Bio

Lori Barnet is a graduate of Bennington College. Her primary teachers include Robert Newkirk, George Finkel and Barbara Stein Mallow on cello, Phoebe Carrai on baroque cello, and Josef Gingold, Artur Balsam, Joseph Fuchs and Jacob Glick on chamber music. Her long-time support for contemporary composition is reflected in her membership in numerous performing organizations dedicated to contemporary performances. She was principal cellist of Penn Contemporary Players (Philadelphia) and the Contemporary Music Forum (D.C.), each for twenty years, and of Orchestra 2001 (Philadelphia) where she held the Dell Venarde Principal Cello Chair. Currently she is principal cellist of Chamber Orchestra First Editions (Philadelphia).  Additionally, she is principal cellist of the National Philharmonic, a position she has held since the orchestra’s founding in 1985. For many years she coordinated the chamber programs for the Philharmonic and has been a regular performer on the various series presented by the group. She has also performed for 35 years at Wolf Trap, and has served as principal of the Wolf Trap Opera Orchestra for most of that time.

Over her long career, she has served as principal cellist with several ensembles: Augusta Symphony (GA), Washington Chamber Symphony (DC), Alexandria Symphony (VA) and as guest principal with the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra. She has appeared as soloist with the Augusta (GA) Symphony, Alexandria and Mclean Symphonies, Orchestra 2001, National Philharmonic, Washington Chamber Symphony, Chamber Orchestra First Editions and several university ensembles.  She also served five seasons as the continuous cellist on period instruments for the Washington Bach Consort’s cantata series.  Other appearances as a baroque cellist include those with the National Cathedral Baroque Orchestra, the Vivaldi Project, Ensemble Gaudior, ArcoVoce, Kontra Bande and with the National Gallery of Art Vocal Ensemble. Most recently, she and soprano Rosa Lamoreaux founded Open Page Ensemble dedicated to diverse chamber performances, innovative programming, and presentation of new and rarely heard works. This group was successfully launched in November 2018.

Miss Barnet has toured in Russia, Italy, Denmark, England, Cuba and China and recorded for Orion and CRI.

As an educator, Miss Barnet has taught at the National Philharmonic Summer String Institutes since their inception, was the cello sectional coach for Montgomery Classic Youth Orchestras for 11 years and now coaches chamber ensembles for MCYO. She has been a faculty member at the George Washington University since 1991 where she teaches cello, coaches chamber music, serves as area coordinator for string studies, and appears regularly in faculty performances.

Photo credit: Jill Bochicchio