Cellist Ivan Karizna Signs with Maestro Arts

The cellist will receive management from Emma Sweetland and Callum Langford

A prizewinner at the Tchaikovsky and Queen Elisabeth Competitions, cellist Ivan Karizna has appeared with orchestras such as the Orchestre de Paris, the Mariinsky Theatre, and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, as well as chamber music partners like Gidon Kremer, Renaud Capuçon, and Christian Tetzlaff.

Signing with the London-based agency Maestro Arts for management, he will now be represented by Emma Sweetland and Callum Langford.

A native of Minsk, he first began playing the cello at age seven, going on to study with Jérôme Pernoo in Paris and Frans Helmerson at the Kronberg Academy.

In the 2022/2023 season, Karizna performed the Dvořák Concerto with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra at the Concertgebouw, stepping in for an ailing Truls Mørk. As a result, he was invited to give a six-concert European tour with Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Vladimir Jurowski, performing Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto no 2.

Karizna plays a cello by Bartolomeo Tassini, the "ex Paul Tortelier."

"This instrument was the main companion of the famous cellist for more than 30 years, until his death in 1990," Karizna writes. "Many of Paul Tortelier's known recordings were made on it. This is the first time the cello has been reborn since Tortelier's death. The instrument is a generous loan from a member of the Stretton Society, a private philanthropic members club that supports classical music and musicians through exceptional stringed instruments and a variety of platforms."

You can learn more about the instrument here: