Alan Rafferty

About Alan

Alan Rafferty has firmly established himself as a preeminent cellist, educator, arts leader and entrepreneur. In demand as a clinician around the world, Rafferty has been a visiting faculty member for the Cleveland Institute of Music and Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, and makes regular visits to work with the Fellows at the New World Symphony. He currently holds the position of Associate Professor, Educator of Cello at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music A member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 2007, Rafferty has played in over one thousand concerts as a member of the orchestra both in Cincinnati and around the world on tour and can be heard on numerous recordings including the Grammy-nominated album Transatlantic.

As a chamber musician, Rafferty regularly collaborates with the likes of Leon Fleisher, Cho-Liang Lin, and the Miró Quartet to name a few. In the summers, he is the Artistic Director of the Ascent International Cello & Chamber Music Festivals and on the faculty of the Interlochen Arts Camp. Each January, he travels to Brazil as a core artist-faculty member of the Festival de Music de Santa Catarina.

Current and former students have played as soloists with the Cincinnati Symphony and Louisville Orchestra, among others, and have been prize winners in numerous competitions. Former students hold positions all over the world, including recent appointments to the Atlanta Symphony and Berlin Philharmonic Academy. As chamber coach, Rafferty has coached groups that have won the Junior Division Gold Medal of the Fischoff, among others.

A native of Albuquerque, Rafferty holds degrees from CIM (Alan Harris, Merry Peckham, Richard Weiss) and Northwestern (Hans Jensen) and is a proud Interlochen Arts Camp alumnus. He spent two summers at Interlochen and was principal of the World Youth Symphony Orchestra, played for Yo-Yo Ma, and performed at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra.