Ivan Karizna is a profound musical storyteller and poet with a powerful stage presence.
Described by András Schiff as ‘one of the best cellists of his generation’, he has won numerous awards, including prizes 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 Residentie Orkest, Kuopio Symphony and BBC National Orchestra of Wales.
Recent highlights include a six-concert tour with Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Vladimir Jurowski, performing Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No.2; Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No.1 with Rotterdam Philharmonic and Tarmo Peltokoski; Shostakovich with Dresden Philharmonic and Tabita Berglund; and Weinberg with Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and Dmitry Matvienko. Other collaborations include with Frankfurt Radio Symphony, Belgian National Orchestra and Montreal Symphony Orchestra, working with conductors including Christoph Eschenbach, Stéphane Denève, Valery Gergiev and Juraj Valčuha.
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.
Born into a musical family in Minsk, Karizna’s early training was in the Russian tradition, and at 17 he moved to the Paris Conservatoire, before completing his training at the Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson. He plays the 1760 Tassini cello previously owned by Paul Tortelier and on generous loan from a member of the Stretton Society. He is a French citizen, dividing his time between Paris and Amsterdam.