Raffi Boden has forged his own expansive style on the cello, combining his fluency on the instrument with a reverence for folk traditions and a flair for experimentation and improvisation. Since graduating from Juilliard, Boden has cultivated a multi-dimensional career as a NY-based freelance musician, performing in ensembles from experimental chamber trios to klezmer big bands and in venues ranging from intimate neighborhood haunts to Carnegie Hall.
Boden is a founding member of klezmer quartet Mamaliga, has toured extensively with chamber-jazz ensemble Simone Baron & Arco Belo, and is a recent recipient of the 2024 CMA Ensemble Forward grant with Ensemble Phoenicia, a new collective of composers and performers dedicated to contemporary Middle Eastern classical music.
Boden holds an M.M. from the Juilliard School and a B.M./B.A. from Oberlin College & Conservatory, where he was the winner of the 2018 Concerto Competition. He’s also a member of the Sarasota Opera Orchestra.