“Askonas Holt is delighted to welcome violinist Kristīne Balanas for general management,” the organization wrote on Facebook. Balanas will be managed by Rachel Bertaut. 

Kristīne was a third-prize laureate of the 66th International ARD Music Competition, 2018 Young Artist of the Year in Latvia’s Grand Music Awards, and recipient of the Fundacion Excelentia Young Talent Award from Queen Sofía of Spain.

She has performed solo with internationally leading orchestras such as the London Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre de Chambre de Paris. Additionally, she has appeared at the Berliner Philharmonie and Carnegie Hall.

Her recent highlights include debuts with the Hallé Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Barcelona Symphony Orchestra, Saarbrücken Symphony Orchestra, and Orquesta Clasica Santa Cecilia.

She has been featured on BBC Radio 3 and BBC One, plus given recitals at the Purcell Room, Barbican Hall, and Kings Place. She also performs regularly with her sister, cellist Margarita Balanas.

A graduate of London’s Royal Academy of Music and Germany’s Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler, Kristīne studied with György Pauk and Kolja Blacher, respectively.

She currently performs on a 1787 Antonio Gragnani violin, generously loaned to her from “The Little Butterfly Foundation.”

PIETRO LOCATELLI | HARMONIC LABYRINTH | STANLEY DODDS | KARAJAN ACADEMY | 2021