Kallie Ciechomski | Viola
Kallie Ciechomski is a member of Hotel Elefant and Ensemble sans maître, and performs with International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME), Contemporaneous, and Ensemble Signal. Concert highlights include the world premiere of Drake Andersen’s viola concerto Spring Flow and her solo debut at (le) poisson rouge with Hotel Elefant. A fierce advocate for contemporary music, she has worked with composers Steve Reich, John Adams, Missy Mazzoli, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Jason Eckardt, John Luther Adams, and Julia Wolf, performing over 150 new works and more than 50 world premieres.
Feminist Counterpoint, Kallie’s solo project, champions music written in her lifetime by composers who are women. Through this project, she advocates for underrepresented voices by commissioning new works, reinforcing the existing repertoire, and reaching new audiences through lecture/recital style concerts in nontraditional venues. Last year, she gave 15 performances as part of Feminist Counterpoint.
Kallie’s 2015-2016 season features a US tour with Bollywood sensation Arijit Singh, collaborative shows with BalletCollective and Hotel Elefant, a run of Tosca with New York City Opera, and performances of John Luther Adams’ evening length works with ICE. Recent engagements include concerts at the Lincoln Center Festival with film composer Danny Elfman, performances with New York City Ballet, a tour of Japan with New York City Opera, and performances at the Radio City Christmas and Spring shows.
An avid chamber musician, Kallie is the violist of Osso String Quartet, violinist/violist with electro-acoustic band The Sound and the Light, and a founding member of the Fair Trade Chamber Music Society. She was a member of New World Symphony, where she was co-principal violist under the baton of Michael Tilson-Thomas, and gave her solo debut as part of their John Cage festival. A creative and enthusiastic improvisor, Kallie also enjoys playing, singing, and recording non-classical music with artists such as Ray Lamontagne, Ambrose Akinmursire, Snarky Puppy, Andrea Bocelli, and Stevie Wonder. She has been featured on NPR twice, both as a soloist and chamber musician.
Kallie is a native of Portland, Maine and holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory of Music and Manhattan School of Music, studying with Karen Ritscher. She plays on a kind of whatever viola, but loves her bows made by Matt Wehling, and Arthur Barnes of W. E. Hill and Sons.