Supported by Donald Best ONZM & Susan Best

London-born cellist Ken Ichinose was appointed Associate Principal Cello of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 2014, while also pursuing a busy chamber music career in New Zealand. 

Ken is the cellist in the Ghost Piano Trio and has performed with Kiwa Quartet, New Zealand String Quartet, Amici Ensemble, and the contemporary music group Stroma. He also helped establish the Glenn Douglas Winter Chamber Music Festival in Florida, and returns to London regularly to perform. 

Before moving to New Zealand, he was a founding member of the Galitzin Quartet, formed at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where he studied with Paul Watkins. The quartet performed extensively for a decade, completing major tours in the UK, Germany, France, Portugal and Holland. They were first-prize winners of the 2007 Charles Hennen Competition in the Netherlands and received tuition and guidance from the Vermeer, Jerusalem, and Ysaÿe Quartets. 

During this time, Ken worked and toured extensively with the Philharmonia, Orchestra of The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and the Academy of Saint Martin-in-the-Fields, among others.

Ken performs on an unnamed Italian instrument dating back to circa 1780, which was previously played by prominent German cellist Bernhard Braunholz in the Kehr Trio. This storied instrument was featured in the trio's recordings during the 1960s.