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.
She has collaborated with
ECM Records since 1985.[1] The ECM website notes that she is "one of the pre-eminent artists of ECM New Series."[7]
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.[1] She regularly participates in the
Ravina,
VerbierSalzburg,
Lockenhaus and
Marlboro festivals.[1] 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."[3]
Personal life
Kashkashian has a daughter.[1] In 1996 she moved from Freiburg to Berlin as she wanted her daughter to attend Berlin's only American school.[3]
She practices
Chinese martial arts (kung fu), including
Tai chi.[9] 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.[9]
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.[10]
Kashkashian is one of the founders and (as of 2016) the Artistic Director[8] of Music for Food, an initiative aimed at fighting hunger.[1]
She first visited Armenia, her ancestral homeland, in 1989. She has collaborated with the famed Armenian composer
Tigran Mansurian.[11]
Recognition
Kashkashian is widely recognized as one of the world's top violists.[12][13][14][15][16]BBC Music Magazine wrote in 1997 that she is one of the "most sought-after violists for chamber music in America."[17]NPR's All Things Considered noted in 2007 that she is "one of only a few violists with an international solo career."[5] The
New England Conservatory of Music website describes her as "internationally recognized as a unique voice on the viola."[1] 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.[8]
Harold Blumenfeld: Voyages after Hart Crane (1977). Patrick Mason, baritone, Kim Kashkashian, viola,
David Starobin, guitar, Gordon Gottlieb, Louis Oddo, percussion,
Arthur Weisberg, conductor. (LP
CRI SD 387)
Linda Bouchard: Pourtinade. Kim Kashkashian, viola, Robyn Schulkowsky, percussion. (CD ECM 1425)
Johannes Brahms: Sonatas for Viola and Piano, Op. 120. Kim Kashkashian, viola,
Robert Levin, piano. (CD ECM 1630)
Sándor Jemnitz: Trio for violin, viola and guitar, Op. 33. Benjamin Hudson, violin, Kim Kashkashian, viola,
David Starobin, guitar. (CD
Bridge 9004 or 9292)
Giya Kancheli: Abii ne viderem. Kim Kashkashian, viola, Vasiko Tevdorashvili, voice, Natalia Pschenitschnikova, alto flute.
Dennis Russell Davies, conductor, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester. (CD ECM 1510)
Giya Kancheli: Vom Winde beweint (Mourned by the Wind). Kim Kashkashian, viola,
Dennis Russell Davies, conductor, Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn. (CD ECM 1471)
Tigran Mansurian: Hayren, Music of Komitas and Mansurian, Duet for viola and percussion. Kim Kashkashian, viola, Robyn Schulkowsky, percussion,
Tigran Mansurian, piano, voice. (CD ECM 1754)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Duos for Violin and Viola, K423, K424, Trio for Violin, Viola and Piano K498 “Kegelstatt”.
Gidon Kremer, violin, Kim Kashkashian, viola, Valery Afanassiev, piano. (CD DG 415 483-2)
Franz Schubert: Quartet No. 15 in G major, Op. 161 D887.
Gidon Kremer, Daniel Phillips, violins, Kim Kashkashian, viola,
Yo-Yo Ma, cello. (CD Sony MK42134)
^"In Armenia, Discovering The Past And The Present". Billboard. March 27, 2004. p.
14. Renowned violist Kim Kashkashian—herself Armenian-American—explains...
^
abcdef"KASHKASHIAN, Kim". International Who's who in Music and Musicians' Directory: (in the Classical and Light Classical Fields). Volume One (7th ed.). Psychology Press. 2000. p.
330–331.
ISBN9780948875533.