Anita Graef

American cellist Anita Graef has garnered praise as a musician of “superb artistry” (Pasadena Now) who plays with “high energy and polish” (WQXR). She has appeared both nationally and internationally in concerto, recital and chamber music engagements, while establishing a reputation as an artist who is equally at home exploring traditional as well as contemporary works, along with a deep commitment to service, outreach and education. Notable appearances include features in Strings Magazine, as well as Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert series, and “Concerts from the Library of Congress.”
She has also performed as a guest of various radio programs, including WQXR, WFMT and NPR, among others.
As the winner of the 2022 Gheens Young Artist Award and the 2021 American Prize, recent seasons have seen concerto debuts from Ms. Graef with the Louisville Orchestra, the Arkansas Philharmonic, the Riverside Symphony, the Miami Valley Symphony and many others.

She recently concluded an appointment as the 2023 Duncanson Artist-in-Residence for the Taft Museum of Art. Upcoming recital and chamber music appearances include engagements with the Norton Museum of Art (West Palm Beach, FL), Saugerties Pro Musica, the Turner Center for the Arts (Valdosta, GA), Musica Sierra (Lake Tahoe/Reno, NV), the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, and the Partnership for the Performing Arts (Brookings, OR), with return appearances to Chicago’s “Live from WFMT” and others. Ms. Graef has appeared at numerous festivals, most recently including the Victoria Bach Festival, Green Lake Festival of Music, along with Artist-in-Residence positions at pianoSonoma and Lake George Music Festival. In 2023, Anita assumed the role of Artistic Director for Tallgrass Chamber Music Festival.

Ms. Graef also serves as the Artistic Director of the Juliani Ensemble, an inventive, multi-faceted chamber ensemble, with whom she performs extensively both on tour and in residence in Chicago, directing their Saturday Salons series. In 2023, along with the other core members of the Juliani Ensemble, she helped to launch an outreach program in collaboration with the Mayfair Arts Center providing free music instruction, lessons and resources to students of all ages and backgrounds in Chicago’s South Side neighborhoods.

Born into a family of professional musicians, Anita grew up surrounded by music. Her introduction started with piano studies, while beginning to study cello at age four, later making her concerto debut at the age of twelve. She went on to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, where she studied with professor Anthony Elliott. Following this, she received her Master’s Degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music as a CSO/CCM Fellow, under the tutelage of Ilya
Finkelshteyn.