Biography

Kyra Philippi was born in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands. She combined the Gymnasium with the Utrecht Conservatory studying viola and chamber music. Kyra continued her studies at the Yale University School of Music in New Haven US, graduating with a Master of Music degree, majoring in viola and chamber music. While at Yale she worked as an assistant recording engineer and associate producer at the Fred Plaut Recording Studios, directing and assisting in numerous recording sessions and taking care of mapping and editing. Kyra was recipient of both a Fulbright Grant and a Yale University Grant.

Kyra was a violist in the Eastern Connecticut Symphony in the US, La Orquesta Sinfónica del Principado de Asturias, La Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, La Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria in Spain and, back in Holland, she was a regular sub with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and the Radio Symphonie Orchestra, later Radio Chamber Filharmonie. She was the violist of the Lagos String Quartet, the Prinsengracht Piano Quartet and the Suggia Ensemble, playing concerts in Europe, Canada and the VS.

Exploring her interests in visual arts and the interaction between visual arts & sound, Kyra started studying at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in 2015, graduating with a Bachelors of Arts & Design in 2020.

During Covid-period Kyra explored new routes to share music and became a teacher of music within the IB educational system, earning her MYP level 1 certification in 2021 and her Bed’24 (eerstegraads) at the Amsterdam Conservatory. Subsequently, she taught music at the International School Laren, and, currently, at the KSH in Hoofdorp, both in The Netherlands.

Driven to share the classical music spark, Kyra started and became the artistic leader of KSH Sinfonia, the school’s first orchestra.

Kyra maintains an active career as a violist in the Netherlands, participating in recording sessions, teaching and performing in chamber music formations. She is registered at the Chamber of commerce in Amsterdam.

Kyra lives with her partner and their three children in the Amsterdam area.