Ravinia 2022, Issue 2

HEM MUSIC MAY Karen Ouzounian powerfully shatters pigeonholes with her artistic partners B y Wy nn e D e l a c oma AMERICAN CELLIST KAREN OUZOUNIAN ’s professional résumé has one unexpected entry. Most of her achievements fall in the category of a gifted, classically trained musician forging a strong, creative career: Graduating with bachelor’s and master’s degrees fromThe Juilliard School. A founding member of the Aizuri Quartet, which has held residencies at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Caramoor Festival, and the Curtis Institute, and recently won the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award for the 2022–24 seasons. Memberships in Yo-Yo Ma’s bound- ary-breaking Silkroad Ensemble as well as The Knights, the innovative New York City–based chamber orchestra. On September 13 at Ravinia, she will be the soloist with The Knights in the Chicago premiere of Shorthand, a new work for cello and chamber ensemble commis- sioned from Anna Clyne, a former composer-in-residence with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The outlier on Ouzounian’s résumé? The Aizuri Quartet’s five-night gig this past April as the opening act for Wilco, the fabled Chicago alt- rock band fronted by Jeff Tweedy. Wilco was touring to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the release of its mega-hit debut album, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot . RAVINIA MAGAZINE • JULY 4 – JULY 17, 2022 12