Kim Kashkashian (born August 31, 1952) is an American violist. She has spent her career in the U.S. and Europe and collaborated with many major contemporary composers. In 2013 she won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo. She is recognized as one of the world's top violists.

Early life and education

Kashkashian was born to Armenian-American parents on August 31, 1952, in Detroit, Michigan. She grew up in Detroit in what Mark Slobin has described as an "only modestly Armenian household." Her father had a baritone voice and sang Armenian folk songs, which influenced her. She began playing the violin at the age of eight. She first studied with Ara Zerounian, then continued her music education and switched to viola at the Interlochen Arts Academy beginning from the age 12. She studied at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore with Walter Trampler (1969–70) and Karen Tuttle (1970–75). She received her Bachelor of Music (B.M.) degree from the Peabody Conservatory and her Master of Music (M.M.) degree from the New School of Music, Philadelphia. She was also the mentee of Felix Galimir.

Teaching career

Kashkashian has been a faculty member at several institutions. In 1981–86 she taught at the New School of Music, Philadelphia, in 1983–86 at the Mannes School of Music in New York, in 1985–87 the Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington. She then moved to Germany, where she began teaching at the Hochschule für Musik in Freiburg im Breisgau in 1989 and the Hanns Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin. She returned to the United States in 2000 and began teaching viola and chamber music at New England Conservatory in Boston in fall 2000.

Career

Throughout her career, Kashkashian has recorded many discs both as a solo and chamber music artist. She has been described as a "staunch proponent" of contemporary classical music. She has collaborated with and commissioned works from Gidon Kremer, Yo-Yo Ma, Robert Levin, Felix Galimir, and the Guarneri String Quartet, György Kurtág, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfred Schnittke, Giya Kancheli, Arvo Pärt, Peter Eötvös, Ken Ueno, Thomas Larcher, Lera Auerbach, Tigran Mansurian. She has collaborated with ECM Records since 1985. The ECM website notes that she is "one of the pre-eminent artists of ECM New Series." Kashkashian has performed at the Metropolitan Museum of New York, Kaufmann Hall, New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall; other cities in the US, Europe and Japan. She regularly participates in the Ravina, Verbier Salzburg, Lockenhaus and Marlboro festivals. In a 2000 interview she noted that a "violist has far more opportunities for solo playing in Europe than in America." She noted that the viola is fully accepted and respected as a solo instrument, while in America it is "just beginning to be reluctantly respected."

Personal life

Kashkashian has a daughter. In 1996 she moved from Freiburg to Berlin as she wanted her daughter to attend Berlin's only American school. She practices Chinese martial arts (kung fu), including Tai chi. Her favorite musician of all time is Maria Callas, while her favorite composers include Schubert, Bach, and György Kurtág. She described Kurtág as "present-day Bach." She has named the Schubert trios and any of Bach's works as her favorite musical work. In a 2013 interview with Hollywood.com, Kashkashian stated that she is constantly confused with reality television personality Kim Kardashian due to their similarly spelled surnames. Kashkashian is one of the founders and (as of 2016) the Artistic Director of Music for Food, an initiative aimed at fighting hunger. She first visited Armenia, her ancestral homeland, in 1989. She has collaborated with the famed Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian.

Recognition

Kashkashian is widely recognized as one of the world's top violists. BBC Music Magazine wrote in 1997 that she is one of the "most sought-after violists for chamber music in America." NPR's All Things Considered noted in 2007 that she is "one of only a few violists with an international solo career." The New England Conservatory of Music website describes her as "internationally recognized as a unique voice on the viola." The American Academy of Arts and Sciences described her as a "world renowned musician who has caused the repertoire for the viola to be greatly enlarged" through her many collaborations. A minor planet discovered by Brian A. Skiff at the Anderson Mesa Station on November 6, 1980, is named after Kashkashian.

Honors and accolades

Grammy Award

Kashkashian has received three nominations and has won one Grammy Award.

Discography

A partial list of her recordings includes: