Ayane Kozasa

Hailed for her “magnetic, wide-ranging tone” and her “rock solid technique” (Philadelphia Inquirer), violist Ayane Kozasa is a member of the San Francisco-based Kronos Quartet. Their current season tours include performance venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to the London Jazz Festival, and they will be making stops in Japan, Germany, Greece, and Ireland. Many of their concerts include dynamic collaborators such as Indonesian singer Peni Candra Rini, visual storyteller Ariel Aberg-Riger, and percussionist Quentin Baxter. Kozasa is also a member of the quartet collective Owls, whose debut album Rare Birds was just released on New Amsterdam Records this spring. As a founding member of the Aizuri Quartet, she toured with the group for 11 years, garnering a GRAMMY® nomination and capturing grand prizes at the M Prize Chamber Arts Competition and the Osaka International String Quartet Competition. Much of Kozasa’s current work involves mentoring young musicians through programs like the Meadowmount School of Music. She formerly served on the viola faculty at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.