American cellist Anita Graef has earned acclaim for her “superb artistry”, as described by Pasadena Now, and for performances of “high energy and polish”, praised by WQXR. Appearing extensively throughout North America and Europe, she has established a distinctive artistic voice characterised by charismatic stage presence, versatility and infectious joy.

Her notable performances include recitals at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series and Concerts from the Library of Congress. She has been featured in Strings Magazine and heard on major broadcast platforms such as WQXR, WFMT and NPR.

Recent concerto engagements include collaborations with the Louisville Orchestra, Arkansas Philharmonic, Riverside Symphony and Miami Valley Symphony. Highlights of the 2025–26 season feature debut appearances at the Honest Brook Music Festival in New York, George Flynn Classical Concerts in Connecticut, ArtsLIVE at the University of Dayton, the Jefferson Center in Virginia, WDAV 99.9 in North Carolina and the Classix Festival in Romania, alongside return engagements at the Driehaus Museum, Washington and Lee University, the La Grua Center and the Green Lake Festival of Music.

She has served as Artist-in-Residence at the Taft Museum of Art, the pianoSonoma Festival and the Lake George Music Festival, and recently appeared as Emerging Artist at the Victoria Bach Festival.

Beyond the concert stage, Anita Graef serves as Artistic Director of the Tallgrass Chamber Music Festival and the Juliani Ensemble, bringing a distinctive curatorial vision to programming and artistic development. She is on the faculty of the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and serves as Chair of Strings at the Summer Music in Tuscany Festival.

Winner of the Gheens Young Artist Award in 2022 and The American Prize in 2021, she is recognised for her refined artistry, her versatility across traditional and contemporary repertoire and her strong commitment to education and community engagement.

Born into a family of professional musicians, Anita began studying piano in early childhood and took up the cello at age four, making her concerto debut at twelve. She holds degrees from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.

Ms Graef performs on a 1923 Italian cello by Ferdinando Garimberti.