CELLO
Intensely passionate about new music and music of non-Western cultures, cellist Evan Kahn has been praised as “a cellist deserved of serious listening”. for bringing his “electrifying … nuanced and colorful” style to all of his collaborations, from concerti to chamber music to contemporary performances. He has commissioned and premiered over 45 works by composers from around the world, including his father’s Cello Concerto.
As an orchestral musician, Evan has served as principal cellist under the batons of Gustavo Dudamel, Robert Spano, Manfred Honeck, Mei-Ann Chen, Barry Douglas, and Andrés Cárdenes. As cellist in the Lazuli String Quartet, Evan has had the opportunity to play in master classes for leading chamber music artists, including members of the Kronos Quartet, Borromeo String Quartet, Takacs Quartet, Danish String Quartet, and Fidelio Trio. His Pittsburgh-based piano trio, Trio Rizi, won the top awards in the Silberman Chamber Music Competition and the Pittsburgh Concert Society Competition. He also frequently performs with SFCM faculty, and in 2016 also collaborated in performance with Geoff Nutall, Donald and Vivian Weilerstein, and members of the Miro and Telegraph Quartets.
Evan is pursuing a Master’s in Chamber Music at San Francisco Conservatory of Music, studying with Jennifer Culp. He graduated with college and university honors from Carnegie Mellon University, where he served as principal cellist of CMU orchestras and studied with David Premo. At CMU, he received awards such as The Harry G. Archer Award for Outstanding Senior, Presser Scholarship, four years’ worth of the Wilkins Cello Scholarship, and first prize in the Carnegie Mellon Concerto Competition. At home in Los Angeles, he studies with LA Opera principal cellist John Walz and Lyris Quartet cellist Timothy Loo.
In addition to performing and teaching, Evan enjoys making curry, reading postmodern fiction, and watching The Great British Bake Off.