DETROIT — Today, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and Music Director Leonard Slatkin announced the appointment of Kimberly Ann Kaloyanides Kennedy as acting concertmaster for the 2011 – 2012 season. Kennedy has served as a member of the DSO’s violin section since 1998 and has been the associate concertmaster since 2003.
“I felt that it was important, as we move forward, to have a perspective on the role of the concertmaster and their relationship to the orchestra,” said music director Leonard Slatkin. “Kim is a seasoned veteran of the DSO and I am confident in her ability to bear the lion’s share of the work this coming season.”
ABOUT KIMBERLY ANN KALOYANIDES KENNEDY:
Kimberly Ann Kaloyanides Kennedy won her coveted position as a violinist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra at the age of 22. In 2003, Kennedy further realized her dream when she became Associate Concertmaster until being appointed Acting Concertmaster in 2011.
Kennedy began her study of the violin at the age of five in Dayton, OH. Being the daughter of a Minister of Music and church organist allowed her many chances to share from her heart in front of congregations. Her love of music became what undoubtedly would be her career as she pursued her studies at Brevard Music Center, Interlochen Arts Camp as the Governor’s Scholar for the state of Ohio, Sarasota Music Festival, four summers at the Aspen Music Festival on Fellowship where she was the Associate Concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra, three years at the Harid Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida with Sergiu Schwartz and finally at the University of Michigan with Paul Kantor. It was halfway through her senior year at Michigan in 1998 that her hard work paid off when she joined the first violin section of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra.
Throughout her training, she won several prizes in competitions around the country including the Grand Prize in the National MTNA competition, 1st prize in the Greek Women’s National Competition in Chicago, the Skokie Valley Concerto Competition where she performed Barber Violin Concerto, the Universtiy of Michigan Concerto Competion where she performed Ravel’s Tzigane, the Harid Conservatory Concerto Competition where she performed the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto, and was one of the few Americans invited to the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis in 1998. She solos regularly with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and is scheduled to do so again in the 2011 – 2012 season.
Kimberly enjoys performing chamber music regularly around Michigan with the Detroit Chamber Winds and Strings, Cuttime Players, Cuttime Sinfonica, on series such as Chamber Music North, Fairlane Concert Guild, Pro Mozart, Classical Brunch in Birmingham and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival.
Near to her heart is her passion for serving others through her music both at church and around the community. She is passionate about teaching and sharing what God has put in her heart with her students. Kimberly and her husband, Bryan Kennedy, second horn of the DSO, are strongly committed to this orchestra and to this region.
They believe in the future of this great organization and intend to work diligently to ensure that it remains the internationally renowned and artistically revered Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Kimberly and Bryan live in Plymouth with their two beautiful children, Ethan and Lauren, two dogs and two cats.
