“Time and again, Kozasa’s viola stole the spotlight with its absorbing mixture of lyricism and throaty candor.” -NY Times

Hailed for her "magnetic, wide-ranging tone" and her "rock solid technique" (Philadelphia Inquirer), violist Ayane Kozasa is a member of the San Francisco-based Kronos Quartet. Their current season tours include performance venues ranging from Carnegie Hall to the Vicenza Jazz Festival, and they will be making stops in Brazil, Japan, Sweden, and Latvia. Many of their concerts include dynamic collaborators such as Indonesian singer Peni Candra Rini, visual storytellerAriel Aberg-Riger, and composer Terry Riley. Ayane is also a member of the quartet collective Owls, whose debut album Rare Birds was just released on New Amsterdam Records this spring. As a founding member of the Aizuri Quartet, she toured with the group for 11 years, garnering a Grammy nomination and capturing grand prizes at the M Prize Chamber Arts Competition and the Osaka International String Quartet Competition. Much of Ayane’s current work involves mentoring young musicians through programs like the Meadowmount School of Music, and she is currently on the viola faculty at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Aside from music, she enjoys hiking, doodling, and creating animation.