Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, violinist Kimia Ghaderi has forged an impactful and dynamic career in the realms of performance, arts administration and education. 

Kimia is Assistant Principal Second Violinist of the Grand Rapids Symphony and has been a soloist with the orchestra on multiple occasions. She has performed with numerous other orchestras including The Cleveland Orchestra, Naples Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, and Akron Symphony.  Kimia has also appeared at chamber music festivals and venues throughout the United States and in Canada, Dominican Republic, Europe, and China. She performs frequently as part of the Ghaderi-Focks Duo with her husband, pianist Andrew Focks. Invested in bringing music to people of all generations, she presented over 50 outreach recitals throughout Northeast Ohio for the ArtsConnect series of Piano Cleveland. 

Passionate about helping music thrive in her community, Kimia was named Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Festival of Saugatuck in 2024. Previously, she was the Development Manager of the Akron Symphony for four seasons while also a violinist in that orchestra. She has served on Artistic Advisory, Marketing, and Event Planning committees for multiple nonprofit organizations. Kimia has been an arts advocate through radio interviews, guest speaking engagements, and published online interviews. 

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 programs including Baldwin Wallace University Community Music School, Interlochen Summer Arts Academy, Grand Rapids Chamber Music Camp, GVSU String Leadership Camp, and El Sistema at the Rainey Institute. She currently has a thriving private studio.

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, Domaine Forget Chamber Music Session, and Beijing International Summer Academy.