Cellist Ariel Barnes enjoys a diverse career as a soloist and both chamber and orchestral musician, across Canada, the United States, and Mexico. In fall 2008, under the auspices of Jeunesse Musicales of Canada, Ariel completed a tour of sixteen solo recital concerts in eastern Canada with pianist Bryan Wagorn. 
 
Equally comfortable in genres of music ranging from the baroque to modern times, his engagements have included evenings of Mozart's chamber music to contemporary solo cello recitals. Along with colleagues Mary Sokol-Brown and Andrew Brown, Ariel is a member the Trio Accord, a Vancouver-based string trio which the Victoria Times Colonist praised for its "enchanting, exhilarating, and  extremely moving  performances". Trio Accord have recently been return guests at the Northern Lights Music Festival in Ajijic, Mexico and are currently Faculty members at the Courtney Youth Music Camp in British-Columbia. 
 
As a member of the Borealis String Quartet, he has been a guest at MusicFest Vancouver, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Mendocino Music Festival in California, and Music at Port Milford in Ontario. He is currently Principal Cello of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra, a member of the National Broadcast Orchestra and the Turning Point Ensemble. 
 
Ariel has recorded for ATMA Classique, Skylark Records, Centrediscs, CBC Radio (including Espace Musique), CBC Television, Integrity Music, Za Discs, Disney Films, and Funktopus Records. His principal teachers have included Daniel Domb at the University of Toronto, Bruce Uchimura at Western Michigan University, Craig Weaver of the Seattle Symphony, and Eric Wilson at the University of British Columbia. In addition, he has received coaching from Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, Janos Starker, Lawrence Lesser, Lorand Fenyves, and members of the Guarneri, Cleveland, Orford, and St. Lawrence String Quartets. Trio Accord's debut recording on Skylark Records of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations was released in the fall of 2008.

Home Base: British Columbia