Beecher for chorus, solo cello, oud, and percussion, and is currently touring Mayrig (“mother” in Armenian), an intimate and immersive show in which the voices of her mother and grandmother are interwoven with songs and stories from her family’s ancestral homes of Anatolia and Lebanon, contemporary works, and the music of Charles Aznavour and Marin Marais. As a composer, Ouzounian has been commissioned by the Aeolus Quartet, Silkroad Ensemble, Cantori New York, and Salt Bay Chamberfest. She performs as a member of the Silkroad Ensemble and The Knights, and was the founding cellist of the Aizuri Quartet for 11 years, earning a GRAMMY® nomination.  Read More.