about me

Japanese-American cellist Mari Nagahara has distinguished herself as a promising young talent.

Born and raised in Andover, Massachusetts, Mari was born into a musical family and quickly developed a passion for the cello. Her career has since taken her across Europe and North America, where she continues to perform as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician.

She has been invited to perform at some of the most prestigious chamber music festivals and programs in the United States and Europe, including the Ravinia Steans Music Institute, the Perlman Music Program Chamber Workshop, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival at Yale School of Music, the Taos School of Music, and Kneisel Hall, among others. She is a frequent solo artist at the PODIUM Festival Esslingen, a space known for innovative and interdisciplinary programming. Mari is a former member of Trio Rai, which was awarded the Bronze Medal at the renowned Fischoff Chamber Music Competition. She is also a founding member of Trio Midas, a clarinet trio, which was generously supported by the Carl Dörken Stiftung during its 2022-2023 concert season.

She was a member of l’Académie Studio de l’Orchestre de Paris during the 2022–23 season. As an academist with l’Orchestre de Paris, Mari performed under the batons of esteemed conductors such as Klaus Mäkelä, Herbert Blomstedt, Christoph Eschenbach, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Jaap van Zweden. During the academy, she took part in an extensive tour, performing across Europe’s most iconic concert halls— including the Musikverein in Vienna, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, among others. She is also recent member of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra Academy and has performed in the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall.

Mari has taken part in masterclasses with leading cellists including Ivan Monighetti at the Gstaad Menuhin String Academy, Miklós Perényi, and Gary Hoffman, enriching her artistry through these influential musical encounters.

Passionate about community outreach and engagement, she has worked with Music for Food in Boston, Demos Program with Orchestre de Paris, and participated in various outreach initiatives for children throughout Germany.

Mari has studied with pedagogues Paul Katz, Gabriel Schwabe, Natasha Brofsky, Carol Ou, Nancy Hair, and is a graduate of the New England Conservatory in Boston, MA and the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, Germany. 

She currently resides in Frankfurt am Main, Germany.