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, Pittsburgh Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, and Akron Symphony.  She has appeared as soloist with the Grand Rapids Symphony on multiple occasions, 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 Domaine Forget Chamber Music Festival (Quebec), Conciertos de la Villa de Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), 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, 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 earned complete pedagogical training in the Suzuki Method at the Sato Center for Suzuki Studies and has served on the violin faculty of numerous programs including Baldwin Wallace University Community Music School, Interlochen Summer Arts Academy, Arts at Gilmour Academy, Grand Rapids Chamber Music Camp, GVSU String Leadership Camp, and El Sistema at the Rainey Institute. She currently has a thriving private studio in Grand Rapids, MI. 

Passionate about the sustainability of classical music, Kimia has been an arts administrator for multiple organizations.  She was the Development Manager of the Akron Symphony for four seasons while also a violinist in that orchestra. In 2024 she became Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck, a vibrant summer concert series on the lakeshore of West Michigan which also provides educational opportunities year-round. Kimia has been an arts advocate through radio interviews, guest speaking engagements, and published online interviews. 

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.