Úna O’Riordan was appointed to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s cello section in 2007. Throughout her career she has performed as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician in North America, Europe and Asia. Previous positions include Principal Cello of the Sarasota Opera, Assistant Principal Cello of the Sarasota Orchestra, and cellist in the Oregon Symphony. Since 2023 she has been Principal Cello at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, Ca, and has been a member of the Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra since 2015.
She is a passionate advocate for new music and as a core member of New Music Detroit (NMD) she has commissioned and recorded numerous works by the leading compositional voices of our time. In 2021 she gave the world premiere performance of Facsimile, a cello concerto written by Griffin Candey and co-commissioned by NMD.
O’Riordan serves as adjunct professor of cello at both Wayne State and Oakland Universities and has taught at summer programs including the Zodiac Academy and Festival in Valdeblore, France; American Institute of Music studies in Graz, Austria; Oklahoma University’s Summer String program in Norman, OK; and the Fresh Inc Festival in Racine, WI. She has been a chamber music and orchestra coach for the DSO’s Civic Youth Ensembles Program since 2007.
Born in the Chicago suburbs, she began playing the cello at four years old after hearing a string instrument demonstration in her kindergarten class. When her family moved to the Washington DC-area, she continued her musical education and went on to attend the Interlochen Arts Camp as an Emerson Scholar. Her experiences at Interlochen, plus the opportunity to perform for Mstislav Rostropovich at the 1992 Kennedy Center Honors Ceremony, encouraged her to seek a career as a professional musician.
O'Riordan did her graduate studies at the Northwestern University School of Music and performed with the Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra as the winner of the Northwestern University Concerto Competition. While completing her master's degree, she was also Co-Principal Cello of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, working under the batons of Daniel Barenboim and Pierre Boulez. She received a Bachelor of Music degree with Distinction from Eastman School of Music. Her principal teachers include Hans Jørgen Jensen, Pamela Frame, Alan Harris, and Loren Stephenson, and during her training she performed in masterclasses for Janos Starker and Yo-Yo Ma. She is an alumna of the Aspen and Meadowmount music schools and the New York String Orchestra Seminar at Carnegie Hall. She performs on a cello made by Carl Becker and Son (1954) and an early 19th century bow by Jean-Dominique Adam.
