Alan Rafferty

Internationally recognized as a cellist, educator and arts leader, Alan Rafferty enjoys a multifaceted career that spans performance, teaching and artistic leadership. Equally at home on the concert stage and in the teaching studio, he is in demand throughout North America and abroad as a performer, chamber musician, clinician and master teacher. His master classes have taken him to the Royal Danish Academy of Music, University of Michigan, Northwestern University, University of Texas, Taiwan National University of the Arts and numerous other institutions.

Rafferty is Professor of Cello at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and has been a member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 2007, where he holds the Ruth F. Rosevear Chair. In addition to performing more than 1,000 concerts with the orchestra throughout the United States and internationally, he has appeared on more than 20 recordings, including the Grammy-nominated Transatlantic and American Originals: 1918. He is a frequent performer on the CSO Chamber Players Series and has also appeared as narrator for the orchestra’s Young People’s Concerts.

As a chamber musician, Rafferty collaborates regularly with many of today’s leading artists and ensembles. He is a frequent guest artist with Chamber Music Charleston and the Lawson Ensemble in Jacksonville, Florida, and serves as a guest faculty member and guest artist with the New World Symphony. His performances have taken him to chamber music festivals and concert series throughout the United States, where he is recognized for bringing both artistic depth and educational engagement to his collaborations.

A passionate advocate for developing the next generation of musicians, Rafferty co-founded Cincinnati Young Artists and, with his wife, cellist Dr. Sarah Kim, founded Ascent Music in 2022. He serves as Artistic Director of the Ascent International Chamber Music and Cello Festivals, immersive programs dedicated to preparing young musicians for successful and sustainable artistic careers. Since its founding, Ascent Music has quickly established itself as one of the nation’s premier training programs for emerging string musicians, attracting students from leading conservatories and universities around the world.

An internationally sought-after teacher, Rafferty’s students have gone on to distinguished careers as soloists, chamber musicians, educators and orchestral performers. Former students hold positions with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Academy and faculty appointments including Professor of Cello at the University of Mississippi and Miami University (Ohio). Current and former students have earned top prizes at the Sphinx Competition and the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, have been finalists in the Khachaturian International Cello Competition, and have appeared in major international competitions including the Naumburg International Cello Competition, Prague Spring International Music Competition and Isang Yun Competition.

Rafferty has previously served on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp, International Cello Institute, Meadowmount School of Music, Madeline Island Chamber Music, Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, Brancaleoni International Music Festival (Italy), Aria International Music Academy, Aronson Cello Festival, Sphinx Organization National Alliance for Audition Support Intensive, Great Wall International Music Academy in Beijing and Festival de Música de Santa Catarina in Brazil.

Rafferty holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Northwestern University, where he studied with Hans Jørgen Jensen, Alan Harris, Merry Peckham, Richard Weiss and Anne Cole. In 2016 he and Dr. Sarah Kim were honored as the Ohio String Teachers Association Studio Teachers of the Year.