Chihiro Allen, Viola Associate

Born in New York City and raised in Japan, Chihiro Allen began playing the violin at the age of six and the viola at 17. She joined the NYCB Orchestra in the spring of 2017, and also performs with many groups in and outside of NYC such as the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, the Saito-Kinen Orchestra of the Seiji Ozawa Festival in Matsumoto, Japan, Chihiro Allenand is a member of the Mostly Mozart Orchestra. Previously, she has been a member of the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, and assistant principal violist at the Valencia State Opera Orchestra of Spain. In 2006 and 2008 she received the Music Award from the New York Japanese-American Association and made her first recital appearances at Carnegie Hall’s Weil Recital Hall.

Ms. Allen is also known as a violin/viola instructor for young children and has taught at schools such as Opus 118 Harlem School of Music, and The Kaufman Center. She currently maintains a private studio (chihirofukuda.com) and also teaches at the JCC Tenafly Thurnauer School of Music. Ms. Allen received her Bachelor of Music degree at the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music under Junji Suganuma, and Master of Music degree at the Juilliard School under Masao Kawasaki.