Renata Artman Knific · violin

Renata Artman Knific has Diplomas from Szymanowski Liceum (Poland), Diploma Royal College of Music (England), and an Artist's Diploma Cleveland Institute (USA). Her international career began in London when she joined the English Chamber Orchestra at the age of 21. Tours of Europe, North and South America, and Asia followed, with artists such as Herman Bauman, Barry Tuckwell, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Maurice Andre, Pinchas Zuckerman, Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Murray Perahia. She worked closely with conductors Daniel Barenboim, Simon Rattle, Edo De Waart and Christoph Eschenbach, and recorded for the EMI, Decca, and CBS labels. She has appeared in chamber music festivals throughout Europe, the United States, and Canada.

Ms. Knific has taught at the Encore School for Strings, the Cleveland Institute, the Interlochen Arts Academy, and the Lancut Festival in Poland. Her former students perform in the Cavani, Pro Arte, and Cypress quartets and in orchestras including the Cleveland, Houston, Honolulu, and Sao Paulo (Brazil) Symphonies. She recently released “West of Everywhere,” a crossover recording featuring her with jazz greats including Gene Bertoncini, Sir Roland Hanna, John Abercrombie, and Billy Hart.

As violinist of the Merling Trio, she performs 20 to 40 concerts annually throughout North America in venues such as Merkin Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Banff Center for the Arts. The Merling Trio was a finalist for the 1994 Naumburg Foundation Chamber Music Award.