Michael Kaufman was the cello soloist for the opening of the renovated Kodak Hall at Eastman Theater and has performed at Carnegie Hall. He has participated in several chamber music festivals including Open Chamber Music at Prussia Cove, Yellow Barn, Music@Menlo, and Verbier. Embracing an eclectic range of music from both the classical and contemporary canons, he has performed in chamber music concerts with Midori, in Brett Dean’s 12 Angry Men in Disney Hall during the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, as principal cello of La Monnaie in Brussels, and in the premiere of a concerto written by Sean Friar with the Eastman Wind Ensemble.

Kaufman earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Southern California and his bachelor’s from the Eastman School of Music. He is a founding member of the cello quintet Sakura, and founder and artistic director of the Los Angeles–based Sunset ChamberFest. He teaches on the faculty of Loyola Marymount University and maintains a private studio in Los Feliz.