Ivan Karizna
© Lyodoh Kaneko
‘breathtaking and special’
‘A breathtaking and special musician... He modulates his sound enormously and can sing and saw, dance and attack, shimmering in the pianos and glowing in the fortes’
Süddeutsche Zeitung, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Jurowski
Ivan Karizna is a storyteller with an exceptional gift of musical expression, known equally for his poetic interpretations and powerful stage presence. Described by András Schiff as ‘one of the best cellists of his generation’, he has won numerous awards, including at the Tchaikovsky and Queen Elisabeth Competitions.
In 2025–26 Karizna returns to Netherlands Philharmonic to give the Dutch premiere of Thomas Larcher’s Cello Concerto under Dmitri Slobodeniouk at the Concertgebouw and makes his debut with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic to perform the Brahms Double Concerto. He tours Australia, performing with Sydney, Adelaide, Queensland and West Australian Symphony Orchestras whilst other appearances include with Residentie Orkest, Kuopio Symphony, and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Karizna is an avid chamber musician and has collaborated with numerous distinguished artists, including Joseph Swensen and Alan Gilbert as part of La Jolla Chamber Music Festival. This season he joins colleagues in Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw and Utrecht’s TivoliVredenburg, as well as at UKARIA in the Adelaide Hills and returns to Elena Bashkirova’s Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival. Past chamber collaborations include with Gidon Kremer, András Schiff, Renaud Capuçon and Christian Tetzlaff.
Karizna plays the 1760 Tassini cello previously owned by Paul Tortelier, on generous loan from a member of the Stretton Society. He is a French citizen, dividing his time between Paris and Amsterdam.
‘You can play all the notes in tune, very fast, and it’s effective, but music only becomes art when you make a story – just like a painter or writer’
