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Biography
Simin Ganatra is professor of music in violin and chair of the Strings Department at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. She is also first violinist of the Pacifica Quartet, the school's quartet-in-residence.
Ganatra has won wide recognition for her performances throughout the United States and abroad. She has performed numerous times in such prestigious venues as Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, the Kennedy Center, Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebeouw in Amsterdam, and Carnegie's Zankel Hall. Collaborations include performances with Yo-Yo Ma, Anthony McGill, Lynn Harrell, and Menahem Pressler, among others.
She is the recipient of several awards and prizes, including a Grammy for best chamber music performance, the Naumburg Chamber Music Award, the Cleveland Quartet Award, and top prizes at the Concert Artists Guild Competition, Coleman Chamber Music Competition, Pasadena Instrumental Competition, and Schubert Club Competition.
Originally from Los Angeles, Ganatra studied with Idell Low, Robert Lipsett, and Roland and Almita Vamos. She is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory, where she was concertmaster of the Oberlin Conservatory Orchestra and recipient of the Louis Kaufman Prize for outstanding performance in chamber music.
She was previously professor at the University of Illinois, Champaign/Urbana, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago. She has many recordings on the Cedille Records label, including the complete string quartets of Felix Mendelssohn, Elliot Carter, and Dmitri Shostakovich. During the summer, she serves on the faculty of the Aspen Music Festival and School.