Biography

Jordan Gunn is a cellist from Champaign, Illinois. During the 24/25 season she joined the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, FL and will be joining them again this coming 25/26 season. Prior to this she regularly performed in the New York area, often joining the Buffalo Philharmonic, Glimmerglass Opera Festival, and Syracuse Orchestra, among others. She has held the position of principal cello in The New World Symphony, The Orchestra Now, The Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and the Eastman Philharmonia Orchestra under the batons of Michael Tilson Thomas, David Zinman, Stéphane Denève, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and Xian-Zhang among others.

Jordan has a passion for new works, and has performed and workshopped with the New York City based SEM Ensemble, Beth Morrison Projects, Eastman’s Musica Nova, and in the spring of 2025 she performed alongside Mandy Patinkin and Nathan Gunn in the Mandy and Nathan Show. In the 24/25 season, Jordan performed multiple premieres, including principal cello on Anna Clyne’s PALETTE with NWS.

Some of her recent highlights include playing principal cello on Beethoven’s 5th Symphony under MTT. She also performed principal cello in the premiere of Birds of America by Scott Wheeler featuring Gil Shaham at Carnegie Hall, and she appeared in the 2023 film MAESTRO by Bradley Cooper on Netflix, conducted by Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin. 

An enthusiastic chamber musician, she is returning for the 3rd year to Loon Lake Live; a chamber music festival that highlights living composers and pushes the boundaries of classical music. She was a founding member of the award-winning Lilac String Quartet, with whom she has performed in Eastman Honor's concerts as well as faculty Sunday Morning Chamber series. 

During her studies at Eastman, with Steven Doane and Rosemary Elliott, Jordan won the prestigious Performer's Certificate along with her Bachelor's degree, as well as the John Celentano Award for Excellence in Chamber Music and the Glenn and Francis Harris Cello Prize. 

Outside of performing, Jordan also loves to promote informed listening of classical music, which prompted her to co-create the podcast Class Half Full. 

She currently plays on a beautiful cello made by Marco Coppiardi in 2016, an exact replica of the Amati King Cello.