Based in New York City, Dr. Kristina Giles (neé Hendricks) is a versatile musician, sought out for her artistry on violin and viola and their baroque counterparts. She has performed throughout the United States, Europe, and China, and recorded solo improvisations on folk and country albums. She has become widely known as the first artist to record  Campagnoli's 41 Caprices for viola, available to view on YouTube. 

 

Kristina performs regularly on Broadway in The Lion King, and around town in New York's finest concert halls and churches. She is a section member of the Berkshire Opera Festival during the summer. As a period instrumentalist, she is a member of Opera Essentia and SIREN Baroque, and plays with REBEL and La Fiocco. Kristina has performed with the Dallas Opera, Houston Ballet, and Kansas City Symphony. 

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Dr. Giles has a great passion for teaching, a vocation that she began at age 14.  She is the founder and director of the Riverside Community String Ensemble at The Riverside Church, and a faculty member at the summer festival BridgeMusik in Rockland County. She maintains a thriving private strings and piano studio on the Upper West Side.

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Kristina grew up in Overland Park, Kansas. She began learning piano at age 5, and the viola in public school at age 9. Kristi holds degrees in Viola Performance from Oberlin College and Conservatory (B.A./B.M.), Rice University (M.M.), and SUNY Stony Brook (D.M.A.). She won a partial scholarship to study at Oberlin Conservatory, and full tuition scholarships for both Rice University and Stony Brook.

 

Dr. Giles studied with Michael Kimber and Peter Chun (viola, University of Kansas), Peter Slowik (Oberlin Conservatory), James Dunham (Rice University), Katherine Murdock and Daniel Panner (SUNY Stony Brook), and Jörg Michael Schwarz of REBEL.

 

Dr. Giles lives on Manhattan's Upper West side with her husband, three daughters, and two cats.