Cellist Misha Khalikulov was born in the former U.S.S.R. (now Uzbekistan) and raised in San Francisco, CA. He holds a degree in Classical Cello Performance from UCLA under the tutelage of Antonio Lysy. Following his graduation in 2009, he joined the eclectic musical group Rupa and the April Fishes, with whom he has toured 27 countries in the past eight years. With them, he has performed on international music festival stages around the world and recorded four albums. He is also a member of the contemporary chamber/world music group StringQuake, with whom he has recorded two albums and toured internationally, and Vadalma, a Hungarian folk/chamber music project that recently traveled to Budapest to perform and record their first album. Misha also performs and records as a solo cellist, in classical chamber music ensembles, and with singer-songwriters and bands, sometimes doubling on Guitar and electric bass, and covering many musical genres from around the world. Aside from performing, Misha devotes his time to music education, sharing his love for music with children in his community. He has taught at Harmony Project Bay Area for 5 years, and Bay Area Music Project for 3 years