Biography

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, violinist Kimia Ghaderi has forged an impactful and dynamic career in the realms of solo, chamber and orchestral performance. Assistant Principal Second Violin of the Grand Rapids Symphony, she has performed with many other orchestras including The Cleveland Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Akron Symphony.  She has appeared as soloist with the Grand Rapids Symphony, and served as Guest Concertmaster of the Ashland Symphony, Youngstown Symphony, Suburban Symphony, and Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra.

Kimia has performed at chamber music festivals and venues around the globe including Conciertos de la Villa de Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic),  Domaine Forget Chamber Music Festival (Quebec), Salzburg Baroque Museum, Auditorium Marianum (Perugia), Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck (MI), Baroque on Beaver Island (MI), Free@3 (MI), Soli Deo Gloria Series (MA), Concerts on the Slope (Brooklyn), Manhattan National Opera Center, Vermont Mozart Festival, Coyote Creek Music Festival (CA), , Beachwood Summer Concert Series (OH), Steinway Gallery Cleveland, and Cleveland Metroparks Concert Series. She has collaborated with renowned musicians such as violinist Frank Huang, cellist Norman Fischer, and the Chilingarian Quartet, and performs frequently as part of the Ghaderi-Focks Duo with her husband, pianist Andrew Focks. Invested in bringing music to people of all generations in every part of the community, she presented over 50 outreach recitals throughout Northeast Ohio for the ArtsConnect series of Piano Cleveland. 

A dedicated violin instructor, Kimia’s goal is to instill a deep appreciation and passion for music, teach valuable life skills through the disciplined study of music, and provide students with a strong technical facility, artistic expression, and knowledge of music history and theory. She earned complete pedagogical training in the Suzuki Method at the Sato Center for Suzuki Studies and has served on the violin faculty of numerous music institutes including Baldwin Wallace University Community Music School, Interlochen Summer Arts Academy, Arts at Gilmour Academy, GVSU String Leadership Camp, and El Sistema at the Rainey Institute. She currently has a thriving private studio in Grand Rapids, MI. 

Kimia’s passion for the sustainability of classical music and experience within multiple fields of music have made her uniquely equipped for arts administration. She was the Development Manager of the Akron Symphony for four seasons while also a violinist in that orchestra. 

Kimia earned her Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from Rice University, graduating magna cum laude, and her Master of Music degree in Violin Performance at the Cleveland Institute of Music.  She supplemented her training at multiple international summer programs including the Mozarteum Summer Academy, Beijing International Summer Academy, Texas Music Festival, and Brevard Music Center Festival. Her primary teachers have included Kathleen Winkler, Peter Otto, William Preucil, and Zoya Leybin. She has also studied privately and in master classes with Ivan Zenaty, Pierre Amoyal, Fredell Lack, Elmar Oliveira, and Yehonatan Berick, among others. Kimia plays a John & Arthur Betts violin from London, dated 1852.