Alan Rafferty is rapidly gaining recognition as a preeminent cellist, master teacher and innovative arts leader. 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 University of Texas at Austin 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 F. Rosevear endowed 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.

Mr. Rafferty made his solo debut with orchestra as a teen and has been a featured soloist on numerous occasions since. Recent solo appearances have included the North American premiere of Victor Herbert’s first published work, the Suite for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 3 and Don Quixote with the CCM Philharmonia. 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, Cho-Liang Lin and the Miro Quartet. 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 Interlochen Center of the Arts, of which he is a proud alum, and the Aronson Cello Festival at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Each January, he goes to Brazil as a faculty member of the Festival de Music de Santa Catarina.

Since 2013, he has been a faculty member at the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. 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. Former students hold positions in orchestras all over the world. As Cello/Chamber Music Faculty for the Starling Program at CCM his groups have won the Junior Division Gold Medal and Silver Medal of the Fischoff Chamber Music Competition among other top prizes.

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.