The Strad magazine describes cellist Ani Aznavoorian as having “scorchingly committed performances that wring every last drop of emotion out of the music. Her technique is well-nigh immaculate, she has a natural sense of theater, and her tone is astonishingly responsive.” Ms. Aznavoorian has appeared as soloist with many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony, the Boston Pops, and the Juilliard Orchestra. She received both her Bachelor and Master of Music Performance degrees from The Juilliard School in New York, where she studied with Aldo Parisot. 

Ms. Aznavoorian is an avid chamber musician, and this season marks her 16th year as principal cellist of Camerata Pacifica. She also performs regularly at the Seattle Chamber Music Society and at the Jupiter Chamber Players series in NY, along with numerous other chamber music festivals around the globe. Her many accolades include being the recipient of the prestigious Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award in Tokyo, Japan for her outstanding cello playing and artistry, being named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts upon receiving a medal by President Bill Clinton, and being a prize winner of the International Paulo Cello Competition in Helsinki, Finland. She is a proponent of new music and she has premiered cello concertos by Lera Auerbach and Ezra Laderman and continues to expand the chamber music repertoire with over two dozen commissions and world premier performances. Teaching is also important to her, and she has served on the distinguished faculty of the University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, and she is often asked to give master classes when she travels to perform. The 2022-23 season includes a concert tour of Asia and a promotional tour of her most recent album entitled Gems from Armenia with her sister Marta, pianist. Ms. Aznavoorian records for Cedille Records and she proudly performs on a cello made by her father Peter Aznavoorian in Chicago.