Ian Maksin

Cellist, Composer & Multilingual Vocalist

Russian-born, Chicago-based cellist, composer, and multilingual vocalist Ian Maksin has gained international recognition for his beautiful tone, his own unique innovative playing style, and for taking the cello well outside its conventional role. He kicked off his 2018 tour with a sold-out performance at one of New York City's most prestigious venues, Le Poisson Rouge. By the end of the year, Maksin will have played over 200 concerts in more than 30 countries on four continents. His latest album, Zaria, was released in April of 2017 and features original compositions and folk music from Armenia, Georgia, Iran, Belarus, and Macedonia.

Although very active as a classical artist, Ian Maksin’s latest focus has shifted towards blending many styles together, including jazz, blues, rock, and world music. He can often be heard and seen in collaborative projects with artists from around the globe, including Palestine, Israel, Morocco, Cuba, Serbia, Iran, Pakistan, India, Spain, Mexico, and Japan, just to name a few. As a guest artist, he has performed and recorded with such artists as Andrea Bocelli, P. Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Gloria Estefan, and Barry Gibb. He has also opened performances for Sting and Dominic Miller.

At home, in Chicago, Maksin can be seen performing as a headliner in many influential venues, such as Old Town School of Folk Music, City Winery, Chicago Cultural Center, Ravinia Festival, as well as the Millennium Park Summer Music Series at the Jay Pritzker Pavillion. He is also very active in Chicago's community outreach performing for public schools, retirement homes, hospitals and community organizations. In 2013 he was named Citizen Musician by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.