Kim Kashkashian was born August 31, 1952, in Detroit, Michigan, an American violist of Armenian descent. She began violin at age eight, switching to viola at twelve while at Interlochen Arts Academy, and earned a Bachelor of Music from Peabody Conservatory (studying with Walter Trampler and Karen Tuttle) and a Master of Music from the New School of Music in Philadelphia, also studying with Felix Galimir. She has taught at Peabody, Mannes, Indiana University, and since 2000 at New England Conservatory in Boston.

Kashkashian is regarded as one of the leading violists of her generation and a central artist of ECM New Series, collaborating with composers such as György Kurtág, Tigran Mansurian, and Krzysztof Penderecki and performers including Gidon Kremer and Yo-Yo Ma. She won a Grammy Award in 2013 for Best Classical Instrumental Solo, the George Peabody Medal (2013), and was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (2016).

Sources:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Kashkashian