A native of Columbus, Ohio, Nikita Annenkov is currently an associate cellist with the Columbus Symphony. Prior to joining the CSO Nikita performed classical and cross-genre chamber music on board of Holland America Cruise Lines as part of Lincoln Center Stage program based in New York City. Born in Uzbekistan, Nikita began studying cello at age of 7 at Uspensky School of Music in Tashkent. Nikita has appeared in music festivals such as Interlochen Center for the Arts, Orford Music Academy and Chautauqua Festival, performing under conductors such as Donald Schleicher, Jung-Ho Pak, Jean-Francois Rivest, Timothy Muffitt and Kent Nagano, as well as master classes with world renowned artists such as Chiara Quartet, Jupiter Quartet, Claremont Trio, Robert DeMaine, Nathaniel Rosen, Alisa Weilerstein and Johannes Moser to name a few. Nikita holds a bachelor's degree from the Oberlin College and Conservatory and a master’s degree from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he studied with Amir Eldan and Dmitry Kouzov, respectively.