Cellist Ken Ichinose was appointed Associate Principal Cello of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 2014 whilst also pursuing a busy chamber music career within New Zealand. He is the cellist in the Ghost Piano Trio and the Elouan Quartet, and has also performed with New Zealand String Quartet, Amici Ensemble, and the contemporary music group Stroma. In addition to this locally based work, Ken helped establish the Glenn Douglas Winter Chamber Music Festival in Florida, and has toured Europe, Asia and Australia in recent years with the London Symphony Orchestra.

 Prior to his move to New Zealand, Ken was a founding member of the Galitzin Quartet, formed at the Royal Academy of Music, London, where he studied with Paul Watkins. The Quartet actively performed for ten years, completing major tours in the UK, Germany, France, Portugal and Holland. They were first prize winners of the 2007 Charles Hennen Competition in the Netherlands and received tuition and guidance from the Vermeer, Jerusalem,and Ysaÿe Quartets. Also during this time, Ken worked and toured extensively with the Philharmonia, Orchestra of The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and the Academy of Saint Martin-in-the-Fields among others. Ken plays on a Venetian cello, circa 1700.