Masumi Per Rostad Talks Instruments with Cellist Ani Aznavoorian

Take a look at Ani's instrument, made for her by her father!

Grammy Award-winning, Japanese-Norwegian violist Masumi Per Rostad is an active performer and professor of viola and chamber music at the Eastman School of Music. As a former member of the Pacifica Quartet for almost two decades, he also founded DoCha, a chamber music festival in Champaign, Illinois.

Amidst his busy schedule, Masumi sits down with his friends and colleagues to discuss the ins and outs of their instruments in his Sound Post series.

After a successful Series 1 in 2020, The Violin Channel is pleased to present Series 2 of Sound Post! Episode 6 features cellist Ani Aznavoorian.

Watch to the end to hear Ani play Camille Saint-Saëns' iconic "The Swan" during our rehearsal at the North Shore Chamber Music Festival in Chicago.

As Principal Cellist of the Camerata Pacifica, Aznavoorian has appeared with many of the world’s leading orchestras — including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, the Tokyo Philharmonic, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio Symphony, the International Sejong Soloists, the Belgrade Philharmonic, the Juilliard Orchestra, and the Edmonton Symphony. 

A recipient of the Bunkamura Orchard Hall Award, her other awards include first prizes in the Illinois Young Performers Competition, the Chicago Cello Society National Competition, the Julius Stulberg Competition, and the American String Teachers Association Competition. Aznavoorian was a top prizewinner in the 1996 International Paulo Competition, was named a Presidential Scholar in the Arts, and performed as a soloist at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.