Katsuaki Arakawa, age 21, an Undergrad at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, is a student of Professor Amir Eldan. He was introduced to the cello in school at 9 years old in NY. After moving to Maryland, he studied with teachers Miss Natalie Naquin and Mr. Todd Theil and played in the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra from 2011 to 2014. In 2014, he moved to Cleveland and started studying with Mr. Mark Kosower. He has played in the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra and its Chamber Program from 2015-2016. In 2018, he enrolled in the University of Michigan studying Cello under the instruction of Professor Anthony Elliot. He began studying under Professor Eldan in 2019. Katsuaki has attended various summer festivals including the Brevard Music Festival in the summer of 2015, the Hidden Valley music seminars in the summers of 2015 and 2016, the Encore Summer Music Academy in the summer of 2017, and the Chautauqua Music festival in 2020 and 2021. In 2016, Katsuaki was a winner in the Suburban Symphony young artists’ competition. He has also been 1st prize and 2nd prize winner in the Cleveland Chamber Music Society’s Youth Chamber Music Competition in 2016 and 2017 respectively with his colleagues in Solon High School. Additionally, Katsuaki was the winner of the 2017 Cleveland Cello Society Scholarship competition. Katsuaki enjoys playing the cello very much.