Based in New York City, Dr. Kristina Giles (neé Hendricks) enjoys a creative and varied musical career.  Trained as a classical violist, she has become known for her artistry on both the 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 in New York's finest concert halls and churches, and is a section member of the Berkshire Opera Festival during the summer. As a period instrumentalist, she is a member of SIREN Baroque, and plays with REBEL, Opera Essentia, Brooklyn Baroque, and Dorian Baroque. 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 15.  She maintains a thriving piano and strings studio on the Upper West Side. She is also the founder and director of the Riverside Community String Ensemble at The Riverside Church. 

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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 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 for her undergraduate degree, and full scholarships to study as a Masters student at Rice's Shepherd School of Music, and a Doctorate student at Suny Stony Brook.

 

She has 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.