Lydia Kirchhofer
Lydia Kirchhofer (marimba) was the co-winner of our Competition in 2007, performing Hovhaness’s Fantasy on Japanese Wood Prints (for marimba). Born in Switzerland, Lydia started playing the piano at age five and studied classical piano for seven years. While attending school in Los Altos, she joined the Peninsula Youth Orchestra in fourth grade as a percussionist. Soon, her passion for percussion instruments overtook her love of the piano. Yet she found a way to combine the two loves and focused her efforts as a mallet percussionist, studying with Peter Thielen, percussionist with the Silicon Valley and Peninsula Symphonies. While in high school, Lydia participated in the school wind ensemble and jazz band, and was a guest percussionist with the Peninsula Symphony and the Youth Symphony organized each year by the Korean-American Music Supporters Association.
Lydia earned her Bachelor of Music in Percussion Performance at the USC’s Rossier School of Education in 2012, and then her Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) with instrumental music emphasis, with the purpose of becoming a secondary school band director. (Resume updated by Concerto Committee in 2016 from reliable online sources.)
