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Elina Sophia Kimanen

Finnish-Japanese violist Elina Kimanen was born in Helsinki to a family of professional musicians. She began to study violin at the age of three with Géza Szilvay. Since 1994 she has concentrated on the viola playing under the guidance of Matti Hirvikangas at the soloist department of Sibelius-Academy in Helsinki. From 1997 until 2000 she studied at the Hans Eisler Hochschule für Musik in Berlin in the class of Kim Kashkashian and received her diploma in 2000 with the mark excellent. Today she is in the University Mozarteum of Salzburg preparing the master degree in the class of professor Thomas Riebl. Between 1996 and 2001 she received prizes at several competitions, including the Finnish National, Lionel Tertis and Scandinavian viola competitions.

Elina Kimanen was engaged in 1999 and 2000 by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra as an assistant leader of the viola section. She has performed as a soloist with several Finnish orchestras, with the State Symphony Orchestra of St. Petersburg, with the Radio Symph.Orchestra in Istanbul, with the Philh.Orchestra Poznan/Poland and with the Hellas Orchestra of Patras under Saulius Sondeckis. As a chamber musician she has appeared in most of the European Countries, in Israel, Japan and in the USA. She was violist of the Robin String Quartet 1995-1999. Elina Kimanen is regularly invited to the important music festivals in Finland and abroad.

Her chamber music partners include Natalia Gutman, Kolja Blacher, Peter Csaba, Hagai Shaham, David Kim, Gustav Rivinius, Ernst Kovacic and many others. Elina Kimanen is a member of the Ensemble Salzburger Solisten.