Kirsten Yon

Associate Professor of Violin

Division Head of Strings

Dr. Kirsten Yon is Associate Professor of Violin and Head of the String Division at the University of Houston Moores School of Music.  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 Texas Tech University, Yon additionally taught for many years at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, 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. Additional chamber performances with Rohan Da Silva, Kyung Sun Lee, Norman Fischer, and Lucie Robert.

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.  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. The Violin Faculty Affiliate for the Community Arts Academy at UH, Dr. Yon has also served as the president of the South Plains Suzuki Strings Foundation and is a passionate advocate for string music education. 

A frequent masterclass clinician across the world, Dr. Yon spent 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). A graduate of the University of Michigan, Cleveland Institute of Music, and Rice University, her major teachers included Kathleen Winkler, David Updegraff, William Preucil, 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, and spending time with her two rescue puppies Bella and Jasper!