Hailed as “an artist who combines a probing, restless intellect with enormous beauty of tone,” violist KIM KASHKASHIAN has forged a unique path as a performing and recording artist. Kashkashian made history when she won the coveted Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo – the first ever given to a violist – for her ECM recording of Ligeti and Kurtág solo viola works. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the 

Royal Academy of Music, and has performed as viola soloist with the orchestras of Berlin, London, Vienna, Milan, Amsterdam, New York, Cleveland, and many others. She worked closely with György Kurtág, Krzysztof Penderecki, Alfred Schnittke, Giya Kancheli, and Arvo Pärt, and commissioned new compositions from Eötvös, Ken Ueno, Betty Olivero, Thomas Larcher, and more. Her more than 25 solo albums on ECM label have garnered a Grammy Award, a Cannes Classical Award, the Edison Prize, and the Opus Klassik Prize. Kashkashian is founder of “Music for Food”, a musician-led hunger relief initiative that has provided more than 

one and a half million meals and offers a model for all musicians who wish to act as artist-citizens in their communities.