Carlsen Cello Foundation

Seattle, Washington

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History

by Ray Carlsen, Founder

The beginnings of the Foundation date from 1990 when I was still taking lessons from Richard Aaron, who is now in Ann Arbor and at The Juilliard School. At that time I found that several excellent students of Aaron were attempting to play on inferior instruments. Yet they had no alternative, the reason being that better cellos are expensive. Having learned that no one wished to listen to my own playing, but happy to ‘stay in the business’, I was encouraged to loan a couple of instruments. It was not difficult to find students that were eager to try something better. Finally, to access larger numbers of cellos, in the 1990′s I traveled several times to London, specifically to visit the string auctions at Sothebys, Phillips, and Christies. At these auctions I was able to select (with help) and purchase a number of instruments, many from the 19th and early 20th centuries. These are now much harder to find. I trained at Carrabba Violins in Seattle so that I could know minor repairs; but fine and important restoration remained with luthiers at that shop and other violin shops in Seattle. At the same time applications were beginning to arrive more frequently and repaired cellos were being distributed. Around 2000 we applied for and received 501c(3) status, a charitable designation from the IRS. We have maintained that status, enabling donors to make gifts, including instruments, on a tax-deductible basis to the Foundation. To date we have loaned cellos to over one hundred students with 75-80 currently on loan to students in Seattle, Washington State, and across the entire country. Our basic mission remains simple: to make excellent cellos available to serious and talented students who could not otherwise access a quality instrument.

About the Angel:  Audrey Carlsen, Ray Carlsen’s daughter, drew the Foundation angel when she was about 10 years old. For many years, each letter informing a student that they would receive a cello had a personally-drawn version of this angel on the envelope.

"This cello has opened up so many new technical possibilities which have lead to new musical possibilities, and then to new career possibilities. I cannot thank you enough! The price of an instrument that is musically sufficient, let alone playable, is such a hurdle. It has been discouraging to see so many fellow musicians get to a point where they give up on this craft, or feel that they have no other choice. Because of the generosity of groups like CCF, people like me feel like they can really keep going... like they really do have a place in the musical world."

- Paul Virgilio

Photo by Michael Cole
Miriam Shames, Director


Scott Carlsen


Jim Scurlock


Haeyoon Shin and Ray Carlsen

"I was 14 years old when I got the cello from Dr. Carlsen. It had been two years since I started cello and I had just changed teachers. I was in ninth grade and was working with a $1,200 Korean cello bought from Hammond Ashley. After I got the cello from Dr. Carlsen I started working harder with more responsibility and with more joy because of the better sounds that I was getting from the cello. Since then I have gotten another cello from Dr. Carlsen, a better one which I am working with now. It has helped me to compete in higher levels and to reach the level that I am at now, in the graduate program at Indiana University. The biggest change since I got the cello is my attitude towards the instrument, working harder and getting more satisfaction since the instrument responds much better to my efforts."

- Haeyoon Shin


Naomi Tran plays in Seattle Youth Symphony

"Outstanding young performers would greatly benefit from such an opportunity. They would progress much faster on a better instrument."

- David Tonkonogui, cellist and teacher, Seattle Symphony


Phuc Phan

"Thank you so much for letting me borrow the cello. I hope that generations of young aspiring cellists get to enjoy it as I did. I thank you, Dr. Carlsen, for letting so many of these young cellists progress in their studies without limitation from monetary barriers."

- D. G. Kim

Sterling Elliott, 2nd Place Winner, 16th Annual National Sphinx Competition (2/13)

"Sterling is enjoying the new cello and sounding better than ever! With the help of the Carlsen Cello Foundation, Sterling Elliott won 2nd Place at the 16th Annual Sphinx Competition today! Thank you for the cello Carlsen Foundation."
(February 15, 2013; Detroit, MI)

- Dannielle Weems-Elliott,
mother of Sterling


Janaesha Iwaasa selecting a CCF cello

"I cannot tell you how much your cello has changed my life. There is nothing quite like having a real instrument--it has opened up new worlds of technique I never dreamed possible. Without the foundation cello, I would likely not have had the technique to be accepted (and given scholarships!) into these incredible music schools. Thank you so much for everything you have given me!"

- Janaesha Iwaasa, attending Rice University as of Fall 2013


Tanner Rodriguez and Ray Carlsen

Recent Posts

  • Lynn Harrell, January 30, 1944 – April 27, 2020
  • GiveBIG 2020 – help us say “Cello to the Future!”

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Latest Posts

  • Lynn Harrell, January 30, 1944 – April 27, 2020
  • GiveBIG 2020 – help us say “Cello to the Future!”

Carlsen Cello Foundation

2212 Queen Anne Avenue #301
Seattle, WA 98109
Telephone: (206) 579-6233

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