Kari Ravnan

Kari Ravnan’s career as a professional musician is extensive. She has performed as a soloist with numerous American and European orchestras, has been nominated for the Spellemann Prize, and has appeared at many chamber music festivals both in Norway and abroad. She also has extensive experience as a teacher.

Kari Ravnan was born and raised in the United States. At the age of 13, she began studying with Gabriel Magyar, cellist of the Hungarian Quartet, at the National Academy of Arts in Illinois. She later continued her studies with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School, N.Y.C., followed by Paul Katz at Eastman School, N.Y., before further studies in Europe with Pierre Fournier in Geneva, William Pleeth in London, and Sandor Vegh in Salzburg.

After her debut in Washington D.C. in 1985, where she won the Washington International Competition in Cello, she has performed as a soloist with, among others, Aspen Philharmonia, Lincoln Symphony, Aldeburgh Festival Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, The Norwegian Opera Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, and Ensemble Modern. As a chamber musician, Ravnan has been a member of the Zennor String Trio, Prometheus Ensemble in London, and Borealis Ensemble in Oslo, which was nominated for the Spellemann Prize. Festivals she has appeared at include Marlboro Music, Martha’s Vineyard Chamber Music Society, Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove, Leicester International Music Festival, and Oslo Chamber Music Festival.

She has performed with musicians such as Michael Tree (Guarneri Quartet), Anthony Marwood, Sandor Vegh, Norbert Brainin (Amadeus Quartet), Roger Tapping (Juilliard Quartet), Marianne Thorsen, and Isadore Cohen (Beaux Arts Trio). Ravnan is the initiator and artistic director of the Horten Chamber Music Festival and the winter series “Horten Chamber Music” at Stallen.

Ravnan has taught at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, and at the Trondheim Music Conservatory. Her students have won awards including the Youth Music Championship, the “Honor Prize” in the Sparre Olsen Competition, and the Lincoln Chamber Music Youth Competition in the USA.

Kari Ravnan has been affiliated with the Barratt Due Institute of Music as a lecturer since 2008.