Kirsten Yon

Associate Professor of Violin

Division Head of Strings

Dr. Kirsten Yon is currently Associate Professor of Violin and Chair of the String Division at the University of Houston Moores School of Music.  She previously graced the violin faculty of Texas Tech University for eight years.  Her active solo career includes recital engagements and masterclasses throughout the United States (including Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall), Brazil, Czech Republic, England, South Korea, Honduras, Mexico, Germany, France, Iceland, and Norway.  Previously on the faculty of the Interlochen Center for the Arts, Dr. Yon additionally taught for many years at the International Music Academy Pilsen (Czech Republic), the Nathan Schwartzman String Festival (Uberlândia, Brazil), and the Cambridge International String Academy (England).  She toured Brazil with the Botticelli String Quartet and pianist Cristina Capparelli Gerling, traveling to Curitiba, Florianopolis, and performing several concerti with the Orquestra de Câmara Theatro São Pedro in Porto Alegre (Brazil).  The winner of multiple competitions, Yon received outstanding accolades for her performances as a concert soloist, chamber musician, and for her concerto appearances. 

A versatile orchestral musician, Professor Yon held concertmaster chairs with the Bayou City Chamber Orchestra, the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra, the Caprock Pro Musica Sinfonietta, Ballet Lubbock, and the Cypress Symphony, as well as performing with diverse ensembles that include the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra (ROCO), Aperio, the baroque ensemble Ars Lyrica, and the contemporary Musiqa ensemble.  Currently she serves as concertmaster of the Shreveport Symphony (Louisiana) under the baton of Michael Butterman. As a lauded chamber musician, Yon founded the Champlain Piano Trio, the Archiano Ensemble, the Karlin Trio, and the Botticelli String Quartet.   

Dedicated to musical outreach at both the community and international levels, Yon is founder and Artistic Director of Encuentro de Cuerdas, a long-term pedagogical outreach program in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.  Since the beginning of her professional teaching career, students from both her college and pre-college studios have won numerous solo competitions and awards.  A frequent violin clinician, Dr. Yon has given masterclasses across the world.  Dr. Yon served as the president of the South Plains Suzuki Strings Foundation and is a strong advocate of string education.  In her early years at Texas Tech University, she was honored with a Texas Tech University Alumni Association New Faculty Award for her work at the School of Music and was elected to the Texas Tech Teaching Academy, a distinct honor within the university. 

Dr. Yon has spent her recent summers teaching and performing at the Texas Music Festival, ARIA International Summer Academy (Massachusetts), Cedar Valley Chamber Music (Iowa), the Naolinco International Music Festival (Mexico), and the Liberec International Violin Academy (Czech Republic).  Her major teachers and influences included Stephen Shipps, William Preucil, David Updegraff, Kathleen Winkler, and Raphael Fliegel.  Her debut recording on Centaur Records with cellist Jeffrey Lastrapes was released in 2015.  Apart from teaching and playing the violin, she loves cooking, reading, yoga, and spending time with her two rescue puppies Bella and Jasper!