Cellist Ariana Nelson is a member of the Carpe Diem String Quartet. When not on tour with her quartet, she is based in Arlington, Virginia, where she frequently performs with the National Symphony and Baltimore Symphony Orchestras and the Washington National Opera. Additionally, she maintains a private teaching studio and is a coach for the Crescendo chamber music program and the American Youth Philharmonic. As an avid proponent of new music, she has been an artist-faculty member at the Charles Ives Music Festival since 2017. Her interest in improvisation and folk music led her to co-found the Pacific Crest Trio in 2020. Before moving to the DC area, Ariana was a member of the Houston Grand Opera Orchestra and served as an adjunct cello professor at Texas Southern University. 

 

Ariana received her Master of Music degree at the Juilliard School in May of 2017 where she studied with Darrett Adkins. She completed her Bachelor of Music degree at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where she graduated cum laude in May of 2015. There she had the privilege of studying cello with Norman Fischer of the Concord Quartet.

 

Originally from Seattle, Ariana is a certified yoga teacher and loves the outdoors.