Úna O’Riordan

Úna O’Riordan was appointed to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s cello section in 2007.  Throughout her career she has performed as soloist, chamber and orchestral musician in North America, Europe and Asia. Since 2023 she has been Principal Cello at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music in Santa Cruz, Ca, and has been a member of the Mainly Mozart All-Star Orchestra since 2015.

She is a passionate advocate for new music and as a core member of New Music Detroit (NMD) she has commissioned and recorded numerous works by today’s leading compositional voices. 

In 2021 she gave the world premiere performance of Facsimile, a cello concerto written by Griffin Candey and co-commissioned by NMD.

Úna is on faculty at Wayne State and Oakland Universities, and has taught at summer programs including the Zodiac Academy and Festival in France; American Institute of Musical Studies in Austria; Oklahoma University’s Summer String program, and the Fresh Inc Festival.

She received her Bachelor of Music degree from Eastman School of Music, and Master of Music degree from Northwestern University. Her principal teachers include Hans Jørgen Jensen, Pamela Frame, Alan Harris and Loran Stephenson.