This master class is free and open to the public

Alan Rafferty, University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music cello faculty member, is rapidly gaining recognition as a preeminent musician and master teacher.  In demand as a clinician around the world, Mr. Rafferty has presented Master Classes at numerous schools including the Cleveland Institute of Music, Northwestern University, the University of Michigan  and Depaul University and has been a visiting faculty member for the Cleveland Institute of Music, Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and makes yearly visits to work with the Fellows at the New World Symphony.  

A member of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra since 2007, Mr. Rafferty holds the Ruth A. Rosevear cello chair.  In addition to playing over 1000 concerts as a member of the orchestra both in Cincinnati and around the world on tour, he has been a regular performer on the CSO Chamber Players Series and narrated Education Concerts.  He can be heard on recordings for Telarc, Sono Luminus, CR and for WGUC Radio Station.

As a chamber musician, Mr. Rafferty regularly collaborates with the likes of Leon Fleisher, Matt Haimovitz, Sandra Rivers, the Ariel Quartet, and members of the Cavani Quartet.  In the summer, he is the Artistic Director of the Ascent International Chamber Music Festival currently hosted by the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music.  In the summer of 2022, Mr. Rafferty joins the faculty of the Aronson Cello Festival as the (incoming) Co-Board Chair.  Each January, he goes to Brazil as a faculty member of the Festival de Music de Santa Catarina.

His students have played as soloist with the Cincinnati Symphony, Louisville Orchestra and Dayton Philharmonic and have been 1st prize winners in the MTNA National Solo Competition, Louisville Orchestra Competition, Cleveland Cello Society and Tennessee Cello Workshop.  Additional awards include U.S. Presidential Scholar of the Arts, YoungArts prizewinners and Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award presented by From the Top. 

Mr. Rafferty holds degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music and Northwestern University.  His primary studies were with Hans Jorgen Jensen, Alan Harris, Merry Peckham, and Richard Weiss.  He and his wife, cellist Dr. Sarah Kim, were recently named the 2016 Ohio String Teachers Association Studio Teachers of the Year.  They are the founders and directors of the nationally recognized Cincinnati Young Artists and Ascent Music.